Madeleine Bunting: The Plot: a Biography of My Father’s Acre I have been reading a difficult to categorise book by Madeleine Bunting, a former Guardian journalist. The book is an oblique history of her father and the small plot of land that he loved on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. Her father, JohnContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 173”
Tag Archives: fiction
Through a glass darkly – 171
Downsizing is a slow process. As you pick up items and remember where and when and why you acquired them. And then think of a few reasons for not throwing them out. So too with books. Many books hold associations, both of places and of people. I remember reading four volumes of George Orwell’s CollectedContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 171”
Through a glass darkly – 168
We’ve never made much of our wedding anniversary. Though I think that four years ago we flew back from Kyiv very early in the morning, after a truncated night. And I offered to buy Susie an anniversary breakfast in the airport at Frankfurt, with lots of Bavarian sausages and scrambled eggs. But she didn’t feelContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 168”
Through a glass darkly – 158
Drama on our doorstep yesterday afternoon. There was a major gorse fire on Arthur’s Seat, the volcanic hill just beyond the bottom of our garden. Our friends arriving from Lyon wondered if it was laid on for their entertainment. I set off to walk [limp] round the hill this morning. But it seems that someContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 158”
Through a glass darkly – 140
Books, books, books I’ve read 95 books during this past year, according to my omniscient MacBook. And I may well push on into three figures over the next ten days. It’s nothing to be proud of; Susie complains that I always have my nose in a book. The truth is that, because of a troublesomeContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 140”
Through a glass darkly – 137
A shrinking world As autumn turns to winter it has been a quiet few months. Susie and I limp around, as if preparing for a Senior Citizens’ three-legged race. We had a day down in Berwickshire at the beginning of October, when I was preaching in Fogo. An old village church and a welcoming congregation.Continue reading “Through a glass darkly – 137”
Through a glass darkly – 124
Back to school again With hindsight I may have over-invested in the 60 Years On reunion down at CH. It was a long way down and back on the train, and involved two nights in a modest but friendly hotel in Horsham. For what was in truth a modest event: mid-morning gathering for coffee; aContinue reading “Through a glass darkly – 124”
Through a glass darkly 