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

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

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In his novel, The Glass Room, Simon Mawer starts with a picture of privilege. Through that he explores human relationships, families, histor...

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Beyond the Schoolboy Fringe - Untold Stories by Alan Bennett

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Untold Stories by Alan Bennett is something of a pot pourri. It starts with an autobiographical exploration of social and family origins, an...

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Dead Heart by Douglas Kennedy

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We first meet Nick Hawthorne in a Darwin bar. As a stripper offers contorted perspectives on what Australia has to offer, our hero from Main...

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally

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The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith by Thomas Keneally is based on the life of an Australian bushranger called Jimmy Governor. Fictionalised as Ji...

Thursday, October 20, 2011

The Smarter Science of Slim by Jonathan Bailor

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In his book The Smarter Science of Slim Jonathan Bailor presents much more than advice on lifestyle and diet. This is a complete argument re...

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

A Northern Ireland family - Reading In The Dark by Seamus Deane

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Reading In The Dark is a first person account of an extraordinary childhood. On the surface, the family seems to be stable enough. They are ...

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A review of Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel

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In her novel Beyond Black, Hilary Mantel presents a series of characters who ought to be Mr and Mrs, or Uncle and Auntie Normal. They all li...

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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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