Two Tales from India

Two Tales from India

Peter Scotchmer dives into two great reads- Saroo Brierley’s contemporary true story ‘Lion’ and Rudyard Kipling’s classic novel ‘Kim’ during his own travels through the Indian subcontinent. While in India on family business, I...
Le Mot Juste : Words Matter

Le Mot Juste : Words Matter

The story is told by his son Dylan of a memorable exchange between Dylan’s father, the Canadian writer William Bell, famous for his novel Forbidden City, and Dylan’s sister Megan. Megan had been reprimanded for some unspecified childish misdemeanour or other, and had...
A Culture of Reticence

A Culture of Reticence

The past is another country. They do things differently there. – L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between   (A mosaic from Hadrumetum, in Tunisia, an important pre-Carthage Phoenician city, which depicts Aeneas surrounded by Clio, (history), and Melpomene (tragedy). This...
Possession

Possession

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. –F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby I have often wondered why it is that some slight and unremarkable memories remain strongly embedded in our waking consciousness while others...
The Art Thief

The Art Thief

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel : A Book Review   This year, 2023, has seen the publication of Michael Finkel’s The Art Thief, a riveting true account of the escapades of Stephane Breitwieser, a native of Alsace, and probably the most prolific art thief in history...