On the renamed Trollope 19thC Studies list (see right for link) we have embarked on a year long project of reading the complete Short Stories. We have read some 13 stories so far and the main - and very obvious - conclusions I would draw are... That the quality of the stories varies wildly; some are little …
Continue reading Trollope – Short Stories – City and Country
There is not that much for me to write about this month as much of it was spent in the grip of Depression (although I manage to find a topic!) ; this does however give a chance for a brief discussion of some topics which rarely get aired, first among them video games, my favourite …
I have not written about the big D., my mood or what has been happening in my life for some months now. I was just preparing to do so at the very end of August and was ready to comment on how excellent July and August had been - the best August since my 'mood records' began …
As a result of reading Alexander Herzen's brilliant My Past and My Thoughts (about which I am still trying to start writing) I have embarked on a course of 19thC Russian literature to try and, very slowly, enlighten my dismal ignorance in this area. My first book was Nikolay Gogol's novel Dead Souls. Due to …
The Cat's Meow (2001) directed by Peter Bogdanovich tells a story about the events which occurred in November 1924 during a cruise on William Randolph Hearst's yacht The Oneida. The official version of events is that Thomas Ince, silent film producer/mogul and 'father of the Western', one of the guests on the cruise, died of …
How does one start to talk about a masterpiece like Renoir's La Regle du Jeu? What can possibly be said which has not been said before and better? The answer probably lies, as with other masterpieces in discussing wiser people's thoughts in the hopes of clarifying one's own. A few notes are all that should …
I have recently finished Ian McIntrye's 2008 biography of Hester Lynch Piozzi - Hester: The Remarkable Life of Dr Johnson's 'Dear Mistress'. This book has been lavishly praised so I have to admit to considerable disappointment. While it is a fairly easy read, it is in a remorseless chronological style - in May 1780 Hester did …
On the EighteenthCenturyWorlds List ( see right for link) Ellen recently posted some verses from Goldsmith's The Traveller..... Goldsmith, from "The Traveller" Creations' mildest charms are there combined, Extremes are only in the master's mind. Stern o'er each bosom reason holds her state, With daring aims irregularly great; Pride in their port, defiance in their …
I re-read, with more concentration, Caryl Churchill's Fen (1983). It is a remarkable piece of work mainly concerned with the lives of a number of women in a Fen village. There are a couple of male characters - Mr Tewson, the landowner, and Frank, for whom one of the women, Val, is leaving her husband and …
Witley Court is a country house in Worcestershire which was largely gutted by fire in 1937. Although the house is still a ruin, English Heritage, who acquired the property in the 1980's, have been working to restore the historically important gardens. In addition Great Witley Church, which is attached to the house, fortunately escaped the …
Moving Toyshop 