Ersatz TLS discussion

SydneyH wrote: "Francis Spufford’s Golden Hill is a splendid book, set in Eighteenth-Century New York, when the city was a sort of rustic town with an ample dockyard. A mysterious Englishman arrives with a bill he..."

I don't know how the plot works out, but I'm struck by this: "A mysterious Englishman arrives with a bill he claims grants him a small fortune, and cheerfully declines to give any explanation of his origins or his business."

Refusing to explain who one is would have been the kiss of death for any business aspirations in real life. For strangers, doing business was all but impossible without some kind of mutual third party recommendation.

Someone I helped out in a very minor way unexpectedly gifted me a book by way of thanks; Italo Calvino's "The Complete Cosmicomics" - something which I would likely never have chosen for myself, making me doubly grateful.

Veufveuve wrote: "Refusing to explain who one is would have been the kiss of death for any business aspirations in real life."

Yes, that's pretty much the response he gets. He happily lets them speculate that he could be a swindler, but the understanding is that the bill will be approved by a following boat over the next month. Their definitely isn't a quick exchange of funds.

SydneyH wrote: "Veufveuve wrote: "Refusing to explain who one is would have been the kiss of death for any business aspirations in real life."

Yes, that's pretty much the response he gets. He happily lets them sp..."

Good, because I've been intrigued by this book for some time. Absolute historical accuracy is not that important to me, we're talking fiction after all, but if this was a major plot point and it had worked out differently then it probably wouldn't have been something I couldn't look past.

scarletnoir wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "I would like to see young people given more lessons in critical thinking, learning to consider problems from all angles for I feel that this awareness is lacking in many sections o..."

Yes, that's true.
I do believe that more attention should be paid to it for it is relevant across the curriculum. Maybe people would not believe the newspapers and social media so readily if taught to study things from different angles. The general limitations were very noticeable when I was lecturing in statistics as it is a basic skill needed in so many professions, not only the mathematics - simply understanding exactly what the text is saying, what is being left out and whether any claims are true.
I will get off the soapbox again.
One of my sons has just moved to the Welsh border, in fact if you travel eastwards from you to the border.....

CCCubbon wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "I would like to see young people given more lessons in critical thinking, learning to consider problems from all angles for I feel that this awareness is lackin..."

I am with you all the way there, CC.

And I would go one step further. Solid skills in statistics are not only needed in many professions. Everybody should have them. Because they can be of vital importance when it comes to decisions that have an impact on our well-being, our health,

Without those skills: what will Mr Smith do if his doctor tells him that taking drug X will reduce his risk to suffer a serious event by 50%? Or even by 75%? Sounds great! He'd be an idiot to refuse, wouldn't he?

Only he (like his well-meaning doctor) has never heard of Bayes theorem:
If the a-priori (without drug) probability for that event happening to him were, lets say 40%, it would probably a good idea, he could be 1 in 5 who benefit.
If his a-priori probability, however, were only 2% his odds for benefit would be 1:100.
Now drugs do usually have side-effects....

Georg wrote: "Solid skills in statistics are not only needed in many professions. Everybody should have them. Because they can be of vital importance when it comes to decisions that have an impact on our well-being, our health..."

Indeed... but decisions are often more complex than just "will this improve my chances of survival, and by how much"? No-one (or hardly anyone) wants to die... but sometimes the side-effects of treatment are so severe that death is the more attractive option.

It's not so long ago that I was told about a school friend, whose cancer had spread to his bones. His brother told me that he suffered the treatment for 2-3 years, but then "no more". It was no longer worth it, in his opinion - and his opinion was the one that mattered. I would do the same in his place.

But... of course, it makes absolute sense to have a grasp of the mathematical possibilities before undergoing treatment. Decisions are better if you know what the outcomes are likely to be, one way or another.

Since David Bowie has been mentioned in several posts, I'll provide a link to his list of 100 favorite books, which probably contains a higher percentage of worthwhile titles than many similar lists.

https://www.nypl.org/blog/2016/01/11/...

(My only exposure to Bowie's music was in a viewing of the German film Christiane F. I don't recall having any reaction to it, positive or negative.)

scarletnoir wrote: "Georg wrote: "Solid skills in statistics are not only needed in many professions. Everybody should have them. Because they can be of vital importance when it comes to decisions that have an impact ..."

When you take it further it gets even more complicated.

