A sociable breakfast
Little Lord Fauntleroy is out of fashion these days, but I think that's because most people haven't read the book,...
The liberating influence of a river
I like the idea of a river's motion and indefinite length as being liberating. But I'm pondering corresponding aspects of...
Synaesthetic sound
An early evocation of synaesthesia - I like Dante's portrayal of a voice in terms of visibility. This is from...
A simple summary of perfection
Grossman has a simplicity and clarity to his writing and I like his definition of perfection, not as an...
Tenderness vs severity
This encouragement to err on the side of tenderness is typical of George Eliot, who quietly, gently pleads for greater...
Your chosen family
Most readers, particularly those who make little distinction between the past and present in seeking their sustenance, will be able to...
Leadership as multi-tasking
You get to steer the ship because you can handle multiple tasks at once. Here, John demonstrates his leadership skills:...
How to win a train ticket to Tashkent
This vast novel, full of war and suffering, also has moments of levity. Here we have someone refusing to curtail...
Where place and time meet
Russell Hoban's is one of the most imaginative, limpid novels I have ever read. Maps loom large in it, real...
Kingly encouragement
Surely one of the pithiest, funniest and most ebulliently floor-wiping book criticisms in the history of scribbling and patronage. All...
Frogs around a pond
I liked Socrates' image of the Mediterranean, that great big watery basin, as a pond around which we live like...
Zeus dispenses with practicalities
Zeus here neatly rebuffs his daughter Athene's requests. I like his suitably arch reaction, which puts all supplicants in their...
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