Andrew Blackman
From the monthly archives: March 2010
Just read the January/February issue of the New Internationalist, and was depressed at first to see the title “The population panic” on the cover. But it turned out to be a very well-researched series of articles, showing that a lot of the popular assumptions about population growth are false.
Have regrets. They are fuel. On the page they flare into desire.
Geoff Dyer
The Guardian, Feb 2010
Went to see a wonderful exhibition recently at the British Museum called Kingdom of Ife – Sculptures from West Africa. It was a collection of beautiful sculptures, mostly heads like the one pictured, done in bronze, copper and terracotta, and dating from as far back as the 12th century.
The exhibition made [...]
A mother takes her two young sons on a trip to the seaside. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? There’s even a bucket and spade on the cover. You can almost feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, hear the brass band playing a cheery tune. But this is not a nice little feel-good [...]
A problem with a piece of writing often clarifies itself if you go for a long walk.
- Helen Dunmore
The Guardian, Feb 2010
I’ve always been interested in stories with non-human characters. I have an idea to write a story one day about a city – not the people in it, but the city itself, as a living character with its own actions and motivations. Trouble is, I’m not really sure where to start.
So I was [...]
The writing style is incredibly simple, probably the most simple of any book I’ve read since childhood. It perfectly captures the realistic voice of the narrator, a sporadically-educated 15-year-old boy called Charley. Yet despite or perhaps because of the simplicity, it drew me into the story and was even beautiful in places.
As well [...]
Be kind to yourself. Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph.
- Roddy Doyle
The Guardian, Feb 2010
Saw a good post on the Guardian website about “lucky dip” reading – buying a book you know absolutely nothing about. It makes the valid point that people who shop online are less likely to stumble on new books than they would if they were browsing a bookshop. That’s certainly been my experience – [...]
Titles are important. This book was an excellent survey of emerging philosophies and practices, but it did not convince me that a “global shift” is really taking place, or that, as the subtitle promises, a “new worldview is transforming humanity”. I still enjoyed reading the book, and found some very interesting ideas in it. [...]
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