Philip Spires commonplace book

I have kept a commonplace book for many years. It's a place where scraps of impressions are filed for future reflection. It's not a diary, it's just a mental scrapbook, concentrating on book reviews, concert reviews, visual arts and some occasional pieces on travel. It is also a place where I occasionally reflect on what I write. Details of my books can be found at http://www.philipspires.co.uk

Showing posts with label america. Show all posts

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Paquito D'Rivera and Aaron Copland under Jost Vicent in Adda, Alicante

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Apparently, this was a program of two halves. Meaningless phrases are always the best openings… On the face of it, the first half of this co...

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

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This is a masterpiece of story-telling. It is short - about 130 pages - and tells the tale of a man living an isolated life in New England. ...

Thursday, May 30, 2024

The Work Of Nations by Robert B Reich

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The Work Of Nations by Robert B Reich was published in 1991, written, therefore, prior to that year. In the book, the author describes the r...

Monday, December 6, 2021

Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

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I heard an author interviewed on the radio. He described a character he had invented, a fellow called Quichotte (that’s key-shot, by the w...

Sunday, July 19, 2020

4-3-2-1 by Paul Auster

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4-3-2-1 in not one book. It is four. And they are in order, 4-3-2-1. Its title, incidentally, could not be 1-2-3-4 for reasons the reader w...

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Temporary residents - a review of Waxwings by Jonathan Raban

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Waxwings by Jonathan Raban succeeds at every level. It’s one of the best novels I have ever read. Its apparent simplicity continually reveal...

Friday, March 4, 2011

The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

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Initially, the form of The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid seems forced. Surely it will restrict what the author can achieve. By th...

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Burr by Gore Vidal

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The passage of time edits history. The roughness and corners of detail wear away under the constant erosion of recall and interpretation. Ev...

Saturday, November 7, 2009

New York Days, New York Nights by Stephen Brook

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I have just done another tour of New York. It’s a city whose streets I have walked, whose life I have encountered, whose people I have known...

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About Me

philipspires: I was born in Wakefield and was brought up in Sharslton, a mining Village. I went to London University and then became a maths teacher, working initially as a volunteer teacher in Kenya. I spent sixteen years in London, in Balham and Islington. In 1992, I left Britain for Brunei and then Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. I currently live in La Nucia, near Benidorm in Spain. I am interested in the relationship between nature and nurture, birthright and experience. Themes of culture and identity and their relation to economic and social roles underpin my writing. What we are born into relates to what we become, but we are rarely in control. What others do, our interests and intellects and the way we choose to earn a living, all of these shape us into what we become. It may be that culture is the sum of all assumptions that others make on our behalf, whereas identity represents our reactions to them. I did a PhD on the effects of education in economic development in the Philippines. I was President of Alfas del Pi Music Society for twelve years.

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