Like any good scientist, Ben Goldacre starts with his hypothesis: Medicine is broken: the plane flies but it crashes much more often than it needs to. The rest of the book is a meticulously researched and eloquently argued support of…
Monthly Archives: August 2017
Non-fiction review: Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre
Tagged with: Bad Pharma, Ben Goldacre, Medicine, Science
Posted in Book review: non-fiction, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Book review: non-fiction, Wednesday Pontification
Summer at HappyKamper
Welcome to HappyKamper, ladies and gentlemen. I’ll be your Kampster – that’s what we call it – for as long as you’re here so if there’s anything you need, anything at all, please feel free to ask me. What’s that,…
Lessons from Brontosaurus
“This is a brontosaurus,” said Miss Collinson. “Now, who can tell me what this is?” Jasmin stuck her hand up. This was easy. “Yes, Jasmin?” “That’s a tyrannosaurus, Miss.” “That’s right, Jasmin. They’re both di-no-saurs.” Miss Collinson pronounced the word…
Greater Minds: Hilary Mantel on the life and project
Shortly before her death, Susan Sontag said ‘that somewhere along the line, one has to choose between the Life and the Project’. Hilary Mantel quoted her in the third of this year’s Reith lectures, while she was talking about the…
Tagged with: Hilary Mantel, historical fiction, History, Reith lectures, Stanislawa Przybyszewska
Posted in Greater minds, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Greater minds, Wednesday Pontification
Cold Freedom
You want to know why I was waving a knife around in that shop? It’s a fair question, constable, so I’ll give you a fair answer. It was because there wouldn’t be no kids in a booze shop. They might’ve…
A Kentishman in Spain
“It’s a right scorcher, today is,” said Jonty. “I know,” said Maggie. “I can’t do anything. I can’t even think straight.” “Should’ve stayed at home,” said Jonty. “What? You’ve been moaning about rain and cold all winter,” said Margaret. “That’s…
Greater Minds: Hilary Mantel on adapting the past
The Reith Lectures are an annual pleasure from the BBC to the world. Every year, a prominent speaker gives a series of lectures on a subject close to their heart, followed by questions from an audience that usually includes some…
Tagged with: Bring up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel, historical fiction, History, Reith lectures, Wolf Hall
Posted in Greater minds, Wednesday Pontification
Posted in Greater minds, Wednesday Pontification
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