Category: Books
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The Twelve Days Of Christmas by Carol Ann Duffy
Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has written a new Twelve Days Of Christmas for Radio Times. It’s all about current affairs, touching on Afghanistan, the drought in sub-Saharan Africa, the financial crisis, the election of Barack Obama, the British MPs’ expenses scandal, and the Copenhagen climate summit. This is how…
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Wolf Hall: A Booker winner for story lovers
There’s nothing arty farty about Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. The 2009 Booker Prize winner is solid entertainment for anyone who loves a good story. Set in the reign of Henry VIII, it charts the rise of Thomas Cromwell, a blacksmith’s son who becomes the king’s most trusted adviser and the…
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Justine: Lawrence Durrell’s romantic classic
Love — wanton, all-consuming, passionate love — is the theme of Lawrence Durrell’s classic romantic novel, Justine, set in the Egyptian port city of Alexandria just before the outbreak of the Second World War. Two couples are inexorably drawn to each other in a romantic entanglement that ends in death…
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The Idea of Justice: Amartya Sen
Security is important and we will make sure we do our best to have a safe and uneventful meeting, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said when asked if he expected any disruptions during the upcoming Apec meeting. Unlike the IMF/World Bank meeting, Apec has no arrangement for engagement with…
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The reputation economy: Chris Anderson
I enjoyed reading Wired editor-in-chief Chris Anderson’s books, Free, and The Long Tail. Anyone who loves to blog or spend time online will find them highly informative. Here, in The Long Tail, Anderson is writing about the “reputation economy”. As a blogger himself, he understands why people blog and create…
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Technorati, Chris Anderson and The Long Tail
Here is the Technorati Top 100 blogs list for today, which I converted into a line chart after reading Chris Anderson’s The Long Tail. The Huffington Post is at the top of the chart with a Technology authority of 968 and Big Government, The Big Picture and Dvice round off…
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Marry Me: Bittersweet Updike
Can anyone write like John Updike? He could make even adultery lyrical. He does not turn a blind eye to the toll it takes. The lovers are exposed for what they are — cheating on their spouses and neglecting their little children. But Updike’s powerful prose captures the irresistible magnetism…
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TS Eliot Britain’s favourite poet
TS Eliot is Britain’s favourite poet, according to a BBC online poll. More good news: John Donne came in second and Yeats and Dylan Thomas also ended up in the top 10. I am surprised Auden didn’t make the list. How couldn’t he? More than 18,000 votes were cast and…
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Hilary Mantel: First British Booker Prize winner in five years
Hilary Mantel became the first British writer to win the £50,000 Man Booker Prize since Alan Hollinghurst won the award for The Line of Beauty five years ago, in 2004. Mantel’s historical epic, Wolf Hall, about Thomas Cromwell, adviser to Henry VIII, had been the popular favourite to win the…
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Booker buzz 2009
The winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize will be announced at 10 pm tonight (UK time), says Man Booker. That will be early tomorrow morning in Asia. Meanwhile, here’s the buzz on the £50,000 Commonwealth literary award on Twitter and FriendFeed. Hear the BBC interviews with the six shortlisted…
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