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

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Costa Blanca Arts Update - Sex on the Beach – sculptures by Antoni MirĂ³ in Altea

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Two years ago, artist Antoni MirĂ³ exhibited a series of sculptures around Valencia’s old port district. Opinion at the time was divided ...
Tuesday, August 25, 2020

The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan

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The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan won the Booker prize for 2014, an award that was probably deserved. Much has been ma...
Monday, August 24, 2020

Self-promotion or self-demotion? An emotional observation.

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I read qu ite a lot. I also try to review each book I read. Sometimes it’s a cursory mention of themes, settings and plot, just enough just ...
Friday, August 21, 2020

Scott-King's Modern Europe by Evelyn Waugh

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Scott-King's Modern Europe is a short, perhaps over-short novella by Evelyn Waugh. Written in 1946, it visits a fictitious part of Europ...
Wednesday, August 19, 2020

The Children's Book by AS Byatt

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The Children's Book by AS Byatt is a vast, almost rambling novel about several families and multiple lives . It is the  kind of novel wh...
Saturday, August 15, 2020

The Naples Riviera by Herbert M Vaughan

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The Naples Riviera by Herbert M Vaughan is a travel book published in 1908. I read it recently during a trip to Naples, itself. When using o...
Thursday, August 13, 2020

Everything Under by Daisy Johnson

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Everything Under by Daisy Johnson seems to explore the identity conferred on an individual via family. "Seems to" is important her...
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About Me

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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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