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Continue reading →: Movie Update – Time and Water
It’s been a while since I’ve reported on a good film. During that time there have been some disappointments. On one of the film podcasts I listen to Mark Kermode hailed the fine era of horror that we are living in, referring in particular to Obsession, Passenger and Backrooms all…
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Continue reading →: What Now Mr Wolf? by Eva Vezhnavets
translated from the Belarusian by Jim & Ella Dingley – published June 2026 Ryna, the main character, is an alcoholic. The novel begins with her trying to open a bottle of wine in the ladies toilets on Warsaw station. She has been sacked from her job at a care home…
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Continue reading →: The Lyngen MountainsOnce east of Tromso city I headed north around the coast of the peninsula when most traffic headed south, in that direction the road is continuous, but northwards the road stops at Oldervik, almost all of the way around the peninsula, but not quite, as the mountains get in the…
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Continue reading →: A Couple of Days on KvaløyaKvaløya is promoted as being all of Norway in one place. The southern side is where most tourists head, as it’s on route to Senja. I remember cycling through Ona. Few very wet days in August 2016. This time I wanted to get to the strange shaped peninsula in the…
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Continue reading →: Short Circuit by Wolf Haas
translated from the German by Jamie Bulloch – published May 2026 This inventive, even madcap, novel is impossible to predict and thoroughly enjoyable to read. It stems from Haas being inspired by the Dutch graphic artist, Cornelius Escher, who based much of his work around mathematics. Escher dealt in optical…
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Continue reading →: Dooneen by Keith Ridgway
Irish Literature – Published June 2026 A writer travels from his home in London to attend literary festival in his native Dublin, but he arrives to mayhem in the city. There is barely any traffic, no private vehicles, just trams and ‘clickers’, a sort of moving sidewalk, now provide the…
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Continue reading →: At the beach in GrøtfjordI’ve spent the last few days at the beach at Grøtfjord which is about forty minutes from the town of Tromso. When I arrived there were just a handful of other vans. The local community asks for 10 euros to stay directly on the beach. A rarity for this summer,…
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Continue reading →: The End of Everything by M. John Harrison
British Literature – published June 2026 This bold, experimental and thoroughly enjoyable short novel concerns an alien invasion of Britain set in the near future. The iGhetti have arrived, albeit slowly and steadily and in a variety of forms to British shores. Sometimes they cause havoc in daily life and…
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Continue reading →: Tomma to Skarstad: battle with the E6With a storm approaching, I left Tomma Beach by the first ferry on Monday morning. It would have been good to stay a couple more days, but the beach on the west coast was very exposed; I’ve been in such places before, and it doesn’t make for a restful experience. …
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Continue reading →: Booker Longlist Announcement – some hopes rather than predictions..
It’s the Booker Longlist announcement next Tuesday, and I have been just looking back at what I have read that is likely to have a chance. They are is ascending order as regards my own enjoyment of them.. I’m keen to hear if anyone else has read anything they think…
To live more widely
supera superiora sequi
SafeReturnDoubtful is my alias. Rua is my fox red labrador pup, born 14 Feb 2026 and learning fast..
Where is Rua?
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 