I guess it goes hand in hand with enjoying reading and loving books, but I really like to take any opportunity to meet authors or just see them in person.
Last year I discovered the wonderful Cheltenham Literature Festival, which is only 45 mins drive away. On that occasion I just went to see Roddy Doyle talk [my daughters Josie and Emmeline both went to sessions that interested them]. This year, I went to two sessions. Last week I went to one which was presented by the people from a favourite Radio 4 Programme: From Our Own Correspondent. Today I went to see the inimitable Gervase Phinn, who, at 10:00 on a Sunday morning made a whole hall full of people laugh and cry in good measure. Josie also went to a story-telling session last week.
The whole festival is a great event and I must take full advantage in future years. I regret not going to see Alan Bennett this year ...
16 Oct 2005
13 Oct 2005
What I'm reading ...
I have started The Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser.
This is a serious history book. Not really my usual line of country. It's the next Bookclub book, so I'll give it a go. The broadcast is on 6 November - the day after Guy Fawkes Day, which is the 400th anniversary of the Plot.
This is a serious history book. Not really my usual line of country. It's the next Bookclub book, so I'll give it a go. The broadcast is on 6 November - the day after Guy Fawkes Day, which is the 400th anniversary of the Plot.
12 Oct 2005
The Man Who Loved Only Numbers - by Paul Hoffman
This book delivered. It is a biography - and I always like to get glimpses into other people's lives - but it is also very informative about what goes on in the world of higher mathematics. This is all presented in a very informal manor, with more than a little humour. Although I am certainly not a mathematician, I am interested in numbers and the examples of number theory were fascinating. I am just frustrated that I don't really have anyone to discuss my ideas with ...
Nobody could read this and not come away with a feeling of regret that meeting Paul Erdos is now not an option. One also feels a kind of affection for such an eccentric character.
Nobody could read this and not come away with a feeling of regret that meeting Paul Erdos is now not an option. One also feels a kind of affection for such an eccentric character.
8 Oct 2005
What I'm reading ...
I have started The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman.
I had never heard of Paul Erdos, the subject of this book until I heard an edition of the Radio 4 programme, "A Further Five Numbers" [programme #3], when they were covering the number 6. The example of why 6 is important turned to levels of connection - any two people on Earth are separated by, on average, six "jumps". This moved on to a discussion of Bacon and Erdos numbers. A Bacon Number is the separation of an actor from working in a movie with Kevin Bacon. If the actor has worked with KB, they have a Bacon Number of 1. If they have worked with an actor who has worked with KB, their number is 2, and so forth. For an Erdos Number it is about the closeness to having written a mathematical paper with Paul Erdos.
This book is his biography from his birth in Hungary in 1913 to his death 83 years later. He was a mathematical genius. But he was incapable of almost anything else. He would show up at colleagues' houses, unannounced, with a view to staying for a while. He was welcome because, even though he was hard work, his insights could save months or years of work.
I had never heard of Paul Erdos, the subject of this book until I heard an edition of the Radio 4 programme, "A Further Five Numbers" [programme #3], when they were covering the number 6. The example of why 6 is important turned to levels of connection - any two people on Earth are separated by, on average, six "jumps". This moved on to a discussion of Bacon and Erdos numbers. A Bacon Number is the separation of an actor from working in a movie with Kevin Bacon. If the actor has worked with KB, they have a Bacon Number of 1. If they have worked with an actor who has worked with KB, their number is 2, and so forth. For an Erdos Number it is about the closeness to having written a mathematical paper with Paul Erdos.
This book is his biography from his birth in Hungary in 1913 to his death 83 years later. He was a mathematical genius. But he was incapable of almost anything else. He would show up at colleagues' houses, unannounced, with a view to staying for a while. He was welcome because, even though he was hard work, his insights could save months or years of work.
2 Oct 2005
The Buddha of Suburbia - by Hanif Kureishi
I finished this book in time for this afternoon's radio programme! Of late, I always seem to be a few days late and use the BBC's "Listen Again" facility. So, I guess this was quite an easy read.
The story is about Karim Amir, a teenage boy with an Indian father and English mother growing up in London in the '70s. Although humorous in many ways, there are lots of observations on society at that time [and now perhaps] and the attitudes to ethnic minorities. It's broadly optimistic, but not without its dark moments.
I found Karim hard to identify with or even like. He led, by my standards, a rather chaotic lifestyle, but I don't think that is particularly unrealistic. Perhaps I am now unable to get inside the head of a teenager. There is a lot of sex in the book. I am tempted to say too much, as, although some is very relevant to the story, I'm not sure that it all is.
I was intrigued by a random fact that I learned from the book [I like to think that I can learn things from fiction]. Some people's eyebrows are linked across the top of their nose - like they have one long eyebrow. It seems that the Romans thought this a sign of nobility; the Greeks thought of it as a sign of treachery.
The story is about Karim Amir, a teenage boy with an Indian father and English mother growing up in London in the '70s. Although humorous in many ways, there are lots of observations on society at that time [and now perhaps] and the attitudes to ethnic minorities. It's broadly optimistic, but not without its dark moments.
I found Karim hard to identify with or even like. He led, by my standards, a rather chaotic lifestyle, but I don't think that is particularly unrealistic. Perhaps I am now unable to get inside the head of a teenager. There is a lot of sex in the book. I am tempted to say too much, as, although some is very relevant to the story, I'm not sure that it all is.
I was intrigued by a random fact that I learned from the book [I like to think that I can learn things from fiction]. Some people's eyebrows are linked across the top of their nose - like they have one long eyebrow. It seems that the Romans thought this a sign of nobility; the Greeks thought of it as a sign of treachery.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)