The BBC’s latest Sunday night offering is a ridiculously camp adaptation of Flora Thompson’s Lark Rise to Candleford. As to be expected, all the usual suspects have been wheeled out for a predictable bout of over acting and stereotypical one liners. It’s awful, but it got me thinking. Years ago The Albion Band released a… Continue reading Lark Rise to Candleford
Category: Reading
If This Is a Man The Truce, Primo Levi
I came to this book with ‘Arbeit macht frei’ ringing in my ears from a recent TV documentary, as it happens within a few pages the ironwork sign that is ‘Work makes freedom’ rears its ugly head with a morbid predictability. The unknown is probably the most terrifying aspect of this book, the idea of… Continue reading If This Is a Man The Truce, Primo Levi
Web Standards Solutions. The Markup and Style Handbook, Dan Cederholm
It may sound like a bold claim, but in a small way this book changed my life for the better. Over the last year or so I’ve been trying to implement as much standardised CSS and XHTML code into my web development work as possible. This has been an enjoyable and enlightening experience that has… Continue reading Web Standards Solutions. The Markup and Style Handbook, Dan Cederholm
The Bang–Bang Club, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva
I spent most weekday evenings during the mid eighties glued to the Nine O’clock News and Panorama. The news seemed to be full of stories about miners and apartheid whilst Panorama, with its terrifying theme tune, tended to focus on nuclear war and apartheid. The last sentence forms the basis of my argument that the… Continue reading The Bang–Bang Club, Greg Marinovich and Joao Silva
1968: The year that rocked the world, Mark Kurlansky
I like the way that this book sounds, an historical text rewritten as a story by a journalist who has the ability to make anything sound interesting. The research involved is penetrating in the way that it picks up on personal points from eye witness accounts, this leaves the reader with a genuine sense of… Continue reading 1968: The year that rocked the world, Mark Kurlansky
A world of my own, Robin Knox-Johnson
This book was borrowed from Mandy’s mum, a proper sewn hardback with solid covers, dated 1969. The texture of the paper and fantastic photos in that washed out early colour effect adds to the feeling of a place in time no longer with us. It smells old too, that musty yellowing smell reminiscent of Victorian… Continue reading A world of my own, Robin Knox-Johnson
Chickenhawk, Robert Mason
“The Cav raced up the valley, at least eighty ships, at low level, and fast. The gaggle flew over us and continued north to their assigned objective. Minutes later, the last of their formation disappeared, and the roar silenced….. I admit that I felt a sense of pride on seeing my old unit. They were… Continue reading Chickenhawk, Robert Mason
Fear and Loathing: on the Campaign Trail ‘72, Hunter S. Thompson
I never got round to reading ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’ because for some reason it never really appealed to me, although like most things in my life if I were slightly less judgemental I’d probably enjoy it. The first thing I noticed was how genuinely interested the author is on the subject matter,… Continue reading Fear and Loathing: on the Campaign Trail ‘72, Hunter S. Thompson
Homage to Catalonia. by George Orwell
Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell’s fascinating account of his part in the Spanish civil war. In a strikingly honest manner it details his basic training (or lack of it!), various theatres of warfare and the underpinning political factions involved. Unsurprisingly it is the latter on which Orwell focuses attention, the political parties, splinter groups… Continue reading Homage to Catalonia. by George Orwell
Downriver, by Iain Sinclair
Everything you do eventually comes to a stage at which there is no turning back. Running across a busy road or having a go at the staff in the Abbey National, you are committed – it is the point of no return. Throughout this book I felt that the start of every chapter was that… Continue reading Downriver, by Iain Sinclair