The Donkey Trail 3: A view to die for

Eskişehir, Türkiye Friday 31 May 2024 Above: Mount Säntis, Switzerland Here is my problem. Two problems, actually. I have the workings of a plot, but I cannot decide what details to include or exclude from the story. I also want to capture the emotions of the characters by showing, not telling, what they are feeling.… Continue reading The Donkey Trail 3: A view to die for

Dreams of Fielding

“A comic writer should of all others be the least excused for deviating from nature, since it may not be always so easy for a serious poet to meet with the great and the admirable. But life everywhere furnishes an accurate observer with the ridiculous.“ (Henry Fielding, Joseph Andrews) Above: English writer Henry Fielding Eskişehir, Türkiye Monday 21 April 2024 Henry Fielding is one of… Continue reading Dreams of Fielding

The house of the rising sun

Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 “The brevity of life, the failing of the senses, the numbness of indifference and unprofitable occupations allow us to know very little. And again and again swift oblivion, the thief of knowledge and the enemy of memory, makes a void of the mind, in the course of time, even… Continue reading The house of the rising sun

The moon is dark

Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 Your love did not leave me. I was hungry. I was thirsty. Oh, the night was dark. My soul is strange. My soul is silent. My soul is shattered. And my hands are in handcuffs. I am left without tobacco. Sleepless. Your love has not abandoned me. (“Love Me“,… Continue reading The moon is dark

The barrister’s books

Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 Above: Caricature of Leo McKern (1920 – 2002) as Horace Rumpole from the episode “Rumpole and the Younger Generation“ “Inspiration is something one possesses by the hard and bitter labour of every day.“ Salvador Dali Above: Spanish artist Salvador Dali (1904 – 1989) All writers need inspiration. Ideas have to come… Continue reading The barrister’s books

Where all thinking stops

Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 “Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea have given birth to many myths and legends of war and adventure. And these once-proud stones, these ruined and shattered temples bear witness to the civilization that flourished and then died here and to the demigods and heroes who inspired those… Continue reading Where all thinking stops

Just a little Muir

Eskişehir, Türkiye Sunday 21 April 2024 “In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” (John Muir) Above: John Muir John Muir (21 April 1838 – 1914), also known as “John of the Mountains” and “Father of the National Parks“, was a Scottish-born American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. His… Continue reading Just a little Muir

Beyond Glass Town

Sunday 21 April 2024 Eskişehir, Türkiye You advise me, too, not to stray far from the ground of experience, as I become weak when I enter the region of fiction. You say: “Real experience is perennially interesting, and to all men“. I feel that this also is true, but, dear Sir, is not the real… Continue reading Beyond Glass Town

Child heroes

Thursday 18 April 2023 (continued) Eskişehir, Türkiye “With those children, Winston thought, that wretched woman (Mrs. Parsons) must lead a life of terror. Another year, two years, and they would be watching her night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy. Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means… Continue reading Child heroes

The Penniless Parliament of Threadbare Poets

Eskişehir, Türkiye Thursday 18 April 2024 (continued) I get up in the evenin’And I ain’t got nothin’ to sayI come home in the mornin’I go to bed feelin’ the same wayI ain’t nothin’ but tiredMan, I’m just tired and bored with myselfHey there, baby, I could use just a little help You can’t start a… Continue reading The Penniless Parliament of Threadbare Poets