Books
Ireland is looking for its own Nigel Farage
A few years ago, I watched an Irish-made drama on Netflix called Rebellion. Given that it was about the 1916…
The day ‘Hitler’ was captured in Tottenham
Given the way the world is right now, I am avoiding it in the main. For the sake of my…
A remarkable insight into Le Carré’s working methods
When Richard Ovenden of the Bodleian Library wrote to John le Carré asking if the writer would leave it his…
Jilly Cooper was utterly unrivalled
Jilly Cooper, the last great Englishwoman of my lifetime – after Queen Elizabeth II and Debo – has died. The…
The rise of performative reading
‘To be or not to be’ may be the question but when it comes to eliciting answers, I’ve always preferred…
Bring back the book launch!
It’s that time of year when the local librairie-papeterie in your French holiday village is full of signs for la…
There’s nothing ironic about civilisation
A recent photograph on a BBC website startled me. It was of hundreds of books thrown out of a former…
Don’t judge a book by its author
I am entombed, like Edgar Allan Poe’s prematurely buried man, listening through headphones to a contemporary Russian fugue for organ…
How the railways shaped modern culture
Cue track seven of Frank Sinatra’s 1957 album Only the Lonely and you can hear Ol’ Blue Eyes pretending to…
The tragic decline of children’s literature
The other day, leafing through T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, which enchanted me as a child, I was…
Why Generation Woke loves romantasy
When the willowy human Feyre meets the faerie Tamlin in A Court of Thorns and Roses (known as ACOTAR by…
Let straight white men write novels!
About 15 years ago, I tried to interest my literary agent in a state-of-the-nation novel set in 21st-century London. My…
Letters: Why we need libraries
NHS origins Sir: Your leading article ‘Wes or bust’ (5 July) credited Labour with founding the NHS. In fact, the…
Public libraries deserve to shut – they’ve forgotten why they exist
The usual piece about public libraries runs like this. Public libraries are for ‘more than just books’. They are in…
Why I burnt the Quran
My name is Hamit Coskun and I’ve just been convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offence. My ‘crime’? Burning…
Spare us from ‘experimental’ novels
Some sorts of books and dramas have very strict rules. We like a lot of things to be absolutely predictable.…
The short history of short histories
My friend Ruby recently started a TikTok channel called ‘Too Long Didn’t Read’. With boundless enthusiasm and a colourful wardrobe,…
The odd couple: Austen and Turner at 250
History is full of odd couples: famous but unrelated people who happen to have been born in the same year.…
The benign republic of Julian Barnes
The novelist presents his utopia – of unilateral disarmament and the public ownership of transport – in the tone of a thoughtful vicar giving an anodyne sermon somewhere in the Home Counties
Bring back gory book covers!
Looking for a light, breezy read? If you happened to be browsing the bestseller bookshelves this summer your eye might…
Wonderfully intimate: The Drawings of Victor Hugo, at the RA, reviewed
You feel so close to Victor Hugo in this exhibition. It’s as if you are at his elbow while he…
I just don’t get P.G. Wodehouse
I have a confession to make, which may upset many readers. Having only a passing acquaintance with his books, I’ve…
Don’t write off literary fiction yet
I don’t intend to start a feud. Most of Sean Thomas’s essay on The Spectator’s website last week, titled ‘Good…
