Art Kavanagh

The Remains of the Day (1989) and The Sense of an Ending (2011) are both short novels which feature narrators who give the impression of not being fully aware of the significance of the events they recount. In the case of Ishiguro’s novel this impression is deceptive.

Eurosceptic governments often counted on Orbán to veto proposals from Brussels without having to pipe up themselves. His absence might now draw out their own awkward views: on Ukraine, for instance.

Depressing thought. Janan Ganesh in the FT on “The weird resilience of the EU”

This arrived in the post this morning. I had to pay An Post an extra €15 to get it delivered in Ireland because the publisher doesn’t yet have a distributor in the EU. I’d rather that money had gone to the editor and/or publisher but hey, at least I got the book 📖

Poems beautiful and useful: a choice of popular early modern verse made by Victoria Moul with an introduction and notes, published by Headless Poet, 2026

Mike Westbrook has died, aged 90. Here is The Guardian’s obituary 🎹 🎶

Rather than building housing, local councils are outbidding first-time buyers for new and second-hand homes, using the State’s financial power to outbid local people.

David McWilliams, Irish Times. This is absurd and reckless. We should be building before the corproation tax bonanza disappears.

In recent months I’ve read more books than usual that I found disappointing or unsatisfactory. While I generally prefer to write about books I’ve enjoyed, I find I want to say a little bit about some of the ones I haven’t.

The Guardian’s lines will have come up nearly undigested in Alex’s review, I suspect, because the AI didn’t have lots of reviews to subtly compost in the way it subtly composts billions of sources for most of its work.

Sam Leith on how that NYT AI/plagiarism kerfuffle came about

I was watching a video on YouTube of a discussion and instead of concentrating on what the speakers were saying, I was watching the subtitles, looking out for the next error, so I gave up after a few minutes. Uncorrected subtitles are distracting and can effectively make a video unwatchable.

Ethan Iverson’s 50 ECM tracks prompted me to dig out my copy of Not Two, Not One (Bley, Peacock, Motian) 🎶, which I hadn’t listened to for 17/18 years:

The pianist in particular had become essentially intractable; it was the drummer who had grown into one of the musicians of the age.

When did Channel 4 streaming stop being available in Ireland (Republic)? A few weeks ago, I could watch it online with no problems. Suddenly it’s saying it’s only available in the UK 🤷🏻‍♂️

Reading this Irish Times story about Brendan Behan, I just realized that my father must have been locked up in the Curragh at the same time as Máirtín Ó Cadhain. As an Irish-speaker, he must have known Ó Cadhain there, but I never heard him mention him. He was contemptuously dismissive of Behan.

Somerset Maugham’s First World War spy is more an observer than a man of action, appropriately for someone whose role is the gathering of intelligence.

eyelashes like draught excluders

Tana French, The Keeper 📖 Looking forward to this, though I probably won’t read it till the paperback comes out in about a year’s time.

In the late 70s my aunt was enthusing wildly about Sweet William, so I started to read her copy and really didn’t get on with it. I gave up and haven’t tried to read anything else by Bainbridge till now. I just read it over the past few days and I found the humour too cruel for my taste 🙁 📚

If he dies? You mean he might be immortal?

Headline from the i paper reading “Russia: Analysis: Putin is coughing and croaking. This is what happens if he dies"

Deep Down is one of the 20 or more Pieranunzi albums that I have but I haven’t listened to it recently. Thanks to Ethan Iverson for the reminder 🎶🎹

Comparing a memoir (Sex with Shakespeare), some short stories (including “Secretary”) and a novel (Normal People), all of which deal in one way or another with themes of masochism and/or submissiveness.

People should read more French novels, says Cecily Carver. She makes a good case for Stendhal’s The Charterhouse of Parma … and for starting with Balzac.

Ironically, high housing costs, seen as a sign of wealth by some, taken together with a thriving multinational sector, seen as a sign of economic success, is probably the most disastrous combination militating against the establishment of a diverse, healthy economy.

David McWilliams, Irish Times

Lisa Lutz’s The Accomplice is the story of inseparable, long-term friends Luna and Owen. Owen is suspected of being responsible for the deaths, 15 years apart, of a former girlfriend and his wife, while Luna still hasn’t shaken off feelings of guilt over something she did when she was 11 years old.

I’ve noticed that Substack is now offering a free read of a paid post if you take a free subscription to the relevant newsletter — but only if you use their app! You can’t just read it on the web. No thanks.

Ethan Iverson on the legacy of Wynton Marsalis. This passage may throw some light on why I rarely listen to the original Akoustic Band albums, two of which I have, but am decidedly enthusiastic about their Live (2018) 🎹 🎶

Chick Corea and Michael Brecker got the memo, and soon had warmer-toned musicians in their acoustic bands presenting concerts that sounded more like jazz. (See, for example, the difference between Corea’s ’80s Akoustic band with John Patitucci and Dave Weckl and the later Trilogy with Christian McBride and Brian Blade. Patitucci may be the musician most affected by the buffeting winds of bass fashion: He sounds like a completely different player in his early years than after 1990 or so.)

I must have read the wrong Julian Barnes novels. The only two I was sure I’d read were Before She Met Me and Talking It Over (though I think I must at least have started A History of the World in 10½ Chapters). Then this week I read The Sense of an Ending. Still prefer Rushdie and McEwan 📖

George Eliot’s early novel combines a study of individual psychology with socioeconomic history. The stability and balance of this combination aren’t always apparent, but are nevertheless real.