Read Stonemouth (Iain Banks) It’s hard to believe that it’s already six years now since Iain Banks died, so vivid does his voice remain. Stonemouth was his second last book, published in 2012 and adapted for television in 2015. Like The Crow Road and The Steep Approach to Garbadale this is the story of a […]
Read People Who Eat Darkness (Richard Lloyd Parry) The murder in 2000 of Lucie Blackman, a young English woman working in Tokyo, caused a media storm at the time. Richard Lloyd Parry’s book was published in 2011; over the intervening period Mr Lloyd Parry spent time with everyone involved in the murder: the Blackman family, […]
Studying elites and social class is a particular interest of mine – my doctoral research explores issues of culture and identity within one particular elite field, namely the investment management community in Edinburgh. I was therefore very interested to see the recent BBC Two documentary presented by the corporation’s media editor, Amol Rajan. The programme’s […]
In his 70s prime Billy Connolly used to perform a skit called Late Call mocking the tendency of church ministers on the eponymous late evening Scottish TV programme to find connections where connections there were none: “life is like an ashtray – full of little doubts” or “life is like a tin of sardines – […]
Thanks for joining me! Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
The Consummate Scholar 