The Grand Old Duke of York Tour
Walking in the Elbe Valley, Saxony, Germany - May 2012
Although hardly Famous we were definitely Five: Clive, John, Stuart, Tom and me.* A 4.00am start, a bus, a plane, a taxi, a train and another taxi had taken me to the village of Krippen with the other four. Krippen … Continue reading →
As my recent experience of prize-winning books has been a bit mixed I’m glad to say that I enjoyed this 2011 Costa Book of the Year. Set in late 18th century Paris it tells the story of a young engineer … Continue reading →
Quite a few people rate this book highly but I am not one of them. It’s tedious, dull, unconvincing and verging on pretentious. Trying to understand the enthusiasm, I even tried to see it as allegory but failed there too. … Continue reading →
The assistant in the charity shop recommended this collection of Oxford-based short stories by Oxford-based writers (collectively Oxpens – geddit?). It was a good suggestion. It reminded me why the short story, done well, is a very pleasing genre. Inevitably … Continue reading →
In the introduction to this book the authors, themselves American, explain that most Americans don’t understand the significance and depth of feeling the European cycling Grand Tours generate in their fans. They set out to explain through the history of … Continue reading →
This isn’t really a review of “Cycles of Time”: I’m not going to discuss the structure of the book or the quality of the writing. Instead I’ve tried for my own benefit to summarise what I learned from reading it. … Continue reading →
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A Cycle Tour in Sweden and Norway, 1963 I recently retrieved from the back of a drawer a small notebook with a blue cover. I knew it was there – I’ve had it since 1963 – but I’ve only rarely … Continue reading →
This novel is set in present-day Moscow and evokes a believable atmosphere of smouldering and pervasive corruption. Some reviewers have found the plot dull and predictable, but I prefer to say that the story develops with slow inevitability as the … Continue reading →
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