Mr A could be the the lucky 1 in 100 who is saved by the treatment. He could also be one of the 99/100 who would have lived happily ever after without treatment, had he not been the unlucky 1 in 10 000 who is killed by a rare side effect.

Probability can never predict what happens to an individual. You might win the lottery. You might be killed by a meteorite.

As for cancer treatment: that is an ethical, practical, emotional, spiritual minefield.

True, Georg, but often even more fundamental than containing a single figure. It’s the things left unsaid in text, assumptions disguised, surveys quoted which were conducted with bias. Remember what happened with Wakefield and the MMR vaccines. I am sure that has some bearing on why people refuse the anti covid vaccine, they remember his dodgy research, not that he was struck off and the harm he caused because people did not read critically and refused to let their children be vaccinated

Lljones wrote: "(It's still the 22nd in my neck of the woods...)

Greetings, eTLS!

Anne is unavailable this week, so it's up to me to start the new thread.  I won't even try to compete with her excellence; here's..."

If I had to buy a bookshelf (I'm tempted, as I've run out of room), I might be swayed by having glass doors. The only positive would be less dusting.

However, I would hate my books to be boxed-in. For me, the deciding factor would be how lazy I am feeling - more dusting of 'free' books/bookcase or the ease with which a glass door opens.

CCCubbon wrote: "True, Georg, but often even more fundamental than containing a single figure. It’s the things left unsaid in text, assumptions disguised, surveys quoted which were conducted with bias. Remember wha..."

the great british covid denial..part 666

my experience with anti-vaxxers, while mercifully low in numbers, showed me how they crib their information off people they like to hear from but rarely look at the other side.

Intelligence seems to play no part with anti-vaxxers sadly, one of the worst was a brilliant old folks day centre colleague with a degree in physics who hasnt returned to his role since the centre opened as he wont wear a mask or get vaccinated. Early on i felt he was staying well clear of the anti-vaxx rubbish but then he became a full on denier. His mask opposition was bad enough, though he did wear one at the start of the pandemic.

Unscientific mask wearing %'s in my town stand at:
Waitrose: 5% in masks
Sainsburys: 25% in masks
The trains: 1% in masks
Boots: 40% in masks
Most unmasked are male and aged 18-60
Best masker wearers are 60+(usually couples)

Bill wrote: "(My only exposure to Bowie's music was in a viewing of the German film Christiane F. I don't recall having any reaction to it, positive or negative.)"

Bowie once characterised himself as 'a librarian with a sex-drive', so it shouldn't be surprising to see he's so well-read. I'm a devoted Bowie fan. I don't know if it's your thing, but there are a couple of literary Easter eggs in his final album, ''Tis a Pity She Was a Whore' (after the John Ford play), and 'Girl Loves Me', which uses the Nadsat language from A Clockwork Orange.

I've finished Bad Apples by Will Dean. It was quite a disturbing and gruesome (in places) thriller. I think it was CCCubbon who mentioned his other book in the Tuva Moodyson series Black River. I have borrowed it from the library.

'Just Ignore Him' by Alan Davies is an autobiography. Alan is an actor/comedian who is best known these days as a panellist on QI, a BBC Series. His story revolved around horrid events in his childhood - an abusive father, indifferent and hostile siblings (particularly his elder brother) and the loss of his mother, when he was 6 years old, to leukaemia.

I finished this book last night and felt emotionally exhausted by the end of it. God knows how Alan came through this. It's amazing how humour can plaster a myriad of distressing events in one's life.

SydneyH wrote: "Bowie once characterised himself as 'a librarian with a sex-drive'"

A tautology, I believe.

Further content for Bowie fans ...

https://mymodernmet.com/david-bowie-p...

Bill wrote: "SydneyH wrote: "Bowie once characterised himself as 'a librarian with a sex-drive'"

A tautology, I believe.
"

classic pulp fiction, my local librarian doesnt look like that sadly, otherwise i might visit everyday!

Fuzzywuzz wrote: "I've finished Bad Apples by Will Dean. It was quite a disturbing and gruesome (in places) thriller. I think it was CCCubbon who mentioned his other book in the Tuva Moodyson series Black River. I h..."
I did write about Bad Apples, quite weird in places and rather a horror at one point. Black River has some odd characters, too, but the one that maybe you should read is called The Last thing to Burn which is a stand alone.
I read a summary of the Alan Davis book but decided that it would be too fraught for me. My respect for the way he has survived increased - I often watch the dog programme that he does.

