Meanwhile Bobs is shown as a consensual partner in their affair her astonishing aplomb and mental acuity keeping

Meanwhile Bobs is shown as a consensual partner in their affair, her astonishing aplomb and mental acuity keeping her afloat until the novel’s shockingly good ending. Wilson’s open-ended finale is so mesmerising in its implications as to put an immediate stop to obfuscating, guilt-laden handwringing.Turn Again Livingstoneby John CarvelProfile pounds 6.99Carvel has followed London’s would-be [...]

It was a vision of total evil but it was possible to perceive

It was a “vision of total evil”, but it was “possible to perceive its merit without approving it”.Some critics did neither: “not for a long time have I disliked a play so much” (Telegraph). This was the cue for Orton’s letter-writing alter ego, Edna Welthorpe, to begin a moralistic debate on his own merits in [...]

All four of the European countries chosen have in the 20th century experienced periods which represented a sharp break with tradition and attempts

All four of the European countries chosen have, in the 20th century, experienced periods which represented a sharp break with tradition and attempts for political reasons to impose a particular version of the national culture. Nowhere was this interlude longer or more profound than in Russia, where the outlook of whole generations was shaped by [...]

But if you don’t mind I was talking to our readers

“But, if you don’t mind, I was talking to our readers.”She ignored the philosophical quicksands in that possibility She was hot for the gossip. “What’s worse than death for an actor?” she said.”Going cold,” I said. “Now, I’m not arguing this for myself, you understand, because I wasn’t in Britain to take advantage of it, [...]

The clear distinction to be made between such last-minute belt-and-braces- as-you-depart- this-world conversions and those made in early

The clear distinction to be made between such last-minute, belt-and-braces- as-you-depart- this-world conversions and those made in early or mid-life is nowhere explored by Pearce.Most disappointing is Pearce’s failure to draw together his themes. There must be some deductions about the nature and inspiration for religious conversion that can be drawn from such a large [...]

It was framed by limp cheap imitations of the sort of abstract

It was framed by limp, cheap imitations of the sort of abstract sets we used to see at ENO 10 years ago: a second-year design-school exercise by someone heading for a scrape pass, with an aegrotat.It’s not that I was after elephants, or the touristic kitsch of Earl’s Court Egyptology – a breath of fresh [...]