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.
It surely can’t be this long since I reported on my WIP, can it? But it appears my last post was way back on 23rd November 2024. How can that be?Well, I’ve some excuses. It’s possible some of you may consider them reasons, which would be better for my conscience.First excuse: I’m suffering from an …
Continue reading Further Progress on the #WIP
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.
Our planet, the only one we have, has been around for 4.54 billion years (4,540,000,000,000 years). The very first proto-humans emerged around 2,000,000 years ago, and human civilisation (such as it is) has been around for under 6,000 years. Only for 0.00001% of the history of the Earth have modern humans been around. And look …
Continue reading Our Fragile Moment, by Michael Mann #BookReview.
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.
Subtitled ‘The Secret History of Neoliberalism (& How It Came to Control Your Life)', and providing 57 pages of bibliography indicating the sources of research, this small book may be counted as one of the most important pieces of work to arise in the current situation.It’s clear most people remain unaware of the threat posed …
Continue reading The Invisible Doctrine, by George Monbiot & Peter Hutchinson #BookReview.
The mere mention of Greta’s name here may prevent the climate deniers and nay-sayers reading further. Such is the nature of the closed mind. The shame is that these are precisely the people who need to hear the message.The book is small and short, 106 pages of accessible text. These are the speeches Greta made …
Continue reading No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, by Greta Thunberg #BookReview.
Ray Bradbury was one of my earliest writer heroes. I read a lot of his work when I was a teenager and young man. Along with Asimov, Clarke, Aldiss, Heinlein and Wyndham he was one of the authors who created my love of science fiction.This is my second reading of this book. It has been …
Continue reading Zen in the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury: #Book Review.
I’ve enjoyed most of the books by William Golding I’ve read, despite one being a text for my ‘A’ level English Lit GCE.This one, however was tough to enjoy. It was difficult to engage with most of the characters, and the need for a personal familiarity with the times portrayed rather diminished the enjoyment that …
Continue reading The Scorpion God, by William Golding #BookReview.
At a little over 600 pages of fascinating text, this book by Bill Bryson kept me turning those leaves. That there are, in addition, 32 pages of bibliography, suggests the author has done his research, and done it thoroughly.The Book is subtitled ‘A Short History of Private Life’ and takes the form of an inspiring …
Continue reading At Home, by Bill Bryson: #BookReview.
This is the last in the short series of posts, relating to places of interest in the English County of Wiltshire. I intended here to help visitors know what to expect. Not presenting details of history, etc., simply describing as well as I can, with the aid of photographs, how to get there and what …
Continue reading A Short Visit to Wiltshire: #6 (Final) Avebury
This short series of posts, relating to places of interest in the English County of Wiltshire, is intended to help visitors know what to expect. I’m not presenting details of history, etc., simply describing as well as I can, with the aid of photographs, how to get there and what to expect when you arrive. …
Continue reading A Short Visit to Wiltshire: #5 Old Sarum
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Antidote to the Novel
Stuart Aken 