I am currently obsessed with a book about Abraham Lincoln and his presidency by Doris Kearns Goodwin. (“Oh oh…….. here we go again! ” said my baby brother kindly, when I quoted from the book during a discussion the other day. Well……we were talking about slavery. ) Anyway, at the risk of arousing his amused… Continue reading…
Writings
Twitter power in Moldova
For anyone who doubts the importance of the new technology to modern politics or the continuing emergence of brave individuals prepared to stand up for justice, I suggest they read this story, about twitter power in Moldova, in today’s Guardian. Continue reading…
The kindness of strangers
Last night I watched an amazing film, The Edge of Heaven, a Turkish German co-production about six characters in contemporary Europe, several of them first and second generation immigrants, whose lives become entangled and whose fates mirror each other in various clever, poignant ways. There are some unbearably sad moments: a mother and daughter, both… Continue reading…
The death of Ian Tomlinson, Jane Austen, and how to raise children……..thoughts on the week’s stories.
Two stories this week, both in the Guardian, have refreshed my faith in journalism, firstly the unfolding tale of the tragic death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller who collapsed during the G20 protests in London; the other a feature in today’s Guardian about two different organisations helping troubled kids. The extraordinary Ian Tomlinson story… Continue reading…
Where is Labour’s vision for schools?
One does not need a degree – or indeed level 4 – in common sense to interpret the political meaning of Ed Balls’s most recent speech on Sats. In effect, the schools secretary is saying: We know this system needs radical reform, but we need to be seen to be doing it in our own… Continue reading…
Hollywood women: then and now
Over the past forty eight hours, I have watched two glossy, high end Hollywood ‘womens pictures’ : All about Eve, starring Bette Davis and Anne Baxter, made in 1950; the other a 2008 remake of George Cukor’s classic The Women, starring Hollywood royalty of a certain age, including Annette Bening, Meg Ryan, Debra Messing,Candice Bergen,… Continue reading…
The women who rule our hearts not our countries.
Here’s a quick thought: in a week when political wives shone, and political husbands were shunned, why is it that we love the modern female political spouse so much? Granted, they do the job allotted to them with supreme grace and humour, but that’s the point: it’s a job and yet not a job. Increasingly,… Continue reading…
What stops writers from reading as much as they’d like to?
I sat in on a really interesting conversation earlier this week between a group of well known writers, all talking about how they read, or why they don’t: ‘ I just can’t read, sitting at a desk. Unless I’m at a desk in a library…’ ‘ I do take a book if I’m going on… Continue reading…
A sorry tale.
How many dimensions can one uncover to this trivial, slightly tawdry news item? The sight, yesterday, of the Home Secretary’s husband Richard Timney issuing a twenty two second apology outside the family home for downloading two pornographic films, which his wife then mistakenly claimed as part of her parliamentary expense account, fills me with an… Continue reading…
An Inspector shouts, an audience giggles………….
Now feels like a particularly good time to revisit J B Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, a classic piece of polemical theatre that held me spellbound me when I first saw it a very long time ago. It was inevitably less thrilling (for me) this time round, because it’s a play that relies on mystery style… Continue reading…
