A bit niche this one... After the death of his mother, Roland Barthes scribbled on the equivalent of Post-It Notes to keep an almost daily record of his grief / mourning. I have to say that, after reading a year's worth of these, it all gets a bit cloying. I found myself wondering if he … Continue reading “Mourning Diary”
Category: History
“Tough without a Gun”
Is it fanciful to assume that one only reads biographies about people you are interested in? And if that is the case, does it mean we turn to page 1 predisposed to suppose we are going to enjoy the book? Whether that is true or not, Stefan Kanfer's biography of Humphrey Bogart, "Tough without a … Continue reading “Tough without a Gun”
“Some Sort of Genius”
Having finally got round to finishing reading it, I can say I really enjoyed Paul O'Keeffe's "Some Sort of Genius: A Life of Wyndham Lewis". It seems to me that O'Keeffe has managed the book's tone and balance really well; navigating between fact and narrative can be difficult when it comes to biography. We are … Continue reading “Some Sort of Genius”
“Guernica”
What strikes me most about James Attlee's chronology of Picasso's "Guernica" is the sense of how the painting seemed to have a life of its own, independent of the artist. And how it was never displayed in Spain - indeed, never in the country - until well after Franco's death, so four decades after it … Continue reading “Guernica”
“To Hell on a Fast Horse”
In To Hell on a Fast Horse, Mark Lee Gardner's portrayal of both Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett just about manages to maintain a balance between fact and fiction, the romantic and the repellant. It also keeps a pretty decent handle on the reality of late nineteenth century New Mexico, Texas at al. This … Continue reading “To Hell on a Fast Horse”
An insane amount of travel…
I have just started going through some old files in order to root out and bin / shred those papers I won't been needing to accompany us on our house move in about three months. The first section I'm tackling relates to my old 'career' life back in 2013 and 2014. At the time I … Continue reading An insane amount of travel…
My writing journey to the performance of “Crash”…
Ever since I wrote my first story aged five - an illustrated tale about a boy’s adventures in space - I wanted to do nothing other than write. In my early years this was an ambition fulfilled merely in fits and starts, and even then only in a minor way. This changed at the turn … Continue reading My writing journey to the performance of “Crash”…
Culture R.I.P.
We're all wasting our time. Small-minded cancel culture trumps everything. We might as well burn all the books now - though I think someone tried that ninety years ago... Michelangelo is pornography
“Ship’s Log”
In "Ship's Log", David Punter has harvested extracts from the letters and diaries of former SS Great Britain passengers and crew written during 19th Century voyages from the UK mainly to Australia, and used them as a kind of 'jumping off point' for poetic responses which attempt to echo the essence of the letters and … Continue reading “Ship’s Log”
Elizabeth Barraclough
Elizabeth Barraclough was my wife's aunt. 24 hours ago that 'was' would have been an 'is'. Elizabeth was one of the most remarkable people I think I have ever met. For example, in the late fifties and early sixties she was a leading light in the computer department at Newcastle University - I know, a … Continue reading Elizabeth Barraclough
Ian Gouge - Writer 