AB76 wrote: "classic pulp fiction, my local librarian doesnt look like that sadly, otherwise i might visit everyday!"

The thing I find funny about that cover is that the standard cliché of librarian-into-seductress transformation is that the librarian takes off her glasses and lets down her hair, neither of which evidently proved necessary here.

Bill wrote: "The thing I find funny about that cover is that the standard cliché of librarian-into-seductress transformation is that the librarian takes off her glasses and lets down her hair, neither of which evidently proved necessary here."

What I find funny is that the participants are indulging in what my wife and I call 'American sex' - since the relevant parts are still covered by trousers and panties! TV shows where the 'lovers' hump away with clothes on are pretty silly - they could at least be shown hiding under the sheets... in Europe, it is not unknown to see an actual bum from time to time.

The other rather odd fashion from the USA - which appears to be becoming ever more common 'over 'ere' - is the habit for enormous wine glasses, which get filled to the brim - they must contain at least half a bottle! Now, there is a school of thought that wine tastes better in larger glasses, but they should only be filled to about 1/3rd. or so... We call these 'American glasses'.
At least that provides a possible explanation for an anecdote told by a good friend who worked in LA for 20 years or so... on accepting a second glass of wine, someone asked him: "Do you have a problem with alcohol?" Pretty silly - unless he was drinking from one of those glasses, which I'm sure he was not. He is anything but a drinker!

Bill wrote: "AB76 wrote: "classic pulp fiction, my local librarian doesnt look like that sadly, otherwise i might visit everyday!"

The thing I find funny about that cover is that the standard cliché of librari..."

good point!

My most recent read was one I enjoyed more than this review will likely suggest. I read Tea Obreht's Inland, and I enjoyed it, but i wasn't transcended. Out of body experiences aren't necessary to enjoy a book, but when you can feel a slight tug on your floating mind, it's like getting a sneeze caught halfway without the release. It's frustrating, like a love affair with scheduling issues.

I think my problems with Obreht were mostly structural. She used a workmanlike language, low on metaphor and description that would not be problematic, if the architecture of her book hadn't been humdrum.

I find myself tiring of that certain kind of novel that I call a "collision narrative." Where two or more completely different narrative threads converge onto a brief intersection. When done well, it's perfectly fine, whether it is played for shock or dawning understanding. When it's not so structurally shored-up, it feels cheap and somewhat gimmicky. As if the preceding passages were just fuel the author burned to get to the cool car crash scene. It's literary Jerry Bruckheimer.

I didn't dislike either of the narrative threads, but one was better than the other and the other thread...I don't know...spin it off into another book, a short story maybe. The need to tie-together both stories with a great big bow is unnecessary and suggests that Obreht wasn't confident that either plot could stand alone. The book should have focused on the orphan fleeing the marshal across the unsettled territories, and it should have left the camel caravan far later in the book. That was a great story. The parallel track of the marooned family in the Arizona Territories facing dwindling water supplies was also a perfectly good word nugget, but it merited it's own course. the camel train was a great setting that could have been mined better.

There are few authors who can write a highly structured edifice without the artifice peaking through. David Mitchell is tops amongst the current crop, mostly because his integrative written universe is only a layer super-imposed over top of his story. It's not necessary to know that a character appeared in another novel as a doctor in a Japanese colony. The story can stand alone apart from the intertextual connective tissue.

I don;t think Obreht has that craft nailed down yet. BUT, I do think that she's getting there. This crash bang boom structure was also present in The Tiger's Wife, and I found that book much more awkward and artificial. So, I get the sense that Obreht is working the kinks out, but she might want to look into other editors to help her get there more robustly and efficiently.

Great photo, LL!

"Rob Roy” – Sir Walter Scott

It’s six decades since I read “Ivanhoe”. The plot was okay, the characters wooden. Coming out of a reading slump, I thought I would try another. For an undemanding read, “Rob Roy” is not bad at all, and at times quite exciting.

We are in 1715. The dialogue is lively, if occasionally stagey and too elaborate, and the plot moves along at a clip. It might or might not have something to do with the Rising – hard to tell.

For principal characters in the first half we have a handsome, upright, adventurous young man and a bold, beautiful, raven-haired young woman.

