‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel García Marquez

This was the long-delayed fulfilment of a promise to myself to read Marquez who always seemed so off-putting. How wrong I was. Not that this long, strange novel isn’t without it’s challenges. There’s no plot as such, just a long stream of strange and wonderful things happening to the Buendía family over more than a … More ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel García Marquez

Hello summer!

‘Back soon’ now seems a little optimistic. In my defence, the most interesting and exciting election of my career was bound to have an impact on my other interests let alone my social life! New music is what’s really gone by the board. I’ve listened to some but much less than usual and getting to listen to … More Hello summer!

Virginia Woolf exhibition, National Portrait Gallery

If you’re remotely interested in Virginia Woolf, the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition is both utterly fascinating because of the historical artefacts and images on display and worth experiencing for the quality of the art. I saw it in the summer but it’s on till the end of October so I’m hoping to make a return visit. I’m … More Virginia Woolf exhibition, National Portrait Gallery

James Bond

I’ve never been much of a James Bond fan and have only ever watched two or rather three of the films all the way through. They were one of the Timothy Dalton movies, I can’t remember which, and both versions of ‘Casino Royale.’ However a few years ago I read the excellent Sebastian Faulks Bond … More James Bond

‘Honours for Sale: The Strange Story of Maundy Gregory’ by Gerald McMillan

It is a strange story and one that has been told elsewhere rather more fully than Gerald McMillan was able to in 1954 I think, but the book - stamped ‘Dowlais Library’ has been sitting on the windowsill in our Assembly office for as long as I’ve worked there and curiosity finally got the better of me. Maundy … More ‘Honours for Sale: The Strange Story of Maundy Gregory’ by Gerald McMillan

‘The Sea, The Sea,’ by Iris Murdoch

I’ve just read ‘The Sea, the Sea’ in two long chunks over two days which left me with that sensation that you get after consuming a really fine novel of being bigger, more important for having absorbed it. It’s a wonderful novel: an astonishing story, utterly unpredictable, of a self-important theatre director whose determination to … More ‘The Sea, The Sea,’ by Iris Murdoch