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Tom Stoppard's plays do leave some people cold; he has been accused of too much intellect and not enough emotion. But Arcadia is a dazzling play that has a heart, balancing a sense of loss with optimism and a strong sense of possibility about the future. Rereading it, listening to the radio version, it still feels delightful and poignant in equal measure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Anthony Trollope's narrative voice is particularly wry, sly and amused in this exploration of marriage, legitimacy and money. A cracking tale with a couple of very plausible and unpleasant villains, it stands up to multiple rereads. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Before Dawkins was a combative and cranky commentator, he was a gifted researcher and academic. The Blind Watchmaker was for me, a game-changing book, and one that is worth re-reading. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
There are those who say that it is one of the most magnificent achievements in the English language, whilst others just feel it is seeing through a glass darkly, but the King James Version of the Bible is still worth revisiting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dorothy Dunnett was a magnificent writer - and definitely bears re-reading. In this episode, I explore just why the fifth book in the Lymond Chronicles is my favourite. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Peter Wimsey first appeared in the early 20s, and by the time Strong Poison appeared in 1930, he was a definite success. Although the mystery is fairly straightforward, the roles given in particular to Miss Murchison and Miss Climpson, two middle-aged spinsters who are instrumental in resolving the crime, are original and interesting - Sayers broke new ground by depicting women as calm, capable and shrewd. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
As global temperatures climb on land and in the sea, as wildfires rage and both the Arctic and Antarctic are melting, I remember an early warning voice, sadly disregarded despite achieving best-seller status in the mid 1980s. Barry Lopez's Arctic Dreams is at once a meditation and a call to action which is more relevant than ever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Initially an academic, Jonathan Raban led a fairly unsettled life until his 50s when he moved to Seattle and became father to his only child. He died earlier this year, but his books live on. I am sure that I am not the only reader inspired by his example to look at the world with a clearer, cooler eye. His final book, Father and Son, will be published in September. But this episode focuses on Old Glory, published 42 years ago and already carrying a foretaste of what was to come. Hosted on Acast...
Exploring the books that have shaped and changed me over the past 60 years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Exploring some of the aspects of George Eliot's rich life and why she absolutely outclasses Dickens. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How old should Hamlet be? Why does it matter that he was a student at Wittenberg? And why is he more than a standard revenge hero from a standard revenge tragedy? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dickens definitely changed my life. First I loathed him, then I loved him, and if it hadn't been for Bleak House, I don't think I would have studied English at university. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Georgette Heyer rightly has many fans and continues to sell well. Here I explore why Frederica is my particular favorite, with its world-weary hero and bustling, managing heroine. Heyer began the tradition of the regency romance, and arguably, her books remain the best of the genre. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, we are taking a look at some of the tropes of the mass market bestsellers of the 1970s. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Although not her most popular novel, Thunder on the Right was the first book of Mary Stewart's that I read. I have a feeling I acquired the tatty paperback in one of the dodgy second hand bookshops in Brighton's North Laines. Somewhere in a box, it still lurks! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
An exploration of how Holden Caulfield provided solace and hope to a cynical 13 year old. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Edith Piaf's signature song is probably Non, je ne regrette rien, namechecked in the Simpsons, the Penthouse and Specsavers ads. Here, I take a look at her life and how the biography I originally trusted turned out to be highly unreliable. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Why Mills & Boon were and are a possible answer to the angst of the adolescent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
At once a terrible and a great book, Margaret Mitchell's bestseller is at once a propulsive, immersive read, and an awkward apologia for the well-deserved death of a toxic society. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jean Plaidy was one of the most popular and prolific of the 20th century's historical novelists. She still delivers a cracking good read! For me, she was a transition writer between children's historical fiction and the bodice rippers that dominated romance writing in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
JK Rowling is quoted on the cover of the most recent edition of The Little White Horse - and I can see just why she loved it. It is a charming book - in the old-fashioned sense of enchanting and putting a glamour on the reader. Set in early Victorian England, it is a lovely and encouraging book. I missed the strong Christian message as a child, but even on rereading it as an adult, I did not find it intrusive. It is a tale of courage and learning what one is capable of achieving. Hosted on Acast...
How characters and stories can consume us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ballet Shoes was published in June 1936 and is still one of the best depictions of how girls and women can navigate the world and gain independence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week, in 60 Weeks 60 Books, I take a look at Twelfth Night , where Shakespeare revisits the missing twins trope he first deployed in Comedy of Errors, and has his characters play one of the meanest pranks in drama on the hapless Malvolio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Remembering Enid Blyton's gift for giving children agency and excitement - and why reading bad books is not necessarily bad for the reader. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In which the reasons that Paddington is definitively the Best Bear in the World are explored, plus a little trip to the Biba shop in Kensington. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This episode includes a reading of Where the Wild Things Are - it may be frightening to some of a vulnerable disposition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Winnie the Pooh has sold millions of copies, been translated into 75 languages and analyzed by academics. But really, he's simply a very human Bear of Little Brain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Taking a look at Alec Ramsay, hero of The Black Stallion and how he helped me change my name. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
How Wind in the Willows embodies England and what makes a home. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
