Ernest Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream

This post was originally a podcast script, now (2022) tidied up a little since it seems to be one of the most-read posts on this site. Its subject is Ernest Hemingway's novel Islands in the Stream. He is a giant of American literature, and of masculine writing. He wrote men’s books about manly subjects: war, … Continue reading Ernest Hemingway’s Islands in the Stream →

Adam Nicolson’s Sea-Room

Today’s letter in the Really Like This Book podcast scripts catch-up is N, and today’s author is a Nicolson, Adam Nicolson, son of Nigel Nicolson, who was the son of Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West (about whose novel No Signposts In The Sea I blogged about recently). Some time in the 1930s Vita saw an sale … Continue reading Adam Nicolson’s Sea-Room →

The glory days of Edward Leithen: John Macnab and The Gap in the Curtain

I‘ve been working on John Buchan, on and off, for about thirty years. After the first ten years I went a bit stale. I was bored with his most famous character, Richard Hannay, and with The Thirty-Nine Steps, his most famous novel. I was even more bored of people not being interested in reading anything … Continue reading The glory days of Edward Leithen: John Macnab and The Gap in the Curtain →