Sebastian Barry has written one of those rare books that portray emotion without sentiment, diametrically opposed views with neutrality, and complex events in a manner easy to follow. Nevertheless, I was moved to tears on more than one occasion, and therefore rather pleased I was reading in private.The hypocrisy of religion is described without rancour, …
Continue reading The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry: #BookReview.
Coastal Cornwall. I post these pictures of the natural beauty of our world to show how unique and irreplaceable it is. I’m simply presenting scenes I hope will please, and maybe inform, readers here.Links to items mentioned can be found at the end of the post.This one depicts part of the stunning coast of the …
Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 26th April 2025
Wordcloud selectively based on part of the WIP as it is at present. Writing a book. What does it mean? What does it entail?Fiction, in particular, engages or should engage all the senses. Otherwise, it’s a part story, an incomplete account, a limping, meandering path of words strung together without true feeling. But what does …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP.
This sumptuously illustrated book of 400 pages of visual art and its history is an attempt to show the development of pictorial representation from the earliest daubes and scratches on the walls of caves all the way through to the more modern daubes and splashes that can apparently be counted as art. In between are …
Continue reading Timelines of Art, by DK: #BookReview
Subtitled ‘Women, Art and the Power of Looking’, this book entered my reading list as a resource for research for a novel I’m writing.It has filled that requirement far better than I ever imagined. The breadth and depth of research the author has conducted to compile this treatise on the misogyny and injustice dealt out …
Continue reading Women In The Picture, by Catherine McCormack: #BookReview.
One of three notebooks, gift of my daughter's mother-in-law, Chris. For which, many thanks! It is a long time since I reported on my WIP. 19th January, to be precise.So, how’s it going?Inevitably, a touch of illness, advancing years, the state of the world since the orange clown was placed in a position of power …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP.
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
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 