Wild life
On the lengthy train ride to Kyiv I read my Plokhy as we trundled through seas of mud, passing villages…
Real life
‘Mr Mouse’s days of fine dining are over,’ said the builder boyfriend as he put the finishing touches to his…
Scandi crush
War Sailor (Krigsseileren), a three-part drama on Netflix about the Norwegian merchant navy in the second world war, is one…
Animal magic
It must be 20 years since I first saw Akram Khan dance, and I will never forget the impression he…
A grievous and murderous hatred
I first discovered writer Patricia Highsmith (Strangers on a Train, Carol, the five Ripley novels) as a young teenager working…
Lost Seoul
Ask a member of Generation Z where in the world they would most like to live, and chances are they…
Milking it
I was tired when I went to see Milk at the Wellcome Collection, having been up for much of the…
The borrowers
I’m not a natural lender. I’m a reasonably soft touch when it comes to money, but regarding the important things…
This will hurt
A Little Life, based on Hanya Yanagihara’s novel, is set in a New York apartment shared by four mega-successful yuppies:…
Catherine the great
Since its première in 1984, Andrei Serban’s production of Puccini’s Turandot has been revived 15 times at Covent Garden, not…
Wrenaissance man
Adrian Tinniswood on the fall and rise — and fall and rise — of England’s greatest architect
Tales of the unexpected
Eight eclectic fables draw on magic realism, science fiction, fairy tales, the Gothic, religion, brutal realism and horror movies
Reading the rocks
Louise Erdrich explores her Ojibwe heritage, learning to read ancient painted signs on rocks and making ritual offerings to the spirits
Planning for Armageddon
The official policy in the event of nuclear war veered from fatuous evacuation plans to a directive to stockpile food, stay home and hope for the best
Life on the other side
Katja Hoyer evokes the tears and anger – but also the laughter and pride, as citizens raised their children, went on holidays and joked about their politicians
The lady vanishes
When Cecilia disappears, her husband and children are left haunted by the mystery – until a character in a German novel strikes the daughter as strangely familiar
Rural noir
Through her interviews with the exuberant countryman ‘Tommy’ Collard, Catrina Davies provides a vivid picture of nature in the raw
Intimations of magic
The Polish-Jewish writer and artist enjoyed all too brief acclaim before his murder in 1942. Benjamin Balint describes the ongoing battle for ownership of his final works
The power of ridicule
The politics of late Georgian England provided Gillray, Cruickshank and Rowlandson with perfect fodder for robust, merciless satire
An impossibly perfect hero
A rich, handsome rock star falls for a schlubby TV comedy writer in an enjoyable, traditional romcom, mystifyingly billed as ‘subversive’ and ‘searingly contemporary’
Children of humanity
Philip Hensher admires the humanists of the past, and finds them consistently kinder, more decent and generous than their contemporaries