Francis, 23, has returned from three years’ work experience in Bordeaux and is promptly sent away by his father, a London merchant, because he prefers poetry to commerce. He is to see how he likes living at his uncle’s remote estate, near the Scottish border, with five lumpish male cousins. A sixth who is jesuitical and saturnine is to take his place at the counting house.

Diana, 18, a huntress, is the uncle’s niece on the other side. All sable ringlets, and unnaturally self-possessed, she is interested in astronomy and philosophy, and fluent in several languages, ancient and modern.

For 200 or so pages Scott lets us think that these two are pretty much destined for each other – or maybe not. The action moves to Glasgow, and on again to the Highland line, and then…

If anyone is thinking this bears little resemblance to the 1995 movie, they are right. Those two characters, and all the others in the first half, were cut out completely. Only in the second half does Rob Roy himself appear, and even then the script derives more from Scott’s Appendix on the real-life Rob Roy than from the novel itself. In particular it is the Appendix that supplies the Cunningham character played by the splendidly evil Tim Roth.

Still, a good read in the colourful/historical style that Scott invented.

Not a children’s book, btw. There is one really brutal chapter.

Russell wrote: "Great photo, LL!

"Rob Roy” – Sir Walter Scott

It’s six decades since I read “Ivanhoe”. The plot was okay, the characters wooden. Coming out of a reading slump, I thought I would try another. For ..."

Big fan of Scott here working through his novels slowly, was impressed with "Waverley" and loved "Old Mortality", havent read this one yet.

I see Scott as the true father of the 19th century novel, before Dickens, Disraeli and others. I visited the writers musuem in edinburgh(dedicated to RLS, Wee Rabbie Burns and Scott) and i recommend it anyone who has a chance, its quite cramped and small but stocked full of fascinating items.

SydneyH wrote: "I don't know if it's your thing, but there are a couple of literary Easter eggs in his final album, ''Tis a Pity She Was a Whore' (after the John Ford play), and 'Girl Loves Me', which uses the Nadsat language from A Clockwork Orange."

The last 10 books I’ve read, as well as two that I am currently reading are about Wagner, mostly centered on The Ring of the Nibelung. (Though almost half of those books are comic books.)

Several of the Ring commentaries look at the theme of incest, both in Die Walküre and in Wagner’s lengthy 1851 essay Opera and Drama, where he devotes a good deal of attention to Sophocles’ Oedipus trilogy, claiming it enacts “the entire history of mankind from the beginnings of society to the necessary downfall of the state.” (The composer’s anticipation of 20th century psychology is closer to the Freud of Civilization and Its Discontents than the discoverer of the “Oedipus complex”.)

The reference to 'Tis Pity She's a Whore resonated with the incest theme, so I decided to listen to the Bowie song. I’m pretty sure that, despite the title reference, it has nothing to do with incest, though exactly what subjects it does treat, I couldn’t venture to say. Definitely not my thing, as you put it, though the song creates an impression with its driving energy.

(By the way, speaking of Anthony Burgess: the author treats incest and an updated version of the Oedipus story in M/F. He also made a translation of the Sophocles play.)

Russell wrote: "Great photo, LL!

"Rob Roy” – Sir Walter Scott

It’s six decades since I read “Ivanhoe”. The plot was okay, the characters wooden. Coming out of a reading slump, I thought I would try another. For ..."

"Englische Fragmente" (English Fragments) is a later addition to Heine's travel pieces.
One chapter is a review of Scott's "Life of Napoleon Buonaparte".
Very entertaining hatchet job (Heine adored Napoleon).

My next diary read, now i have finished the Raymond Williams essays on Wales and Welksh culture is the journal of Josephine Peary, wife of the American Arctic explorer Robert Peary.

The journal describes her travels across the ice of Northern Greenland during 1891-92. The only woman on a trip of extreme weather and isolation, it will be interesting to see what she makes of the experience and differences in observation of the ups and downs. Scanning the introduction there is a witty and rather scathing summary of the men all about her from her notes, which was left out of the published diary.

Born in Maryland of German descent, she was in her late 20s when she accompanied her husband on the trip

Paul wrote: "This crash bang boom structure was also present in The Tiger's Wife, and I found that book much more awkward and artificial."

That's a shame. The Tiger's Wife was something I had vaguely kept an eye out for.

Paul wrote: "I find myself tiring of that certain kind of novel that I call a "collision narrative.""

