TIME for reflection on this running life. For “reviewing the situation“, as the fiendish Fagin sang in the wonderful film version of Oliver, way back in the 1960s. A need to stop awhile and consider what lies ahead. Like a rambler who has tramped their way steadily to the top of a Dartmoor tor, resting…
A BOOK obtained by an accidental encounter; a volume I had never considered in the several years since it first appeared in 2017 and won the Costa First Novel Award. Not even as an impulse buy while browsing bookshop shelves. This intriguing, mesmerising and continually delightful tale was plucked from a box of unwanted items…
COMPARISONS are inevitable when books are transported from page to screen. Especially between the leading characters as they are read and as they are seen. An author’s descriptions enable us to build our personal bank of images as we move through the chapters. Fleshing out the bare bones we are given at the start until…
WOULD it be churlish to suggest that Naomi Osaka, the new prima donna of the tennis world, takes a vow of silence for a week or two? Is it showing lack of empathy or understanding to recommend she has a long and deep session of introspection and self-examination; to think hard before venting any more…
They took their time: much more than they should. But at long last, the trustees of the National Trust have accepted the resignation of chairman Tim Parker. Or was he pushed as the person ostensibly overseeing a succession of decisions that have alienated many loyal members and seen the dismissal of hundreds of dedicated staff,…
SAD times for the pedants among us. To start with, the man who waged a lifelong war against misuse of the apostrophe has met his own full stop. Then, as if to add insult to injury, that weird Californian couple who once were royal have continued their verbose mangling of the English language. The first…
RUNNING is an uncomplicated process of placing one foot ahead of the other; similar to walking but at a faster pace. No argument with that? Good. For most people running is a simple and easy-to-manage forward movement. One that has existed since humankind emerged from our amoebic slime and stood upright. All agreed? Excellent. In…
RARELY do I find a book having such a deep and personal impact as this moving and tender story. Its effect lingered long after the final word had been read; reviving cherished memories, plucking at the heartstrings. Poignant moments from earlier days were relived, reflected upon with a mixture of sadness and joy. The details…
NAH, it can’t be that good. Surely not. Must be because its cover has a celebrity’s name taking top billing as the author. Another example of vanity publishing, selling by popularity rather than content. Probably ghost written too. Isn’t that how it goes; win the public’s heart through the telly or sport then cash in…
Living, coping and observing in the age of Covid #10 REMEMBER those bruising, knuckle-skinning, foot-tripping days of yore; every man and woman (and all in between) for themselves; no holds barred as the doors slid open and the mass hurtled forward at the opening of the Boxing Day sales? Or the elbow-shoving, back-pushing skirmishes as …