My latest opinion piece for the E2D NOW I don’t want to be melodramatic or anything, but at the time of writing I’m just hours away from heading back to Bangladesh – where I spent the six happiest years of my life – and I’m very aware ‘I may not make it back alive’, as… Read More ‘Being British’ and not making a fuss
Lord of the Flies by William Golding My rating: 4 of 5 stars ‘Lord of the Flies’ is another of those classics I always intended to read but never had the chance to until now. I’m not sure the novel deserves its cult status but I am certainly glad it’s another one on my literary… Read More Book Review: Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Originally published in the E2D Happy New Year to you all! I hope you’ve all recovered nicely from the holiday season and not finding the dreary trudge of normal life which January always seems to hold in store for us too much for you. Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? You know, those things… Read More An Alternative to New Year’s Resolutions
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have no fear of ‘killing my darlings’ as we say in the writing game and I count favourite novelists as fair targets in that respect as you will know if you’ve been following my book reviews for some time. Harper Lee… Read More Book Review: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
From my opinion column written for the Egremont 2Day newspaper. I’m writing this on Remembrance Sunday having stood in the pouring rain watching my children take part as cadets in the Whitehaven parade. While I’m trying to warm up I’ve been thinking about how the parade brought to mind the meaning of principles. First I’m… Read More Principles and Systems
Complete Novels by Franz Kafka My rating: 3 of 5 stars I am a huge fan of Kafka, or I was. I studied his short stories at university and was bewildered and challenged by his writings yet found them irresistible. I enjoyed too the BBC film version of his greatest novel ‘The Trial’. It still… Read More Book Review: Complete Novels by Franz Kafka
From my opinion column written for the Egremont 2Day newspaper. I was impressed and moved by Rachel Holliday when I met her for the opening of Calderwood House recently. I was impressed because this woman had virtually strong-armed a number of people, including the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria, into helping turn her project… Read More Why Calderwood House offers hope to all of us
Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse My rating: 4 of 5 stars Continuing on my ever-present task of reading classic books I really should have read decades ago, I have thoroughly enjoyed my first venture into the world of Jeeves and Wooster. What’s more, my two teenage children also enjoyed the experience – to the… Read More Book Review: Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse
Write Out Loud 