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 mcewan. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan

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Unusually, I am not going to write a full review of this. To say I was disappointed by the book would be an understatement. It was clear wha...

Saturday, January 29, 2022

The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan

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Ostensibly, The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan is a book for children. It ’ s not really a novel, because the author himself conceived these piece...

Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

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Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan is a subtle, moving book about espionage. There is a touch of oxymoron about that, somewhere. No-one is killed. T...

Friday, December 10, 2010

First Love, Last Rites by Ian McEwan

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Having read much of Ian McEwan’s later work in the last few years, I was intrigued to chance upon a copy of First Love, Last Rites, a set of...

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The Child In Time by Ian McEwan

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Stephen Lawes appears to be pretty well-heeled. His successes seem remarkable. He is a successful writer of children’s books. He is acquaint...

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Masterpiece: On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan

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The fly cover of On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan describes the book as “a short novel of remarkable depth by a writer at the height of his pow...

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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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