It’s very rare that in reading a book, your views on life can be changed quite so profoundly. These two books, however, have managed to do just that in a quite surprising, entertaining and altogether unexpected fashion. I’d heard talk of “
I was lent a copy of The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power (Film website) by a friend who works for Citigroup, an irony that I’m sure is not lost on my friend either. This book expands on the premise that the basis of business, that of the incorporation of companies to a [...]
Bill Bryson’s latest offering “A short history of nearly everything” was a book I’d stayed clear of until last week. I’m not quite sure why, but I suppose I thought that Bryson’s enjoyable travelogue narrative wouldn’t work at all well in a serious book about science, scientists, and our place in the universe. I was very [...]
Earlier this month I started reading the “His Dark Materials” trilogy, by Philip Pullman. I’d heard a lot about these books (”adults Harry Potter”), but most recently the news about the play (On, but sold out, at the National Theatre) had resparked my interest. The three books, “Northern Lights” (”The Golden Compass” in the US), “The [...]
Birdsong is an entirely remarkable and moving book. I also found it one of the most disturbing books I have read, primarily due to the First World War subject matter. The book starts off and develops as it tells the story of a growing romance between the principle character, and the wife of a businessman with [...]
I recently picked up a copy of The concise Larousse Gastronomique on a recent visit to Clarks Village, close to my Parent’s home in Somerset. An absolutely superb book, although quite clearly a French one judging by some of the comments! It’s simply a stunning reference to every cookery term or item you can imagine. I [...]
The Grapes of Wrath is truly a masterpiece. From the very moment I started reading the introductory essay a couple of weeks ago, I realised I was in for an emotional time as I worked my way through this book. Compared to the last few books I’ve read, it’s heavy going. 476 pages later (intro excepted), [...]