Robert Bloch's Psycho is written as a collision narrative - eliminating that aspect of the storytelling was an inspired touch in the Hitchcock adaptation.

SydneyH wrote: "Paul wrote: "This crash bang boom structure was also present in The Tiger's Wife, and I found that book much more awkward and artificial."

That's a shame. The Tiger's Wife was something I had vagu..."

Well, I'm pretty sure that I'm in the minority in my opinion. I recall it getting consistent praise in the Guardian Tips pages

AB76 wrote: "My next diary read,... is the journal of Josephine Peary ..."

You might like Heart of the Hero: The Remarkable Women Who Inspired the Great Polar Explorers. Josephine Peary and others are in there - I really enjoyed it, though it was a hard life being one of them.

FrancesBurgundy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "My next diary read,... is the journal of Josephine Peary ..."

You might like [book:Heart of the Hero: The Rema..."

i've always been interested in the north pole and arctic exploration, also in the south too. After the Morris journal of his summer trips in Iceland this was always on my radar, i also enjoyed John Muir's notes from Alaska, the link with Muir is the study of the Inuit and Eskimo people of the regions.

Was Mrs Amundsen in that book? I remember seeing Roald Amundsens statue in Tromso and reliving the books i read about his well adapted and foward thinking south pole adventures. (he could have been a bachelor...i cant remember sadly)

Stephen Sondheim, dead at age 91
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/th...

His work melded words and music in a way that enhanced them both. From his earliest successes in the late 1950s, when he wrote the lyrics for “West Side Story” and “Gypsy,” through the 1990s, when he wrote the music and lyrics for two audacious musicals, “Assassins,” giving voice to the men and women who killed or tried to kill American presidents, and “Passion,” an operatic probe into the nature of true love, he was a relentlessly innovative theatrical force.

Bill wrote: "Stephen Sondheim, dead at age 91..."

While it does seem like he has been around forever, I had no idea he was that old.

@AB – Then I think I’ll try “Waverley” next. “Rob Roy” was good enough to make me interested in others by Scott. I seem to remember that “Waverley” and perhaps also “Old Mortality” were warmly recommended on the old TLS. If I ever visit Edinburgh again I’ll certainly look for the wrtiters museum.

@Georg – That looks like a great tip, thanks. I finished the “Harz Journey” essay and enjoyed it. Heine continues to make fun of people he meets, but mainly it is about the joy of being in nature. The last essay in this volume is a hundred pages “On the History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany”, which sounds serious, though on the evidence so far it may be more a case of irreligion and mockery.

Russell wrote: "@AB – Then I think I’ll try “Waverley” next. “Rob Roy” was good enough to make me interested in others by Scott."

I haven't read Rob Roy, but mention of the name always brings back fond memories of Tony Hancock's hilarious 'Blood Donor', which definitely resonates with those of us beyond a certain age!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74rXl...

Though I haven't read the book, I'm pretty sure I did read a comic book version way back, which may be of interest to Bill. Perhaps it was one of these:
https://fredeggcomics.blogspot.com/20...

Of course, like anyone who has visited Edinburgh, I have seen the ornate Scott Monument on Princes Street - well worth a look:
https://www.edinburghmuseums.org.uk/v...

Vile Bodies is an early Evelyn Waugh novel, apparently written at the speed of 3000 words/day. I found it light and frivolous for the most part, but with some occasional droll passages that won me over in the end. The highlight is certainly the character study of Colonel Blount, a dotty aristocrat. I didn’t love this work as much as The Sword of Honour books, but I probably found it more endearing than Brideshead and A Handful of Dust.
I’m going to now start The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig, which I ordered following a discussion on here.

FrancesBurgundy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "My next diary read,... is the journal of Josephine Peary."

You and AB might possibly be interested in by Stef Penney - whose protagonist, the young Flora Mackie, takes part in polar exploration towards the end of the 19th. C. I very much enjoyed it, though it is not for everyone. (In a sort-of link to my previous post, Penney hails from Edinburgh.)

scarletnoir wrote: "FrancesBurgundy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "My next diary read,... is the journal of Josephine Peary."

You and AB might possibly b..."

thanks scarlet!

Started Peary last night and it was remarkably similar in style to Morris in Iceland, written a good two decades earlier, in its observations of the country, the buldings and people, though compared to 1870s Iceland, Greenland was even less populated.

