Monthly Archives: June 2012

Baby-farming and abortion

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

This article, by Dorothy L. Haller, describes how “baby farmers” in Victorian England exploited extreme prejudice against unmarried mothers by taking in unwanted babies for payment, but then letting them die slowly by feeding them watered down milk (he longer … Continue reading →

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“The Dispossessed” by Ursula le Guin

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

There’s a book on the politics of The Dispossessed which, if I get round to reading it, might help me think and write about that aspect of this novel. In (that and) other respects it’s a very good book indeed, … Continue reading →

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Fit Bodies: Statues, Athletes and Power

Posted on June 11, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

A small and interesting exhibition at UCL on views of the (beautiful) human body over millennia, from Greek sculpture to female bodybuilders, usefully augmented by entries from a student competition of photographs on the same theme. The entries are here; … Continue reading →

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Writing Britain, at the British Library

Posted on June 9, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Nice title, using the English ambiguity between a participle (“Britain which writes”), like “flying saucer”, and the gerund with an object (“writing (about) Britain”), like “singing songs”. (The National Trust went large on this a few years ago with their … Continue reading →

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Grayson Perry: “The Vanity of Small Differences”

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Victoria Miro Gallery, Hoxton Six stunning tapestries (woven on a computerised loom, from colour-blocked scans of paintings, according to the guy at the cash desk) depicting a modern Rake’s Progress. Hogarth’s Tom Rakewell has become Tim Rakewell, pink-lensed software magnate … Continue reading →

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“The Lost Books of the Odyssey” by Zachary Mason

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

One of the best books I have read. 44 short (some very short) stories on the theme of Odysseus and his return from Troy. Poetic, mysterious, playful, jumping around in time, each one, for lovers of Homer, a pre-sleep daily … Continue reading →

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“My Week With Marilyn” or “quorum pars parva fui…”

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

A strangely unthinking film: Colin Clark’s diaries, the basis of the story, are used too straight: too often we hear a bon mot from a Great One (it may be Larry, it may be Sybil Thorndike), overheard at the door … Continue reading →

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Have we missed something?

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Marx’s revolution? The proletariat are gliding through glass malls, tapping wirelessly-connected little glass screens. Workers swarm over stately homes, supping National Trust tea, while the rump of an aristocracy skulk in the cottage on the edge of the estate. Orwell’s … Continue reading →

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The Empty Church

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Church has been likened to sport, concerts, or anywhere else where people gather, face the same direction, and share the same experience. But what’s the difference about church? It’s that at football people watch the football, and at a concert … Continue reading →

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“The Truth about Lorin Jones” by Alison Lurie

Posted on June 6, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

A deft novel about each other and ourselves, about the conflicting stories we hear and tell about us, about prejudice and, more profoundly, the logical unknowability of a person, even ourselves. Lurie’s characters’ names give this away: the heroine – … Continue reading →

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