celticman's blog

I’d heard of Oskar Schindler— the clichéd read the book and seen the film—but I hadn’t heard of Resko Kasztner the Hungarian born Jew. Anna Porter tells us who he was and what he did. There are historical echoes of many of the lessons here that we’ve already forgotten. Chapter 32, begins with a quote from [United States] : ‘Rowell McClelland, Report on the Activities of the War Refugee Board from March 1944 to July 1945. ‘Dr Israel Kasztner...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00162yr ceteris paribus adverb With all other factors or things remaining the same. other things being equal ; with all other things or factors remaining the same. all other things being equal Anyone that has done O-grade economics knows what ceteris paribus means. It means nothing in the real world, because all things are not equal. Since the late nineteen-seventies, year on year, decade on decade things have...

The Trees by Percival Everett was shortlisted for The Booker Prize 2022. I take it Percival Everett is a black man. Critical Theory suggests you should shut the fuck up and just read the book. It doesn’t matter if the writer is pink or orange or gay or transgender. What matters is the text. It inhabits a world free-floating above the artist where great works of art exist. A bit like heaven, but without The Booker Prize. Percival Everett, like me...

Damon Galgut’s novel, The Promise , won the Booker Prize in 2021. In a Strange Room was shortlisted for the Man Booker almost ten years ago. This is a short book, split into three parts: ‘The Follower,’ ‘The Lover’ and ‘The Guardian’. I liked the ‘The Guardian’ best and ‘The Follower’ least. I doubt I’d have continued with the book if it hadn’t had the tag: Booker Prize-Winning Author on the cover. I’m not immune to hype. Like the moral...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0dgrqhx/mayflies-series-1-episode-1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0dgrryf/mayflies-series-1-episode-2?seriesId=p0dgrpz0 My partner said I’d like this. We don’t have the same tastes. She watches fuckin Emmerdale and Coronation Street. But she knows I’m a sucker for anything Scottish, with actors playing working-class characters. I’ve not read Andrew O’Hagan’s book, yet. So I’m doing it in the wrong...

‘Death begins when no one can remember you any longer.’ Reading is what I do. That’s a quote from a Fresh Water for Flowers , a book I recently read in which the main character is a cemetery keeper. I got a Facebook message from Biggins telling me Debbie was dead. I replied, I didn’t know any Debbies. Then I thought about it some more and sent another message, ‘Debbie Gilmour’? Her daughters Jasmine’s and Victoria’s Uncle Joe did the talking at...

This is my non-fiction book of the year 2022. Ideally, it should be read before or after my film documentary of the year: Big Oil v The World. (A transcript of the third part of the series has been attached in Notes). When people talk about disinformation or misinformation that’s a polite way of saying you’ve been lied to. Again and again you’ve been lied to. Your children are going to die. Your children’s children are going to die in such vast...

Don’t judge the book by the cover. We all do. The cover of Fresh Water for Flowers is iffy. Poor even. But it didn’t stop it being the clichéd: The Number 1 International Bestseller , more than one million copies sold. Most non-international books (my book included) sell 12 copies, which we’re grateful for without the hype and headlines. But hey, although I bear a life-long grudge, I’m willing do dive right in. In other words, I start reading...

Historians that buy into the great-man theory of history learn how to write fiction. Look no further than the moron’s moron and 45 th American President. That kind of stuff writes itself. Neal Ascherson isn’t that kind of historian or that kind of journalist. Wars are won by women and men doing their best while knowing that something bigger than them is happening. The story begins in Greenock on the banks of the Clyde. Gateway to the Atlantic,...

Memoirs are made-up stories based on a subjective version of truth. But if you are a Jehovah Witness the only truth worth knowing comes from the Bible. The literal words of God. Ali Millar’s mum was a Jehovah Witness in the same way I was brought up a Roman Catholic. She was brought up in the truth, but she couldn’t keep up the lie. Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit coming-of-age drama shone brightly. It illuminated the truth...