By tom | September 2, 2006
The misery continues. After my last post on despair – on the withdrawal from reading life, or the duplicity that is Amazon’s recommendations – I embarked on Robert Fisk’s monumental The war on Civilisation, its 1283 pages traversing the life of Bill Fisk and the modern Middle East that was bequeathed to us by his [...]
For two successive days this weekend, I wandered around Kinokuniya determined and a little anxious to make a purchase; not just any purchase, of course, but a “something” that will restore some semblance of balance between the forces of light and darkness, wisdom and ignorance. A tall order, and no doubt a reflection of recent [...]
Philosophical Myths of the Fall, by Stephen Mulhall, is my 15th purchase of 2006. It is a fine book, and follows his earlier effort On Film. Stephen taught at Essex’s Philosophy department during my time in the mid-1990s; he lectured in an always clear and exhilirating manner, free from the ego-dramatics that consumed Mark [...]
By tom | February 1, 2006
Blake and I were first brought together by a shared fondness for books. He was joint-owner of the now-defunct “Blake’s Books”, an online store specialising in used scholarly books. What is startling is that our relationship has lasted the best part of 9 years, and survived (on my part) several job changes, shifts in learning [...]
