Category Archives: Reading

acqua alta and the abc murders

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Houyhnhnm

acqua alta by donna leon there must be few detective stories like this one, with no twist, but it was ok as i recognised some of the places in venice, enjoyed the recent real acqua alta, and the novel ends … Continue reading →

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a fish called wanda and brief answers to the big questions by stephen hawking

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Houyhnhnm

a fish called wanda some great moments, but overall disappointing; (‘sir’) michael palin’s stutter is always a little painful, but it was the (to modern eyes) slow editing which got me – and the sexism – both made it seem … Continue reading →

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the ape that understood the universe by steve stewart-williams and the dallas buyers guide

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

the ape that understood the universe by steve stewart-williams long-windedly and irritatingly covers the ground: first Darwinian natural selection of GENES, taking an explicitly and alternately triumphant and apologetic counter-zeitgeist stance that more of human nature is biological, genetic, than … Continue reading →

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a cuckoo calling (jk rowling) & julia shaw’s the illusion of memory

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

a cuckoo calling really enjoyable – hard to put down (or a delight to pick up); cormoran strike and robyn are great characters, and the story unwinds and retangles in the manner of the best whodunnits that’s all it is … Continue reading →

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othello & moby-dick

Posted on August 21, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

othello everyone (including me) went to see mark rylance’s iago; for the first scene or so i was confused as he spoke so fast i missed lots of the content but we settled, and really enjoyed rylance’s nervy subservience, running … Continue reading →

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philosophy for life by rupert read, and bamford quaker community

Posted on June 20, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

philosophy for life: a series of essays by the green quaker norwich-based (uea) philosopher, chained together skilfully by editor m.a. lavery, this book is a serious, witty, and unashamedly intellectual attempt to take dame philosophie from her ivory tower and put … Continue reading →

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rodin and the ancient greeks, & the iliad

Posted on May 20, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

rodin and the ancient greeks i didn’t realise that rodin spent a lot of time in london, and that he kept visiting the british museum to see the elgin marbles and other greek sculpture; it seems (at least according to … Continue reading →

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luisa miller & ordeal of innocence

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

luisa miller (live from the met, south woodford odeon) even my dad hadn’t heard of this opera by verdi; and the english surname of its heroine certainly feels unusual in this italian-language melodrama with a count and a guy called … Continue reading →

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wittgenstein’s poker & patience (after sebald)

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

wittgenstein’s poker a meeting of the moral sciences club in king’s college cambridge in 1946, where, allegedly, wittgenstein brandished a poker threateningly at karl popper: not much material for a book, you might think – but not so, dear reader, … Continue reading →

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così fan tutte and a portrait of the artist as a young man

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Houyhnhnm

così fan tutte (live from the met at the odeon south woodford) as with tosca, i was surprised, and pleased, at the level of dark, serious stuff, but this time more so, as superficially it’s a comedy spying on their … Continue reading →

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