The Last Days of Roger Federer: And Other Endings By Geoff Dyer (Audiobook read by Richard Burnip, 11h 29m, Canongate Books, £21.87) . It’s late June, Wimbledon’s upon us, and Geoff Dyer is talking about his tennis injuries. Geoff Dyer is always talking about his tennis injuries. It’s one of his endearing features. But when […]
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Tagged 9/11, Achilles, age, Al Pacino, Alfred Tennyson, Americans, Andy Murray, Anthony Powell, audiobooks, Beethoven, Bjorn Borg, Bob Dylan, Burning Man, Canongate, Chuck Yeager, Coetzee, Custer, David Cameron, David Thomson, De Chirico, death, DH Lawrence, drugs, epigraphs, football, footnotes, Geoff Dyer, George Best, George Saunders, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Gillian Slovo, Gillian Welch, health and safety, Henry James, humour, James Last, jazz, Jean Rhys, JMW Turner, John Berger, John Coltrane, Jorah Mormont, London, loo roll, Martin Scorsese, Mike Tyson, Mohicans, Nietzsche, non-fiction, Paris, Pete Sampras, Peter Ackroyd, Philip Larkin, Raymond Williams, Rebecca West, references, Richard Burnip, Roger Federer, shampoo, Tarkovsky, TC Boyle, tennis, The Doors, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, the Olympics, trains, William Basinski, Wimbledon, work, WWII, YouTube
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In which I, ASH Smyth, High Anglican atheist, descendant of Huguenots, dissenters, Presbyterians, Church of Ireland types, and maybe even Quakers, make my Catholic press debut, on Phil Klay’s Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War. — For The Catholic Herald
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Tagged Afghanistan, America, Americans, Barack Obama, books, Catholicism, citizenship, Iraq, Jesuits, John McCain, Journalism, Libya, movies, Navy Seals, Niger, non-fiction, Pakistan, Penguin, Phil Klay, politics, Somalia, St Ignatius, Syria, The Catholic Herald, Ukraine, USMC, veterans, war, writers, Yemen
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Attempting – unsuccessfully – to get my head round the roots of the Ukraine war, via Orlando Figes’ magisterial Crimea. — For Perspective
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Tagged Alaska, Alexander Morrison, Andrey Kurkov, audiobooks, Austria, Bessarabia, Blackadder, Britain, Christianity, Circassians, Cossacks, Crimea, Florence Nightingale, France, imperialism, Islam, Jerusalem, Kalmuks, Malk Williams, maps, NATO, Nicholas I, Nikita Kruschev, non-fiction, Orlando Figes, Perspective, religion, Russia, Ruthenia, Tatars, the Army, the Baltic, the Black Sea, the Caucasus, the Danube, the Falklands, the Great Game, the Mediterranean, the Ottoman Empire, the Pacific, the press, the Royal Navy, the Soviet Union, trade, Turkey, Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Wallachia, war, WWI
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In the run-up to the 40th anniversary commemorations, a review of James O’Connell’s step-by-step first-hand account of one of the Falklands War’s bloodiest battles. — For Perspective
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Tagged 3 Para, Aldershot, Argentinians, audiobooks, bayonets, Brian Bowles, Brigadier General Julian Thompson, christenings, Colin Mace, communications, death, Elliot Fitzpatrick, Freddie Gaminara, Geoffrey Lumb, grenades, helicopters, Huw Parmenter, Ian McKay, injuries, James O'Connell, Joe Gaminara, Korea, landmines, Max Hastings, mental health, Moody Brook, Mt Longdon, non-fiction, Oseloka Obi, Paul Panting, Penelope Rawlins, Perspective, plastic surgery, Port Stanley, Sam Newton, shit, Simon & Garfunkel, tea, the Falkands War, the Victoria Cross, the Victory Bar, Union Jack, war, youth
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The Red Sea Scrolls: How Ancient Papyri Reveal the Secrets of the Pyramids Pierre Tallet and Mark Lehner Thames & Hudson £30 319pp (1.216kg) . Because I once made the mistake of dabbling a bit in Egyptology, no less than every other week – in the year 2022 – some friend (‘…’) will schwack me […]
Review of Tracy Chevalier’s treatment of Mary Canning’s life, in Remarkable Creatures. — For Perspective
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Tagged audiobooks, Bishop Usher, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Bullock's Egyptian Hall, Deshan Tennekoon, Dickens, Dissenters, Dorset, Elizabeth Philpot, fiction, film, Geological Society, history, International Women's Day, John Fowles, Lyme Regis, Mary Anning, men, Oxford University, palaeontology, Perspective, poverty, religion, Saxony, science, the Bible
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Get Rich or Lie Trying: Ambition and Deceit in the New Influencer Economy by Symeon Brown, Atlantic Books, £16.99 . Born when we were born, and embarking on writing ‘careers’ (LOL) just as the web ripped the financial guts out of the paper industry, my idea of a good time is to phone my best […]
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Tagged 50 Cent, Atlantic Books, Black Lives Matter, books, Cardi B, Channel 4, China, Clubhouse, Covid, crime, cryptocurrency, dropshipping, Facebook, fashion, Fashion Nova, finance, influencing, Instagram, Jordan Belfort, Journalism, Kylie Jenner, LimeWire, LinkedIn, livestreaming, music, non-fiction, plastic surgery, pyramid schemes, rap, religion, social media, Soulja Boy, Symeon Brown, Texas, The Critic, The Wall Street Journal, TikTok, Tottenham, Turkey, Twitter, YouTube
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Tuesday, February 1, 2022
Review of Robert Macfarlane and Stanley Donwood’s poem/song/story/play on where past and present meet at Orford Ness. — For Perspective magazine
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Tagged audiobooks, fiction, Hugh Brunt, landscape, Max Porter, music, non-fiction, Orford Ness, Penguin, Perspective, Poetry, Radiohead, Robert Macfarlane, Scarfolk, Stanley Donwood, Stephen Dillane, Suffolk, the Falklands, war
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Friday, December 10, 2021
Forever and a Day: a James Bond novel by Anthony Horowitz (Random House Audiobooks, read by Matthew Goode, 7hrs 36mins) . Around the final Daniel Craig installment, there’s been inevitable talk of who should be the next James Bond. Well, I’ll tell you who it shouldn’t be, and that’s Matthew Goode. Three years ago, Anthony […]
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Tagged Anthony Horowitz, audiobooks, Britain, cars, CIA, Corsica, fiction, food, French, German, Ian Fleming, James Bond, languages, Matthew Goode, McDonald's, MI6, Norway, Radio 3, Random House, Russians, Scots, wine, women, WW2
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Review of Werner Herzog’s Das Dämmern der Welt – or (probably) The Twilight/Dawn (of the?) World. — For Perspective
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Tagged army, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Audible, audiobooks, Emperor Akihito, Ferdinand Marcos, German, Google Translate, Hanser, Hiroo Onoda, Japan, kochbananen, Lubang, non-fiction, Perspective, Philippines, the Falklands, the moon, the Stasi, translation, TS Eliot, Vietnam, war, Weltanschauung, Werner Herzog, WG Sebald, WWII
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