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Manchester to Rome 2022

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colum mccann

Still An Issue

January 6, 2021 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

It was back in 2003 when first I read that John Pilger had won the Sophie Prize. He was surprised, to judge from the tone of his acceptance speech. His journalism has always been quite outspoken about the imperialist and colonialist agendas of many ‘western’ countries like his native Australia, the UK and of course, the US.

This photograph of mine that I've printed onto one of my scarves, links to my memories of Jostein Gaarder, Sophie's World and the Sophie Prize.
Library Rising © Simon Robinson 2013 (this day, Jan 6)
A place to read Sophie’s World or a scarf to wear. See others at FabHappy
[Read more…] about Still An Issue

Filed Under: Anchoritism, Fake Memoir Tagged With: booklink, colum mccann, fabhappy, john pilger, jostein gaarder, palestine, photos, simonscarves, sophie prize

Book of My Year

December 31, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

Despite the challenges, I consider myself to have been very lucky this year. I have lots of reasons to be cheerful. One of these is that I have reliable sources of book recommendations. So many people have made such excellent book recommendations that have I haven’t yet read them all. And the lockdown is the primary reason I was able to read as many as I did.

New Year’s Eve 2006 The Last Stand (Leinster Rugby beat Ulster).
It was the last game in Landsdowne Road before the stadium was demolished.
Remarkably, Johnny Sexton is still playing top flight rugby.
[Read more…] about Book of My Year

Filed Under: Fake Memoir Tagged With: ahmet altan, Bill Bryson, booklink, brian greene, colum mccann, david eagleman, encyclopaedia britannica, leinster rugby, peter wohlleben

’20 Favourites Short List

December 9, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

The Shard First Night 2019
50 time lapse frames on tripod
Fuji X-T3 with MTO 11CA lens
1600 mm f/10 ISO 6400 1/4 sec

It should be a simple thing, to know which is my favourite book that I have read this calendar year.

Because I keep an idea of my favourite books over time, a relative assessment always brings with it the question of absolute best. Absolutes refer to testable truths but what is truth?

I tend to read a lot of books about science. The extraordinary thing about reading recent books on science is the number of times that you read phrases like ‘no one knows if this will prove to be the case’. I find this uncertainty very reassuring. The demand, indeed the onus, on us all is to keep reading to keep learning.

[Read more…] about ’20 Favourites Short List

Filed Under: Fake Memoir Tagged With: ahmet altan, animation, Bill Bryson, booklink, brian greene, colum mccann, david eagleman, peter wohlleben, photo

Ants and Stories

September 10, 2020 by Simon Robinson 2 Comments

The Ant
The ant has made himself illustrious
Through constant industry industrious.
So what?
Would you be calm and placid
If you were full of formic acid?
OGDEN NASH

Time for another set of interests.
[Read more…] about Ants and Stories

Filed Under: Fake Memoir Tagged With: ahmet altan, booklink, brian greene, colum mccann, elif shafak, karl popper, language, ogden nash, robert k logan, shel silverstein

Life Tripped Me Up

August 9, 2020 by Simon Robinson 1 Comment

‘Life tripped me up’ is a line from a poem dictated in Turkish over a phone line from a prison, a series of which have held the poet since he was 21.

Participation in a protest over the government’s treatment of Kurds sent him into a cell as a young man. He confessed to crimes he had denied before torture that has left him scarred for life.

His pre-trial detention lasted for twenty-two years before his sentence to life imprisonment was confirmed. He wrote recently that he ‘can’t touch or communicate with other people or animals’.

Tern Freedom Denied Others
[Read more…] about Life Tripped Me Up

Filed Under: Anchoritism, Fake Memoir Tagged With: ahmet altan, booker prize, colum mccann, Covid-19, elif shafak, ilhan çomak, lia mills, nurcan baysal, parent circle families forum, PEN international, photo, the guardian, turkey

AVE Acronym

July 12, 2020 by Simon Robinson Leave a Comment

Caveat emptor: the things that flow through my consciousness are not always pleasant, complete let alone right.

Ave!

Psychopathy and sociopathy seem to feature large in everything this week. Failures in duties of care dominate the news.

I needed an acronym to make it easier to write about. I’ve chosen AVE as my acronym for Abuser, Victim and Exploitation. AVE as a shout of farewell. AVE as greeting. Two meanings. Going and coming. Double standards. Mental reservations. Ave Maria. The Hail to Mary who despite never having had sex, fell pregnant. It’s long been considered quite an honour to bear a son for a god. Her consent isn’t recorded. This scepticism is no more blasphemy than faith is scientific. Should we not continually question moralities and ethics from our evolving viewpoints? Shouldn’t we ask whether something said or done ever occurred.

L-R: Johnny Joyce, descendant of the family involved. President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly. Professor Margaret Kelleher, author of The Maamtrasna Murders. Dr Niamh Howlin, who provided an expert report on the Maamtrasna case, leading to the pardon of Myles Joyce.
© Simon Robinson 2018
[Read more…] about AVE Acronym

Filed Under: Anchoritism, Fake Memoir Tagged With: abuse, adrian horton, ahmet altan, bbc, blasphemy, brian greene, colum mccann, exploitation, irish times, james patterson, john connolly, julie k brown, margaret kelleher, martina devlin, michael reiter, netflix, podcasts, tim malloy

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