Literature Archives - Page 59 of 64

Château Bute

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is Paul Torday’s first novel and his best. It is significantly better than the 2011 film of the same name. The story is as old as the world: hope trumping reality and money over-ruling common sense. Wine production in Wales shares the same themes.

The Manager’s Name was Love, Part Two

“The manager’s name was Love” is the opening sentence of Frederic Raphael’s autobiography (he calls it “a writer’s memoir”) Going Up.

How Big is Your Diocese?

The 12th century cathedral in Trondheim had an extensive diocese; by way of the Faroes and Iceland to Orkney and the Hebrides and round to the Isle of Man. Quite a reach, until I think about the Bishop of Gibraltar in Europe whose patch covers all of Europe and the former Soviet Union countries. These… Continue reading How Big is Your Diocese?

The Compleat Imbiber, Part Two

Cyril Ray was prepared to turn his hand to anything. In the early 1950s, when he was on the staff of The Sunday Times, his colleague Godfrey Smith recalled* : “he wrote the Atticus column and the Autolycus saleroom column, he was also Christopher Pym, the reviewer of thrillers … he understudied Harold Hobson and… Continue reading The Compleat Imbiber, Part Two

Midnight Special

Science fiction is not a genre that I dip into often but I did as a teenager. I enjoyed stories by Isaac Asimov and especially John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos (above) and The Day of the Triffids.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte Gutiérrez

This is a familiar name to Spanish readers but I was only introduced to him last year, for which thank you, Jonathan.

Two Favourites

There is an annual cycle of events that’s peculiarly British. I’m thinking of the Birthday Parade (don’t call it Trooping the Colour), the Grand National, Wimbledon, the Chelsea Flower Show; events that the nation takes to its heart. One such tradition ceased in 2010.

From Norwich to Venice

In a recent post, More Chronicles of War, I mentioned Diana Cooper’s letters to her son, Darling Monster. This week I had lunch with the darling monster, better known as John Julius Norwich.

William Sansom

I went to Maida Vale with Nicky and Nick on Saturday to deliver flyers for Zac Goldsmith. Nicky’s father is the subject of Man in Taxi. As we worked the letter boxes of NW8, Nick told me that he had been brought up in Hamilton Terrace and about his father.

The Duke of Wellington

Last month Ian Alexander-Sinclair recalled MacBeth in Introducing a Special Guest. He returns to reflect on Richard Holmes’s 2003 biography, Wellington: The Iron Duke.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31