Translated from the original French, by Alison L. Strayer, with remarkable insight and understanding of the original text, this ‘autobiography’ is an extraordinary piece of work. I use quotes around ‘autobiography’ because this book is so much more than that. It’s a brilliant mix of life story, history, sociology, philosophy, meditation, and poetry. Although some …
Continue reading The Years, by Annie Ernaux: #BookReview.
This condensation of an extensive theme into something far more concentrated, selective, and relevant manages to say everything it means in ways both accessible and moving. The appalling Irish Magdalen laundry system, imposed on the country by a church made far more powerful than it ever deserved by indoctrination and the spread of superstitious fear …
Continue reading Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan #BookReview.
On rare occasions, a reader encounters a book that inspires, entertains, edifies, and asks questions in such a way as to force him to reconsider long-held views. Whilst I was already in full agreement with some of the ideas and conclusions revealed in this small and beautifully written book, there were some notions that forced …
Continue reading Orbital, by Samantha Harvey #BookReview.
Subtitled ‘Humanist Ideas and Philosophies to Live By’, this collection of thoughts from thirty-one intelligent, experienced, and fascinating people has been compiled from Andrew Copson’s podcasts with over sixty such individuals between 2020 and 2024. It was initially inspired by essays from Bertrand Russell in 1925 and E.M. Forster in 1938, and a separate collection …
Continue reading What I Believe, Edited by Andrew Copson #BookReview.
Subtitled ‘A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, this weighty tome is actually surprisingly comprehensive. With 67 pages of Bibliography and an Index of 15 pages, the book is a veritable compendium of information, scholarly exploration, and informed opinion on the ways in which human societies have communicated over the …
Continue reading Nexus, by Yuval Noah Harari: #BookReview.
I’m still working on the first edit of the initial draft I finished, at 84,141 words, on 14th May. On 7th September I let you know I was well into the first edit of the WIP, when the word count had reached 57,341. On 15th September I let you know I was up to chapter …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP, 8/10/24
This continuing series of posts depicts our beautiful world, encouraging people to share them and maybe even help save our unique home planet from human carelessness and indifference.Today’s photo was taken during our holiday to celebrate our Wedding Anniversary, last year, on the lovely Greek island of Zakynthos. We’d walked from our comfortable hotel down …
Continue reading #ScenicSaturday September 28th 2024
In this rolling series I’m looking at things seen when out walking. Some objects will be familiar to some readers, but many are likely to be unfamiliar to most. I’m presenting those that caught my attention through incongruity, idiosyncrasy, or simply their odd appearance.I came upon this birch leaf on an autumn walk through the …
Continue reading Oddities Observed On Outings #22
Hard to believe, but I first posted about the new novel in progress on 11th March this year, when the word count for the actual book had reached 4443 words. By 17th March the count was 20,293 words at Chapter 8. And, on that date, I ‘promised’ to keep you informed of progress. Those with …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP
This continuing series of posts depicts our beautiful world, encouraging people to share them and maybe even help save our unique home planet from human carelessness and indifference.Today’s photo was taken on a trip to Italy to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary in 2018. We were staying in the small town of Stresa, on the …
Continue reading #ScenicSaturday September 7th 2024
Here is the statement from the back cover of this amazing book: ‘We still have a chance to live better than ever on Planet Earth. But, as humans become ever more powerful, how can we avoid blundering into disaster?’And this book does its level best to answer that question with positive ideas, suggestions, and examples.Anyone …
Continue reading There Is No Planet B, by Mike Berners-Lee: #BookReview.
In this continuing series I’m looking at things seen when out walking. Some objects will be familiar to some readers, but many are likely to be unfamiliar to most. I’m presenting those that caught my attention through their incongruity, idiosyncrasy, or simply their odd appearance.This was taken on a walk along one of the old …
Continue reading Oddities Observed On Outings #21
This continuing series of posts depicts our beautiful world, encouraging people to share them and maybe even help save our unique home planet from human carelessness and indifference.Today’s photo was taken along the banks of the River Wye on a walk beside the water. It’s one of our favourite spaces. Usually peaceful, the river has …
Continue reading #ScenicSaturday August 31st 2024:Â
Cadger Lane This continuing series of posts depicts our beautiful world, encouraging people to share them and maybe even help save our unique home planet from human carelessness and indifference.Today’s photo was taken at the edge of the small market town of Driffield in East Yorkshire. It shows Cadger Lane, in existence certainly since 1642, …
Continue reading #ScenicSaturday August 24th 2024:Â
This continuing series of posts depicts our beautiful world, encouraging people to share them and maybe even help save our unique home planet from human carelessness and indifference.Today’s photo was taken not far from Middleham in the Yorkshire Dales, a pretty little village with nearly as many horses as people! It’s also the site of …
Continue reading #ScenicSaturday August 17th 2024:Â
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