On the uses and abuses of vernacular

It took Dante, in the late Middle Ages, to take the revolutionary step of writing in his own Tuscan dialect. It would be a mistake, though, to see him with modern eyes as some kind of champion of inclusiveness. He did, after all, use Latin to make his case in On Eloquence in the Vernacular.

- Ana Menéndez, 'Are We Different People in Different Languages?'

Better World Books

do it right.

(according to Jeevan Sukumaran)

Books I've actually finished lately: 93

Ellmann's biography of Wilde was one of the first big books I read (/finished), aged about 16.

From which event extends a trail of more-or-less predictable consequences...

On sincerity

I'm sure you've had to say things you haven't meant before. You've read friends'poetry...? Had girlfriends...?

- The West Wing

(Audio)Books I've actually finished lately: 92

Knocked on the head in four days flat, whilst decorating.

(Tip: entirely comprehensible when read a) this well, b) at pace, and/or c) by an Irishman.)

Books I've actually finished lately: 91

Perfect operatic material. Y'know... If anyone's commissioning.

And quite a decent poem

about religion.

The worst poem I have ever seen

'Bollocks'

On why the Aussie accent's the result of heavy drinking.

Or not.

Yeats - in context

I went out to the hazel wood, / Because a fire was in my head, / And I had not had my Health & Safety briefing.

(Audio)Books I've actually (re-)finished lately: 90

Zaftig vs Sidebottom

Extraordinary interview with Erica Jong in last Saturday`s Times. According to Jong a lot of the 'bad boy' writers who gave her books bad reviews had more than literary criteria on their minds. "I was too zaftig [curvy] to get a good review. Look at all the women who are praised. They`re either very, very skinny or very, very fat. Some of them are hunchback, and some of them enormously fat" - offensive remark about Hilary Mantel omitted [LOLZ] - "Not one of them is a woman you would want to f***." 

Some years ago I gave Jong`s Sappho`s Leap a very bad review in the TLS. At the time I thought I did this because it was a very bad book. Now I know differently. 

Glad she cleared all that up.

- Harry Sidebottom, on Facebook

In other news, I've just looked up a boozy interview I did with Dr Sidebottom. 1) I note Ms Jong was referenced; and 2) I can vouch his books have since also made it to Afghanistan.

Books I've actually finished lately: 89b

Because - ridiculously! - Blogger will only let you use 200 characters when it comes to labels...

Books I've actually finished lately: 89a

(Audio)Books I've actually finished lately: 88

Featuring far too many instances of the word 'sensuous' (and variants) - which ought seriously to've been reconsidered and/or edited when Derek Jacobi was booked to do the audio.