Category Archives: Newspapers

Niall Tóibín (1929-2019) R. I. P.

Irish actor Niall Tóibín died earlier this week at the age of 89. He is best known in this parish for his portrayal of Fr Mackay in the Granada TV series of Brideshead Revisited. Acording to the obituary in the … Continue reading

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The Elections and the Waughs

Writing in the Daily Mail, Craig Brown looks back 60 years to the UK election of 1959 which he says is the first one influenced by television. For the first time, the majority of voters had television sets: So keen … Continue reading

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Armistice Day Roundup

— Fr John Hunwicke posting on his website addresses literary works related to the commemoration of Armistice Day (Remembrance Sunday in the UK): As far as WW2 is concerned, I often think about the contrast between two great fictional literary … Continue reading

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BBC’s 100 Novels that Shaped Our World

The BBC has announced its list of 100 novels that shaped our world in advance of Friday’s public panel discussion at the British Library. See previous post. The panel of 7 were asked “to choose 100 genre-busting novels that have … Continue reading

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Early November Roundup

–The Daily Mail reprints extracts from the gossipy personal diaries of journalist and biographer Kenneth Rose. These are from the second volume entitled Who Wins, Who Loses? covering the period 1979-2014: March 29, 1982. Geoffrey Warnock [Oxford vice-chancellor] tells me … Continue reading

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300th Anniversary of English Novel to be Marked

This year is the 300th anniversary of the English novel–at least if one will accept Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe to be the first example, as seems to generally be the case. It was published on 25 April 1719. Other contenders … Continue reading

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Halloween Roundup

–The London Review of Books in its latest issue has published an article by Rosemary Hill on the life and career of Auberon Waugh. This is entitled “Woof, woof” and includes a description of Auberon’s life from the time he … Continue reading

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Samuel Hynes (1924-2019) R.I.P.

Another veteran American literary scholar and critic died earlier this month at Princeton . This was Samuel Hynes, WWII veteran fighter pilot and retired Woodrow Wilson Professor of Literature at Princeton University. He was 95. His best known critical work … Continue reading

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Waugh’s Birthday Roundup

Evelyn Waugh was born on this date in 1903. This is the 116th anniversary of that event. –The Oxford English Dictionary has declared today’s Word of the Day to be “Brideshead, adj.” While they do not mention the birthday anniversary … Continue reading

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Three French Aesthetes and Rex’s Tortoise

The Times newspaper chooses a new book by novelist Julian Barnes as its “Book of the Week.” This is entitled The Man in the Red Coat and is a non-fiction account of three eccentric Frenchmen travelling in late Victorian Britain. … Continue reading

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