books on my bedside table
 | Two
Worlds, by David Daiches. A birthday present from my mum and
dad. It tells a autobiographical tale of life in Edinburgh, growing up as
the son of a Rabbi, in the dour Edinburgh between the wars torn between the
two cultures. Fascinating. |
| 
original bliss, by A. L. Kennedy. More Scottish writing that I
just love (is this a symptom of homesickness I wonder!). Her first novel, Looking
for the Possible Dance, was also brilliant. I just love her to
bits, again she tackles the great issues between men and women, and comes up
with difficult, but ultimately satisfying stories. |
| "Surely
you're joking Mr. Feynman!" Recently acquired from my friend
Alister after a bizarre serious of events on a train from Vienna........ As
it says on the blurb..............Winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in
1965, Richard Feynman was also a man who fell, often jumped, into adventure
- as artist, safe-cracker, practical joker and storyteller. He solved the
mystery of liquid helium, was commissioned to paint a naked (female)
toreador, explained physics to the likes of Einstein and Von Neumann,
accompanied ballet on the bongo drums, and was judged mentally deficient by
a US Army psychiatrist. Over a period of years, Feynman's conversations with
his friend Ralph Leighton were first taped and then set down as they appear
in this book, little changed from their spoken form, to give a self-portrait
of a remarkable man. |
|  "What's
so amazing about Grace?" by Philip Yancey. As an antidote to
a Christians tendency to legalism, this is a fine book, worth rereading, it
really makes you sit up and think. Thanks to my friend Fiona who gave
it to me. |
books in my bathroom
| Well, there is no where better to keep your short stories! |
|  The
Good Times, by James Kelman. As usual his writing is full of swearwords,
but it does graphically depict the urban Scottish male, as he grapples with
a world he never really understands, especially the women! My other
favourite Kelman novel is A
Disaffection, same themes but the characterisation is superb, I see folk
I know in every one, brilliant! (But again, there is too much swearing for
the faint hearted). |
| And more A.L. Kennedy (of course) Night
Geometry and the Garscadden Trains. Winner of the Scotsman
Saltire First Book of the Year Award, the characters in these short stories
are often alone and sometimes lonely as they ponder the mysteries of sex and
death and the meaning of the city around them.
|
and on the coffee table
| The
State We're In, by Will Hutton. I'm rereading this book, it is a
excellent book which makes economics understandable, especially on the human
level. it reaffirms the logic and worth of traditional Keynesian
thinking, highlighting the damage the Thatcher years have done to our
country. |
| 
Antarctic Oasis by Tim and Pauline Carr. I have been lucky enough to
meet Tim and Pauline Carr when I visited South Georgia myself. This
books amazing photography tells the story of their 5 year stay on this
almost deserted island. Many years ago I had an Uncle who worked on a
whaling station there, and it certainly is a place that it is very easy to
fall in love with. I took plenty of photographs when I was there
myself, but none are as good as those in this lovingly crafted book. |
Free Church
of Scotland Bookshop for all the more theological titles.
This page was last updated on 07/22/00
.
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my
portion for ever.
Psalm75v26
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