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, July 30, 2020

Elizabeth – The Forgotten Years by John Guy

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Myths are best served exploded, otherwise they can over-inflate and thus hide the substance of any dish. And if that dish be the national c...
Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Reflections on String Quartet No.1, Kreutzer Sonata, by Leos Janacek

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Leos Janacek´s musical voice is unique. No other music behaves or sounds like his. There are no long lines or tunes. His harmonies are unli...
Sunday, July 26, 2020

Some thought on Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie

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Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses is not an easy book to review. After finishing any book, the reviewing process is always an excellent way o...
Saturday, July 25, 2020

A Tale Of Love And Darkness by Amos Oz

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In A Tale Of Love And Darkness Amos Oz writes an autobiography of his early years. Though written from a much later perspective, this memoi...
Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Gainsborough, A Portrait by James Hamilton

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Gainsborough, A Portrait by James Hamilton is much, much more than a biography of a painter, though if it were only that it would still be ...
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...
Friday, July 17, 2020

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

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The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins first appeared in 2006, the paperback including corrections and clarifications in 2007. Dawkins starts ...
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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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