Originally published as Le Noeud de Vipiers in 1932. A rich but wretchedly unhappy miser approaches the end of his life, and tries in a series of reflections to figure out how it has all gone wrong. Suffocating in his own avarice and bitterness, is there anything that can be done to save this lost […]
The Knot of Vipers by Francois Mauriac Read More »
This is an elegant and wonderfully lucid introduction to the philosophy of science. 288 pages in Open University Press paperback edition. ISBN 978-0335201099
What is this thing called science? by Alan Chalmers Read More »
Lisa Jardine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_Jardine) argues that the creation of culture during the Renaissance was inextricably tied to the creation of wealth — that the expansion of commerce spurred the expansion of thought. This is a superb and fascinating read, especially for those who are drawn to the Renaissance as a subject. Do also listen to
The Sense of an Ending (1967) is a book which seeks to establish a connection between fiction, time and apocalyptic modes of thought. Frank Kermode (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Kermode) sees in the apocalyptic certain features which, he suggests, provide a useful analogy with the process of reading and writing fiction. The author tells us that in imagining an end
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The language that would become English arrived in these islands in the fifth century with Germanic tribes as the Roman empire began collapsing. Bragg describes it in almost Darwinian terms, a “subtle and ruthless” survivor that defeated competing tongues over the next three centuries, refusing to marry with the indigenous Celtic language (which has left us
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Mystery and thriller writer Harlan Coben (http://www.harlancoben.com/) entertains us once more with a tale in which facts re-surface from the past. In Six Years the narrative is immersive, and the well-drawn characters and twisting plotting are stellar. With such a cool hook and a surprising and satisfying payoff, get straight out and read what might be
Consciousness, morality, creativity, language, and art: these are the some of the traits that combine to make us human. Scientists have have often explained these qualities as merely a side effect of surplus brain size, but Miller (http://psych.unm.edu/people/directory-profiles/geoffrey-miller.html, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Miller_(psychologist)) argues that they were sexual attractors, not side effects. The author bases his argument on Darwin’s
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This book by Cleanth Brooks is a classic ‘must read’ study in the criticism of poetry for reasons adequately given here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well_Wrought_Urn:_Studies_in_the_Structure_of_Poetry 324 pages in Mariner Books paperback edition. ISBN 978-0156957052
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“Fiction and The Reading Public” provoked fierce controversy when first published in 1932, and it has since come to be recognised as a classic in its field. In her fascinating study, Q D Leavis (http://mypages.surrey.ac.uk/eds1cj/qd-leavis-life-and-work.htm#lifeandwork) investigates what has happened to the public taste in the last three centuries and what effect this has had on
Fiction and the Reading Public by Q.D. Leavis Read More »
