Scott's Book Review – The Lanark Website

The Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff

There are two major things with which humanity has to contend: globalization and division. The world is more inter-connected than ever before by international trade, transport networks including aviation, and highly sophisticated global communication systems. At the same time, conflict is widespread. According to the 2025 Global Peace Index (Global Peace Index Map » The […]

The Ordinary Virtues: Moral Order in a Divided World by Michael Ignatieff Read More »

The Destruction of The European Jews by Raul Hilberg

PAST PRESENT - Readings in History

The recent Arab-Israeli conflict in Gaza, beginning on 7 October 2023, is yet another outbreak of ancient hatreds and antagonisms in The Middle East. Debate rages over whether the Israeli action can be correctly defined as genocide. Loud voices have been raised across the world in support of both Israelis and Palestinians. For a single

The Destruction of The European Jews by Raul Hilberg Read More »

Howards End by E. M. Forster

LITERARY BENT - Writing at its best

A meticulously-observed drama of class warfare, E.M. Forster’s Howards End explores the conflict inherent within English society, unveiling the character of a nation as never before. A chance acquaintance brings together the preposterous bourgeois Wilcox family and the clever, cultured and idealistic Schlegel sisters. As clear-eyed Margaret develops a friendship with Mrs Wilcox, the impetuous Helen

Howards End by E. M. Forster Read More »

Friedrich Schleiermacher: Between Enlightenment and Romanticism by Richard Crouter

SPIRIT MATTERS - Reaching for the Divine

Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834, Friedrich Daniel Ernst Schleiermacher (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)) looms large for anyone interested in systematic theology. Indeed he is widely regarded as the founder of modern Protestant theology, and is required reading in schools of Divinity. In this book, Richard Crouter argues that Schleiermacher’s theology is best understood by examining his position

Friedrich Schleiermacher: Between Enlightenment and Romanticism by Richard Crouter Read More »

House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias

FANTASTIC FICTION - Escapes to other places and other times

Any rational person’s appetite for horror is met in early 2026 by turning the radio on each morning. Should the world not be disturbing enough for your taste, reach for a recent horror novel by Gabino Iglesias (Gabino Iglesias | Facebook). The summary is as follows: For childhood friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, Paul, and Bimbo,

House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias Read More »

Ideas: A History From Fire To Freud by Peter Watson

EGGHEAD CHOICE - Crack open for a hard boiled think

Nobody could accuse Peter Watson (Biography – Peter Watson, author) of lack of ambition. In this 1152 page book the author presents the history of human thought between two covers. The story begins nearly two million years ago with the invention of hand-axes and explores how some of our most cherished notions might have originated

Ideas: A History From Fire To Freud by Peter Watson Read More »

The Land In Winter by Andrew Miller

FANTASTIC FICTION - Escapes to other places and other times

Andrew Miller (Andrew Miller | Award-winning writer) has published ten novels and has won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa Book Award of the Year, the Winston Graham Historical Prize and the Walter Scott Prize. Miller’s most recent novel is ‘The Land In Winter‘, and would be a great start

The Land In Winter by Andrew Miller Read More »

Flesh by David Szalay

FANTASTIC FICTION - Escapes to other places and other times

The 2025 Booker Prize winner might be the best option to finish your reading programme this year. The author, David Szalay, (David Szalay interview: ‘I wanted to write about what it’s like to be a living body in the world’ | The Booker Prizes), was born in Montreal in 1974 in a Jewish family of a

Flesh by David Szalay Read More »

The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

EGGHEAD CHOICE - Crack open for a hard boiled think, LIVES WELL LIVED? A pick from biography and memoir

Published originally in German as Die Ringe des Saturn. Eine englische Wallfahrt (1995), translated as The Rings of Saturn (1998) – with its curious archive of photographs – records a walking tour in August 1992 of the East Anglian coast and in Suffolk. Many observations and subjects enter the mind of its narrator Winfried Georg Sebald (1944-2001) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Sebald and W. G.

The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald Read More »