Reading List

A bit of a diversion from my normal entries, but I just thought I might share my reading list. Frankly I never read anything except when I am on holiday. So this is what I got through. I like a bit of variety!

Red Carpets and other Banana Skins by Rupert Everett
Mr Everett's autobiography. A great bit of name dropping. Madonna is amongst his friends. Perhaps the most revelatory thing was just how many Hollywood folk were gay (like Mr Everett of course.) An entertaining read.

A History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.
Probably the most enjoyable thing I read on holiday, which is not unexpected as I love Bill Bryson's books. This lengthy tome has travelled around the world with me a few times now, but I finally got round to reading it. Its a history of domestic life, what we have been eating, what bathrooms are like, attitudes to cleanliness etc. All with Mr Bryson's usual combination of good humour and fascinating facts. Its a bit like reading an episode of QI at times. But as with everything he writes, and easy read and an amusing one.

The Prisoner List by Richard Kandler
This was written by a fellow pension lawyer. Its the story of his father's war in Japan, being held as a prisoner building the railway line to Burma. Its quite harrowing, not least in its simple style. But it has given me a better view of what happened than all the films I have seen. Substance over style for a change.

The Boys are Back by Simon Carr
This was a sort of autobiography. An odd book, about this chap whose wife died of cancer leaving him with two boys to bring up. A bit patchy. Between story and child rearing manual. (Apparently made into a film, but that passed me by.)

Life & Laughing by Michael McIntyre
Michael McIntyre's autobiography. A very enjoyable read, much more of a conventional autobiography than Rupert Everett's which is more gossipy and episodic. The difficult bit with this story is working out how someone who has been so successful struggled for some time to make it big. And then a meteoric rise. But funny.

Travels in England in 1782 by CP Moritz
these are the travel diaries of a Prussian in England, long before package holidays. Certainly an odd read. Would have been easier if he wasn't so effusively pro-English. But an interesting insight into 18th century life. Especially the unwelcoming attitude of English inn-owners. Worse than any Blackpool landlady. But the other odd thing was the number of attractions in London that still exist over 200 years later. But I did appreciate especially the descriptions of two that have long disappeared, Ranelagh and Victoria Gardens.

A Young Man's Passage by Julian Clary.
A third autobiography, this time of Julian Clary. Interesting for me as I saw him before he became at all well known, when he was doing cabaret as Joan Collins Fan-Club with Fanny the Wonder Dog - his mongrel. Again intriguing to see how someone makes it upwards in showbiz. One thing that marks out both him and Rupert Everett is just the sheer amount of people (ok, mostly men) in their lives. People seem to come and go much faster than my friends.

Doodlebugs, Gas Masks & Bubblegum by Christina Rex
This is a collection of memories from folk of their childhood experiences of the War. Just a different angle on war - the deprivation, evacuation, fear of bombing, etc. Could have done with more overseas contributors to balance the English.

The Renaissance in Venice by Patricia Fortini Brown
This is an art history book. It didn't quite work for me. It took the period and then tried to work through themes, the City, Trade, the Church, the Nobility, Family life. It would probably have read better if it just analysed a series of great Venetian paintings, or was just a history of the period. Marrying Art and History is a little tricky.

Adapt by Tim Harford
This is a book on economics, and after the Bill Bryson the best thing I read. The principle thesis is that to succeed one needs to expect a lot of failure, or perhaps to put it better, a lot of experimentation out of which sometimes only a few things come off. Very convincing. Check out anything written by Tim Harford.

Notes from an Exhibition by Patricia Gayle
A novel with a clever twist. It follows the death of an artist and the consequences for her adult family. One of the children finds that his dad isn't his dad after all. Each chapter starts with a reference to an artwork from a retrospective exhibition of her works. Clever, if not exactly all action.

Bayswater to Knightsbridge

A beautiful Saturday morning in amongst all the rain, so I thought it an opportune moment for a walk. This one started in Bayswater in front of Kensington Gardens.



As yopu go through, by the children's playground is what looks like a bird cage. But rather than birds it contains the stump of an ancient tree decorated by little figures. Weird.

Kensington Palace is of course the main feature along Kensington Gardens. Fine topiary gardens separate the palace from its orangerie

 I an sure these tunnels will be more impressive in summer!

The Palace itself has reopened after renovations. No doubt well-renovated. So, would I recommend this as a day out. No.

Not because it is bad, just bad value for money. £16.50 with a pound donation included. That is quite pricey, so you are going to expect a lot inside. Unfortunately the 4 routes Queens Apartments, Kings Apartments, the royal fashion exhibition and the Victoria exhibition, really don't add up to that much.

Ok first up, I do like the new porch which got much stick for not being modern enough. Of course that is exactly why it sits quite nicely in front of the Palace.

 Ok, so here is the dilemma. They haven'tgot all that much to display. SO they have to be creative. If one was charitable one would say they have made a lot with a little. As anyone who knows me will tell you, I am not charitable. So to me the place looks like it has ben atacked by the creativity of a primary school teacher, intent on passing information to 7 year olds. So the staircase would have been fine without being hung by all the empty bottles.

Another room is set out with 18 little nursery chairs to emphasis that Queen Anne had 18 pregnancies but no children who survived into adulthood.

 All would be fine except that the gimmickry stops one seeing what genuine artefacts they have. So here they have gramophones pretending to whisper court gossip. Which obscures the paintings and furniture behind.

 One of the finest parts of the Palace is the staircase with trompe l'oeil painted walls. But as you can see this is still being renovated and covered in scaffolding. Some of the other rooms are still closed. For £16 I would have felt justified in wanting to see it all, not just a bit.

 The main picture gallery doesn't have any great paintings but is good enough.

 This room with a cupola is the star of the Kings Departments

 The Queen Victoria section is well set out and does give the feeling of just how dearly she and Albert loved each other.

 The one modern bit of gimmickry that I really loved was this image of the Great Exhibition, formed of a series of glass plates

 Outside the statue of the Queen by one of her daughters looks rather nice, especially against a blue sky.

Just beyond is the Albert Memorial. If you have never visited this, well you just should. Especially on a sunny day. Its a truly magnificent bit of Victorian Art.

 And then continuing the theme, the rather more useful Royal Albert Hall sits opposite, still one of London's great venues.

I will skip the universities and museums down Exhibition Road, although I couldn't help myself taking this reflective photo - a nice combination of new and old I thought.

 Turning past the Victoria & Albert Museum one comes across the Brompton Oratory. This is a somewhat unfairly overlooked attraction. We pile into Catholic cathedrals in Southern Europe, but we have a very opulent one here. No photos allowed inside, but trust me it has all the lavish expenditure that one associates with catholic ministry, inlaid marble, gilding etc.

The rather more retrained Holy Trinity Church is hidden behind it.

 Beyond that we get into a maze of mews houses. Once these would have been the stables for the transport of all the wealthy individuals in their grand Kensington houses, but they are all now converted into highly desirable and expensive mews houses. Very attractive too.

 One then advances into Belgravia where some of the grandest houses (now often embassies) are to be found. Its just such a high quality area to stroll through. I liked these coadstone friezes on the side of the Norwegian Embassy for example.

 And to finish off I had a late lunch in a nice obscure little pub off Wilton Place. I couldn't particularly recommend it for gourmet food or anything, but just a nice little basement to be in. Pint of cider, a ploughman's, my paper to read. The right end to a walk. Always.