With an insightful Foreword by Ustinov that really good lawyers stay in the legal profession, and second-raters go into politics... and with a nice InWith an insightful Foreword by Ustinov that really good lawyers stay in the legal profession, and second-raters go into politics... and with a nice Introduction by Kirk Douglas on watching Ustinov clowning privately by himself when not active on the set of 'Spartacus'... we then get an entire book of national/ethnic jokes about UN diplomats in the 1960s, with Ustinov acting out stereotypes of the US, UK, France, Italy, Germany, USSR, 'Red China' and 'the Arab bloc'. All done by adjusting his hair, his expression, his glasses, his tie, and turning his jacket back to front or pulling it over his head. The man is a comic genius....more
Matthew Arnold has been not just an enjoyable poet for me but also a guiding light since my teens, especially for two poems: 'The Scholar Gypsy' who
"Matthew Arnold has been not just an enjoyable poet for me but also a guiding light since my teens, especially for two poems: 'The Scholar Gypsy' who
"tired of knocking at preferment's door One summer morn forsook His friends and went to learn the gypsy lore And roamed the world with that wild brotherhood And came as most men deemed to little good But came to Oxford and his friends no more."
and 'A Summer Night' which contrasts the existence of those who work enslaved in meaningless jobs until they die, and those who
"Escape their prison and depart On the wide ocean of life anew. There the freed prisoner, where'er his heart Listeth, will sail..."
though this escapee simply fails differently, and comes to a more violent end. Less dramatically in other poems, Arnold writes
"To its own impulse every creature stirs; Live by thy light, and earth will live by hers!"
My other favourite of his poems is 'The Forsaken Merman', a lovely flowing Hans Christian Andersen piece. I know hundreds more lines of Arnold than I do of any other poet. I don't think he is the best poet of the ones I know and love... but there are just passages of his verse that are very memorable, and memorisable, and there we are. And when I say I 've just reread his work, I do NOT mean I've read all of it. A lot of it is just Victorian blather, as far as I can be bothered to look....more
Baba Yaga and the old Slavic gods (some of them) come to life is this brilliantly constructed fantasy. Think 'American Gods' meets 'The Princess BrideBaba Yaga and the old Slavic gods (some of them) come to life is this brilliantly constructed fantasy. Think 'American Gods' meets 'The Princess Bride'. It's right in there. (Crediting Eliza for the recommendation.)...more
Interesting exercise: six short stories, each followed by an analysis by ex-Superintendent Cornish of the C.I.D. as to whether the crimes would reallyInteresting exercise: six short stories, each followed by an analysis by ex-Superintendent Cornish of the C.I.D. as to whether the crimes would really be unsolvable. Nice reads. Five of them are from the point of view of the murderer, so there is no question about whodunnit, only whether or not it would be possible to solve.
The most interesting story, though, is 'The Fallen Idol'. Here we don't know who commits the murder, or how. The story's Chief of Police interviews a variety of people, and sets up a system of word-associations to gauge the response of half a dozen people. It is very elegantly done, but, honestly, the after-story analysis by Cornish completely misidentifies the murderer! The book editors seem to acknowledge this in their questions at very front of the book: "Is he successful? Has he found those tell-tale clues, and if he hasn't, can you?" The questions only apply to that one story, where the murderer is unknown... and the real-world police Superintendent has got it wrong....more
An excerpt, apparently, of The Fairy Caravan. Three tales, not particularly interesting, illustrated by Pauline Baynes who did a lot of Tolkien and CSAn excerpt, apparently, of The Fairy Caravan. Three tales, not particularly interesting, illustrated by Pauline Baynes who did a lot of Tolkien and CS Lewis......more
The best collection of Elizabethan poets you could hope for. I picked up a secondhand copy at random on holiday, doubtful how much I would actually reThe best collection of Elizabethan poets you could hope for. I picked up a secondhand copy at random on holiday, doubtful how much I would actually read... but over two weeks I read it cover to cover, and enjoyed it all....more
Not knowing much about her, this reads like the unstructured ramblings of a creative and damaged person, often with startling imagery, occasionally blNot knowing much about her, this reads like the unstructured ramblings of a creative and damaged person, often with startling imagery, occasionally blasting into memorable lyrical intensity; but often just rambling....more
There is NO point in reading this series out of order. I originally had 1, 2 and 6. The last one made absolutely no sense. I have now read 1 to 6 in oThere is NO point in reading this series out of order. I originally had 1, 2 and 6. The last one made absolutely no sense. I have now read 1 to 6 in order, and it is a coherent part of an ever-deepening story....more
A brilliant take on the idea of the last human on earth, written from the viewpoint of a robot thirty years after the robots have (almost) wiped out hA brilliant take on the idea of the last human on earth, written from the viewpoint of a robot thirty years after the robots have (almost) wiped out humanity. Funny, wise, clever and sympathetic. A great YA novel....more
Hard to say if these are really kids' books... just read and enjoy them!Hard to say if these are really kids' books... just read and enjoy them!...more
This is the one where Phoney Bone goes full-bore Trump in taking control of the village with lies and deception, getting the villagers to give him allThis is the one where Phoney Bone goes full-bore Trump in taking control of the village with lies and deception, getting the villagers to give him all their food and all their wealth by claiming to protect them from a threat he knows is nonexistent... Read it and weep....more
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