Tag Archives: writers

The Kite and the String

Posted on Apr 27, 2019 by
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Regeneration (reading-as-a-writer 11)

Posted on Oct 23, 2018 by

View this post on Instagram My interest – indeed, my passion – for the #GreatWar started with Jeremy Paxton’s Great Britain’s Great War (2014), after which Testament of Youth made me cry and Memoirs of an Infantry Officer and Sherston’s … Continue reading →

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The honest editor and cognitive bias

Posted on Sep 11, 2018 by

In a previous life, I facilitated training sessions on managing obstetric emergencies; clinical skills, teamwork, leadership, decision-making and so on. One of the features of effective decision-making is the awareness of cognitive biases and so we discussed the problems that … Continue reading →

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Testament of Mary (reading-as-a-writer 9)

Posted on Aug 15, 2018 by

View this post on Instagram I had to read Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (2012) twice; the first time to get to the end of a gripping story, the second time to read the words. In between sittings, I … Continue reading →

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A Whole Life (reading-as-a-writer 8)

Posted on Aug 7, 2018 by

View this post on Instagram I really don’t want to write about A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler (trans. Charlotte Collins 2015). I’m afraid I won’t do justice to it – or that thinking too hard about this exquisite book … Continue reading →

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Field Service (reading-as-a-writer 7)

Posted on Aug 7, 2018 by

View this post on Instagram I first read Field Service by Robert Edric a year ago as part of my research into the aftermath of the #GreatWar. I reread it this week as a writer. This is the first book … Continue reading →

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Brooklyn (reading-as-a-writer 6)

Posted on Aug 7, 2018 by

View this post on Instagram I didn’t want to read Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín because 1950s, small-town, Irish emigre, coming-of-age stories are really not my thing. (Plus, although I loved the clothes I found the film pretty insipid.) Then a … Continue reading →

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Brideshead Revisited (reading-as-a-writer 5)

Posted on Aug 7, 2018 by

View this post on Instagram I’ve just reread ‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh (1945) because I really didn’t appreciate the brilliance of this novel when I read it a decade or so ago. It feels mean-spirited to condense such bounty … Continue reading →

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A Month in the Country (reading-as-a-writer 4)

Posted on Aug 7, 2018 by

View this post on Instagram Where to start with “A Month in the Country” by JL Carr (1980)? Would it be hyperbole to say this is one of the most exquisite short novels ever written? Another long, hot, post-war summer; … Continue reading →

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A Winter’s Child (reading-as-a-writer 3)

Posted on Aug 7, 2018 by

View this post on Instagram My #writinginspiration: “A Winter’s Child” by Brenda Jagger. Why – oh why! – is Brenda Jagger no longer widely read? Published in 1984 this post #WW1 novel (and Jagger’s other eight Victorian/Edwardian era books) beats … Continue reading →

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