For the past few weeks, I have been conducting what writers call ‘background research’ and what other people call sitting in a deckchair reading a book. I am hoping, quite soon, to start work on a novel (or a series of novels) that will, to some extent, concern life and events in Britain in the past half-century. Continue reading
In praise of anchovies
My recent blogs have been on weighty historical and politico-economic themes. Imminent blogs will offer more of the same, since the past few weeks have been consumed with reading weighty historical and politico-economic tomes. I will want to share my thoughts on all that before I forget what they are. All the more need, therefore, for a little light relief this week. So I will write in praise of the humble anchovy. Continue reading
The worst of both worlds
Sitting in rural France, the endless Brexit rumblings seem a very long way away. However important the issues involved, it is easy to feel fed up with the whole process and to wish it would go away. Yet, alongside this feeling, I have another one – growing impatience with the hardcore Remainers of both parties. They are coming close to turning me from a mildly reluctant Remainer into a Leaver. Continue reading
Truth and myth
How much truth can we take? It depends on the individual. It depends on the circumstances. But probably none of us can take the pure, unvarnished truth (whatever that may be) on a permanent basis. And sometimes we can’t take very much of it at all. But we still need some explanation for our worst behaviour, and some means to sustain our futures. If the truthful explanation is too much to bear, we invent another one. The edifices of our personal lives, and the lives of our nations, rest upon such myths. Continue reading
1945: year zero
I am reading Postwar, Tony Judt’s magnificent history of Europe since 1945. It is extremely long, and I am only up to the mid-’50s. The book will surely provide the material for future blogs, but here are some initial impressions on the immediate post-war years. Continue reading
Based on a true story
I have spent the morning cataloguing all these blogs since I began writing them in February 2016. There have been 120 before this one, amounting to more than 100,000 words. The reason for the catalogue is that I have started to forget what I have already written and need to refresh my memory. Not that anyone else would notice, but I might. Continue reading
Unintended consequences
I failed in my intention not to watch the royal wedding. I didn’t want to switch on the TV because I knew that, if I did, I would be glued to it throughout. My wife did want to switch it on because she knew that she could just dip in and out of it at will. Which she did, while I sat watching for hours on end. Continue reading
Life as history
France has been celebrating (or bewailing, take your pick) the 50th anniversary of the events of May 1968, when there were barricades and battles on the streets of Paris, and factories and universities were occupied across the country. The ‘soixante-huiters’ are still alive and kicking in the memory of France. And in my memory too. Continue reading
Fighting old battles
Oh, to be in England now that May is here. Instead we are in France, gloomy and grey, with cloud close to ground level and a fire burning in the grate, while Britain basks in the sun. It is not supposed to be this way round. Continue reading
Burying good news
You would think that the Government could do with some good news. And that, if it found some, however tenuous, it would trumpet it to the heavens. At the end of February, it had some solid good news to proclaim, neither tenuous nor ephemeral. It was reported in a low-key way. In fact, it has taken until now for me to be aware of it. Continue reading
