Author Archives: europhilevicar

John le Carre Our  son gave me a copy of John le Carré’s latest book, Agent running in the field, for my birthday.  I am delighted, as Le Carré has given me more pleasure than any other writer over the past fifty years. For the moment I’m reluctant to start on the book; it’s aContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 18”

Woodward’s History of England Regular readers [if such exist] may recall that my long-ago study of history left me with a rather large lacuna; from the Magna Carta of 1215 to the outbreak of the First World War, that is about seven centuries. So, several decades later, I have been reading E.L. Woodward’s History ofContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 17”

Albert Camus During this eighteenth week of lock-down it seemed a good idea to look again at Albert Camus’s The Plague [La Peste]. Camus was a name to conjure with when I was growing up in the 1960s; a French writer, philosopher, and journalist. He was often labelled an existentialist, a label that he alwaysContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 16”

Being seventy five I was seventy five two days ago. What does that event signify ? When I googled the number [except that I don’t use Google, I use Duck Duck Go Go], it told me that seventy five was the number one above seventy four. Which is certainly true, if not very helpful. AndContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 15”

Out to lunch. So, bars and restaurants are opening again down south. It seems an extraordinarily stupid act by blustering Boris to fix a Saturday in July as so-called Liberation Day. The distasteful scenes on the beaches at Bournemouth in recent days show that managing the easing of lock-down promises to be a difficult job.Continue reading “Through a glass darkly – 14”

As we move towards our 15th week of lock-down, I wouldn’t want anyone to think that my reading consisted solely of academic history and German theology. After lunch and before going to sleep I have turned the pages of a number of thrillers. I started with Colin Dexter’s Morse books. There is no doubt thatContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 13”

Wishing and Hoping It is easy to think that wishing and hoping are synonyms. The two words often go together.  Wishin’ and Hopin’ is a Hal David and Burt Bacharach song from the 1960s.  It was released by Dionne Warwick in 1963, and was subsequently a hit for Dusty Springfield in the summer of 1964.Continue reading “Through a glass darkly – 12”

The Scottish Episcopal Church It is a curious fact that when I was ordained into the Scottish Episcopal Church, by Bishop Richard Holloway in St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh, in June 1988, I had scarcely ever been in an Episcopalian church service. I was born in London, had lived all my life in England or inContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 11”

Life in lock-down We are back from Normandy. Except that we didn’t go there. This is the twelfth week of lock-down for us here in Edinburgh. It is the longest that I have been in the same city for as long as I can remember. Perhaps for ever. Since March 15th I haven’t been anywhereContinue reading “Though a glass darkly – 10”

Postcards from Normandy We are in Normandy. Except that we’re not. We had rented a house at St Floxel, a small village in the Manche. It would have been half term week, and we were to have been sharing it with the children and grand-children. Getting there from Edinburgh was an interesting challenge. We hadContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 8”