Peary dines with the Danish Inspector of North Greenland in the tiny capital called Godhavn, codfish with capers on the menu and then they head into the far icy north. She observes the June temperature in Godhavn was 91F but swiftly as they head north it drops to 31F. (i experienced these extremes in the north of Norway in summer 2006. It was 28c in Bergen, 25c in Bodo(on the arctic circle) but down to 12c by Tromso)

scarletnoir wrote: "You and AB might possibly be interested in Under a Pole Star by Stef Penney ..."

I was rather underwhelmed by The Tenderness of Wolves and it's put me off Ms Penney rather.

AB76 wrote: "Was Mrs Amundsen in that book? Heart of the Hero: The Remarkable Women Who Inspired the Great Polar Explorers"

I'm not sure. The book's languishing unread on my daughter's bookshelf so I can't check back - the Amazon review says five women, including Mrs Nansen, but interestingly Goodreads says there are seven. The author Kari Herbert is Wally Herbert's daughter.

FrancesBurgundy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Was Mrs Amundsen in that book? Heart of the Hero: The Remarkable Women Who Inspired the Great Polar Explorers"

I'm not sure. The book's languishing unread on my daught..."

Sounds interesting, Mrs Nansen especially

Some would say I am bingeing on Georgette Heyer since I finished listening to Sylvester last evening, and, when I schlep several books back to the library today, I will continue to listen to Duplicate Death in the car.

Duplicate Death is the second of her mysteries I've listened to and was surprised to find a couple of the same characters in it that were in They Found Him Dead.

Oh dear, Google just led me down the garden path to https://georgette-heyer.com/index.html

scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "@AB – Then I think I’ll try “Waverley” next. “Rob Roy” was good enough to make me interested in others by Scott."

I haven't read Rob Roy, but mention of the name always brings back..."

scarletnoir wrote: "Russell wrote: "@AB – Then I think I’ll try “Waverley” next. “Rob Roy” was good enough to make me interested in others by Scott."

I haven't read Rob Roy, but mention of the name always brings back..."

In my teens I attended a party with a cousin and some friends and we missed the last 'bus home so we slept in Princes Street Gardens under the Scott monument.It was summertime luckily..

Winter is really howling today, so curled up in a comfy chair with a cat for company and a good book- what could be better?

Greenfairy wrote: "Winter is really howling today, so curled up in a comfy chair with a cat for company and a good book- what could be better?"

its lovely....barely 3c, strong winds and some sleet and rain, finally the long autumn of nothing weather is over and the winter is here

AB76 wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Winter is really howling today, so curled up in a comfy chair with a cat for company and a good book- what could be better?"

its lovely....barely 3c, strong winds and some sleet..."

Not so lovely for those who have to work outside, sleep in doorways or have to choose between eating and heating I reckon.

Bill wrote: "The thing I find funny about that cover is that the standard cliché of librarian-into-seductress transformation is that the librarian takes off her glasses and lets down her hair, neither of which evidently proved necessary here."

That's the standard Howard Hawks routine.

SydneyH wrote: "Vile Bodies is an early Evelyn Waugh novel, apparently written at the speed of 3000 words/day. I found it light and frivolous for the most part, but with some occasional droll passages that won me ..."

In later years Waugh practically disowned this novel. In his own words, he came to be very critical of the narrative device that was supposed to sustain the (skindeep) plot: the fact that most of the dialogue is on the telephone, something considered 'innovative' for the period. As such, and in mind with the conservative views on literature and art he espoused in old age, he didn't like to comment on this novel in particular.

For me the only interesting thing in Vile Bodies is the portrait of the Bright Young Things clique Waugh knew so well. Its value lies basically in its documentary essence, so to speak. The film version Stephen Fry directed several years ago is definitely unessential watching.

Georg wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "Winter is really howling today, so curled up in a comfy chair with a cat for company and a good book- what could be better?"

its lovely....barely 3c, strong winds a..."

No,not so lovely for some Georg.

Greenfairy wrote: "Winter is really howling today, so curled up in a comfy chair with a cat for company and a good book- what could be better?"

Not having the cat!!!!

I haven't been out today; reading Powers and Thrones by Dan Jones, checking on an apparent leak above the front door and watching football on TV. We actually even had a little snow here where I live. I can't remember when we had any in November. Fortunately, there was very little. Stay warm and safe everyone.