Books
Bored and lonely in Kathmandu
It started as a ‘shoke’ — the Anglo-Indian slang word for ‘hobby’. Bored and lonely in Kathmandu, the young Assistant…
Pastoral scene of the gallant South
During the first ten pages of this long work Paul Theroux, on a journey through the American South, meets two…
Assorted Christmas crackers
There’s a moment in a child’s life where Christmas begins to lose its magic. Once lost it cannot be regained,…
Looking for Nessie
It wasn’t until I drove past Loch Ness a couple of years ago that I realised just how enormous it…
Vanity fair and foul
People tend to use the term ‘fashion victim’ somewhat damningly — and maybe jealously — to describe someone obsessed by…
A life well lived
‘I cannot say there is no vanity in making this funeral oration of myself, but I hope it is not…
All Change
Based on a handwritten notebook of recipes from Dorothy Eliza Barnes, my grandmother, a shepherd’s wife, who had worked as…
Spellbinding stuff
With the briefest of introductions to each chapter, it is up to the reader to decide how they want to…
Homage to awesome Welles on his centenary
One day in May 1948 in the Frascati hills southeast of Rome, Orson Welles took his new secretary, Rita Ribolla,…
Chrissie Hynde writes like an angel on angel dust
‘The day I found out that Suzi Quatro wasn’t a dyke was the worst day of my life!’ a teenage…
A Horrible History of English Hymns
Given that for much of English history the country’s main musical tradition was that connected with the church, it is…
Following yonder star
It’s hard to imagine Christmas without stars. They perch at the top of fir trees, glitter from greeting cards and…
O Rose thou art sick
Choosing to smell of something other than ourselves, and then perhaps in time coming to view that fragrance as ‘our’…
Here’s to Bill
Often, Christmas is a time for moaning after the night before, when the seasonal drinking is remembered (if remembered at…
The Ghost in the machine
One of the great joys of the late Brian Sewell’s style of writing was his almost child-like bluntness. He had…
December
The ferns around the badgers’ sett are dying down, and fine webs fret the brambles. By late afternoon the moon…
Spot the line of poetry
Test your knowledge
The smoking diary of Gregor Hens
The link between smoking and self-expression is long-established. The only thing worse than not being able to smoke, says Will…
Larkin’s misty parks and moors — in all their lacerating beauty
When Philip Larkin went up to St John’s College, Oxford, in the early 1940s, he found himself in a world…
Osbert Lancaster: a national treasure rediscovered
True to his saw that ours is ‘a land of rugged individualists’, Osbert Lancaster, in his self-appointed role of popular…
Answers to ‘Spot the Line of Poetry’
1. Ill-met by moonlight (Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) 2. Hope springs eternal in the human breast (Pope’s ‘An Essay…
The year in books
In an age of white noise Christopher Pyne’s A Letter to My Children (MUP, $33) stands out as a loving…
Answers to ‘Spot the Line of Poetry’
1. Ill-met by moonlight (Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) 2. Hope springs eternal in the human breast (Pope’s ‘An Essay…
Spot the line of poetry
For the answers click here The post Spot the line of poetry appeared first on The Spectator. Got something to…
All Change
Based on a handwritten notebook of recipes from Dorothy Eliza Barnes, my grandmother, a shepherd’s wife, who had worked as…
