Category Archives: Fiction

St Patrick’s Day Roundup

–Ben Lawrence writes in the Daily Telegraph that “The arts are now terrified of God”. Here are the opening paragraphs: “We don’t do God.” Such was Alastair Campbell’s Rottweiler-like shutdown of journalists asking about the faith of his then-boss Tony … Continue reading

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WSJ at Castle Howard

The Wall Street Journal carries a story about how the Howard family have over the years renovated Castle Howard. The article is by J S Marcus and the photographs by Joanna Yee. Here’s an excerpt: …The Lake Sitting Room is … Continue reading

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Dame Edna’s Book Sale

The Daily Mail has reported the upcoming auction sale of the book collection of the late comedian Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna Everage). The most interesting item (Lot 235) among the three lots offered relating to Evelyn Waugh is this … Continue reading

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Daylight Savings Time (US) Roundup

–The New York Review of Books has posted a review by Martin Filler entitled “Build Britannia.” This is about a book entitled Interwar British Architecture, 1919-1939 by Gavin Stamp. Here’s an excerpt: …A visceral distrust of European Modernism–emblematic of British … Continue reading

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Washington’s Birthday Roundup

–D J Taylor has written a thoughtful obituary of David Lodge in the latest issue of the journal New Criterion. This is based on his review of Lodge’s life as written in the three-volume autobiography published in Lodge’s final years. … Continue reading

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Valentine’s Day Roundup

–Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the New York Times Book Review has posted this notice in its “Read Like the Wind” column. It is written by Book Review editor Joumana Khatib: The Loved One: An Anglo-American Tragedy, by Evelyn … Continue reading

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Roundup: End of a Literary Era

–This week’s issue of the New Statesman has as its Weekend Essay an article by John Mullan. This is entitled “The Death of the British Catholic Novel: Catholicism gave English literature something it needs to rediscover” and opens with this: … Continue reading

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Roundup: From Clubs to Travels

–The Daily Telegraph reports that one of Waugh’s London clubs has voted to continue to exclude women members: A PRIVATE gentlemen’s club in Mayfair has voted against admitting women for the first time, The Telegraph has learnt. The Savile Club, … Continue reading

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Roundup: Theatrical Torture, Biographical Therapy and Lineage of Comic Novel

–The Italian newspaper La Stampa for 25 January 2025 has an article by the late Gaia Servadio which is based on an interview with Graham Greene that seems to have taken place about 1978 (publication date of The Human Factor … Continue reading

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MLK Day Roundup

–The US-based Jesuit journal America has an article in its latest issue describing the differences and similarities of conversions to Roman Catholicism by writers and intellectuals in the US and UK. It opens with the UK example of Evelyn Waugh … Continue reading

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