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Continue reading →: Dealing With The Dead by Alain Mackanbou
translated from the French (DR Congo) by Helen Stevenson – Published 2025 This was my fourth Mabanckou novel, and though I’ve enjoyed them all, this is best. Liwa Ekimakingaï is dead at just 24, and trapped with the ghosts of other dead in the Frère Lachaise cemetery wandering aimlessly listening…
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Continue reading →: Parada de SilThese days, due to its position, life in the village of Parada de Sil is based around tourism. As well as several restaurants, a couple of bars and hotels, there is a permanent population of only 260. Thirty years ago it was double that. It’s a case, as in many…
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Continue reading →: The High Life for the WeekendFor the weekend I moved to the northern reaches of the Serra do Barroso mountains, close to the Spanish border, above the town of Ervededo to a small community called Castelãos. Above the hamlet is a Sanctuary and recreational area that I had found on the map, at about 800…
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Continue reading →: Río Muerto by Ricardo Silva Romero
translated from the Spanish (Colombia) by Victor Meadowcroft – Published 2025 Set in the rural village of Bélen de Chami in Colombia in the early 1990s this is a disturbing description of a community in the throes of a seemingly unending civil war. Specifically, it concerns a family of four,…
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Continue reading →: Underground Barbie by Maša Kolanović
translated from the Croatian by Ena Selamovic – Published 2025 This is the story of a young girl who collects Barbie dolls during the 1990s war in Zagreb, then Yugoslavia, playing make-believe games with them with her friends in the basement of the family’s apartment building underground, while above, a…
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Continue reading →: Serra do BarrosoIt’s a quiet time of year to visit the vineyards of the hills above the Douro river. There are a few tourist buses around, and some of the hotels are still open; wine tourism isn’t dependent on the weather, though it does seem visitors appreciate it a bit warmer. There…
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Continue reading →: Fatal Passage by Ken McGoogan
Canadian Literature – NonFiction – Arctic Exploration I read a lot about the history of Artic exploration, and there is some really good stuff.John Rae’s story isn’t as interesting as many others, though as a young man he played a key role in the exploration of Northern Canada, specifically the…
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Continue reading →: Sisters By A River by Barbara Comyns
British Literature – Published 1947 I’ve read everything by Comyns now, and though this, her first, is probably the weakest of her novels, it is still well worth reading. It’s a collection of anecdotes with a coming of age theme, many of which are humorous, but missing are those wonderful…
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Continue reading →: Paiva River and Arousa GeoparkOn Monday morning I headed north, to the Arouca region, on a route that went over the Serra de Arada range, on a magnificent road that seemed wilder than it would be in the warmer months, that atmosphere heightened by rain and 7C temperatures; down in the valley it was…
To live more widely
supera superiora sequi
SafeReturnDoubtful is my alias.
Where is Andy?
I was so much older then…
Quote of the Week
Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, ‘What road do I take?’ The cat asked, ‘Where do you want to go?’ ‘I don’t know,’ Alice answered. ‘Then,’ said the cat, ‘it really doesn’t matter, does it?’
Lewis Carroll
Safe Return Doubtful 