Author Archives: Houyhnhnm

Plato’s Protagoras

Posted on January 10, 2015 by Houyhnhnm

The main trigger to reread this came from my colleague’s teaching it as an A2 Greek text. Expecting Socrates to expose Protagoras as a shallow and mercenary “sophist”, he and his class couldn’t understand how Socrates’ arguments seemed just as … Continue reading →

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“Inside Story” by Chapman Pincher

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

(Only read a few chapters) I used to love reading my Dad’s old red hardback copy of Chapman Pincher’s collection science columns for the Express called It’s Fun Finding Out – a title eclipsed on his shelves only by Romping Through … Continue reading →

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“Mr Campion and others” by Margery Allingham

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

More of the wonderful Margery Allingham, this time my first encounter with her short stories. Thirteen exquisite tales set in pre-war high-society London, starring her more younger and more worldly Wimsey – Albert Campion – and his sceptical plod/Knacker/Lestrade – … Continue reading →

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“An Introduction to Quakerism” by Ben Pink Dandelion

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

When you take into account the author’s name, this book is surprisingly serious; perhaps Ben Pink Dandelion felt that he had to overcompensate for the expectations his name might generate. But he had no need – as the man in … Continue reading →

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Borges on writers creating their own precursors

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

“If I am not mistaken, the heterogeneous pieces I have enumerated resemble Kafka; if I am not mistaken, not all of them resemble each other. The second fact is the more significant. In each of these texts we find Kafka’s … Continue reading →

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Beryl Bainbridge: “Sweet William”

Posted on November 13, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

Puzzled by the very end, which seemed intended as a punchline, making clear what had really been going on, but for me as usual leaving me none the wiser, I found Katha Pollit’s contemporary review of this 1975 novel. This … Continue reading →

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Ray Monk: “Wittgenstein”

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

There’s not much left for me now to “get” Wittgenstein beyond, er, reading and thinking about his actual philosophical writings. Monk’s reassuring biography comprehensively tells the/a story of his life, and famously-well weaves in the outlines of the philosophy as … Continue reading →

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A.E. Housman’s “A Shropshire Lad”

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

I read these 60 or do little lyrics yesterday as a birthday treat, and about two-thirds of the way through was convinced they were the best poems ever (but I wasn’t so sure by the end). So simple – regular … Continue reading →

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Statius: “Achilleid”

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

This 1st-century AD Latin poet died after writing a book and a half of his epic on Achilles; intended no doubt to build on the success of his Thebaid, about the civil war between the sons of Oedipus Polynices and … Continue reading →

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Ethics Man

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Houyhnhnm

Going for a consistent set of principles seems to be really about: “Scientifically” imagining scenarios where we are clear about right and wrong courses of action, for example torturing an innocent person is wrong, giving a meal to a starving person is … Continue reading →

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