The Blog
1971 — The Greatest Year in Rock — Never A Dull Moment
Whoever said that writing about music was like dancing about architecture (and I still can’t work out who it actually was) clearly hadn’t read ‘1971’, a brilliant book which shows that when David Hepworth writes about music it’s like losing yourself on the dance floor to your favourite song or admiring a particularly beautiful building. Hepworth’s thesis … Read more 1971 — The Greatest Year in Rock — Never A Dull Moment
Je Suis un Rock Star. The Stones at The Saatchi Gallery
Exhibitionism, the Rolling Stones exhibition at The Saatchi Gallery, is all show and no tell. Fair enough for an exhibition, you might say, and especially for an exhibition which draws attention to its own showiness by giving itself that title. That’s not to say that it’s unenjoyable. In many respects it’s great. There’s a … Read more Je Suis un Rock Star. The Stones at The Saatchi Gallery
What’s So Funny ’bout Love, Peace and Understanding? The end of Mad Men
(SPOILER ALERT) The ending of ‘Mad Men’ is deliberately ambiguous. It’s not frustratingly ambiguous in the way that the ending to ‘The Sopranos’ is – this finale’s ambiguity is far more satisfying, and its satisfaction lies in the way that, whichever way you choose to read our last sight of Don Draper (and they are … Read more What’s So Funny ’bout Love, Peace and Understanding? The end of Mad Men
Paul Weller — Sheerwater’s more famous son
As I watched Paul Weller perform at Glastonbury last night my wife said that he ‘was looking good’. Being a secure kind of guy I had no problems with this undoubtedly true observation, but when she followed it with the question ‘how old is he now?’ I felt a little more uneasy, as contemplation of … Read more Paul Weller — Sheerwater’s more famous son
Beware Hipsters! Beware Hipsters! Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young
Noah Baumbach’s latest film While We’re Young fires comic warning shots at both the young and the old. For the old, represented by failing documentary film-maker Josh and wife Cornelia, it suggests that if you’re about to have a mid-life crisis it’s best not to have it in the company of hipsters ( Beware Hipsters!) … Read more Beware Hipsters! Beware Hipsters! Noah Baumbach’s While We’re Young
What I don’t get about Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’
‘Take the road less travelled’ is the stuff of a thousand graduation ceremonies and school assemblies, a neat poetic expression of the idea that sometimes we shouldn’t follow the path that others have trod but be brave enough to make the unconventional choice. The idea comes from Robert Frost’s famous poem: The Road Not … Read more What I don’t get about Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken’
The Year of Reading Dangerously
‘The Year of Reading Dangerously’ by Andy Miller reminds me of the great game in David Lodge’s brilliant comic novel ‘Changing Places’ – Humiliation. It’s a game played by English Literature academics – you name a work of literature you haven’t read and get a point for everyone else who has. It’s ages since … Read more The Year of Reading Dangerously
Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery (and a New Year’s Resolution)
‘Do No Harm’, the memoir of neurosurgeon Henry Marsh, is one of my books of the year. Compelling and fascinating, it is articulately and honestly written, it provides unexpected insights into life and death, and it has had more impact on me than anything else I have read this year. Why, then, did I find … Read more Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery (and a New Year’s Resolution)
The Joy of Text
It’s come as a great relief to learn that a recent survey has revealed that 80% of those who use subtitles when watching TV are not deaf or hard of hearing. I am, it would seem, not alone, and it’s reassuring to know that my increasing subtitle-dependency (particularly when watching DVD’s) does not mean that … Read more The Joy of Text
‘Funny Girl’ — the highs and lows of the 60s
When John Carey reviewed Nick Hornby’s ‘How To Be Good’ he famously compared Hornby to Dostoevsky – in talking about ‘The Idiot’ Carey observed that Hornby’s novel is ‘shorter, funnier, just as sharp in its human observation, and more realistic.’ High praise indeed, and coming from Carey, a man of impeccable insight and judgement, it’s … Read more ‘Funny Girl’ — the highs and lows of the 60s
My Year of Reading a Bit More than I Usually Do
This time last year, inspired by Andy Miller’s excellent ‘My Year of Reading Dangerously’, I wrote this – http://www.bernardokeeffe.com/?p=738 . The idea was to spend 2015 reading a bit more than I usually do. History suggested that this New Year’s Resolution was likely to go the way of all previous ones, the early January flame of enthusiasm … Read more My Year of Reading a Bit More than I Usually Do
What I don’t get about ‘Not Now Bernard’
There are many books I don’t get ( see, for example, ‘What I don’t get about Stoner’ – http://www.bernardokeeffe.com/?p=262), but I was surprised last week to discover that I might have been misreading my all-time favourite for many years. The book in question is David McKee’s ‘Not Now Bernard’, and it’s my favourite for several reasons: 1. It … Read more What I don’t get about ‘Not Now Bernard’
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