Category Archives: Literature

Book Reviews: Sellar and Yeatman 1066 and All That (1930); O’Farrell An utterly impartial history of Britain

Posted on October 22, 2018 by

Sellar and Yeatman invented satire on school-boy history. They mocked history books which were current at the time which mostly created the myth that the British were naturally superior to all other countries. They developed the phrase ‘a good thing’ … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Michael Lewis ~ Flash Boys: Cracking the money code

Posted on September 24, 2018 by

This is a wonderfully entertaining book, which reads like a novel, an incomprehensible techy textbook and a polemic against the US stock market. Parts were beyond my understanding. For example- “Round-trip travel time from Chicago to New Jersey has been … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Helen Cresswell ~ Ordinary Jack: the Bagthorpe Saga

Posted on September 11, 2018 by

Ordinary Jack is aimed at the 9+ market. Yes it’s a children’s book. It’s full of guileless humour and strong characterisation. Ordinary Jack is a member of the Bagthorpe family all of whom are very high achieving talented and utterly … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Geoff Dyer ~ Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Posted on August 28, 2018 by

This book is actually two books linked by the narrator, Jeff. The first half is of Jeff as a degenerate freelance journalist who hates both his job ‘writing shit articles’ and himself. He reflects on lost talent and an inability … Continue reading →

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Make Russia great again

Posted on August 24, 2018 by

“It is discovered that Stalin is alive and living in a cabin in Siberia. A delegation is sent to convince him to return to Moscow, assume power, and restore Russia to greatness. After some reluctance, Stalin agrees to come back. … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Mike Herron- Slow Horses

Posted on August 21, 2018 by

Every organisation has people who don’t fit in. Slough House is full of MI5 rejects, underachievers and the really talented who don’t fit in: they don’t have any career prospects. Jackson Lamb is significantly superior to everyone else with a … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Omar El Akkad ~ American War

Posted on August 14, 2018 by

Omar was born in Egypt, lived in Qatar and is now a Canadian. This matters, American War is a dystopian novel set in the late 21st century. America is engaged in a vicious civil war. Climate change has caused havoc … Continue reading →

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