Book review – essay

Georges Simenon, photographed in the Navigli district of Milan in the 1950s

If only Georges Simenon had been a bit more like Maigret

31 August 2019 9:00 am

Georges Simenon, creator of the sombre, pipe-smoking Paris detective Jules Maigret, pursued sex, fame and money relentlessly. By the time…

Don Quixote is often referred to as the ‘first’ novel, though Javier Cercas disagrees

From Don Quixote to My Struggle — a survey of the novel in 160 pages

23 June 2018 9:00 am

I wonder what your idea of a good novel is. Does it embody the attributes of solid plotting, characterisation and…

Plotinus and Michel de Montaigne are included in George Steiner’s broad survey. His argument that we should elevate the pursuit of disinterested knowledge over the making of money is a familar one since classical times

From Plotinus to Heidegger: a history of European thought in 48 pages

18 April 2015 9:00 am

T.S. Eliot liked to recall the time he was recognised by his London taxi driver. Surprised, he told the cabbie…