Cher Hatred

During the 2010 X-Factor the outstanding performer was a 16 year old from Malvern called Cher Lloyd. She brought modernity, originality and zest, as well as a fine singing voice; it was her modernity, in the form of rapping, which was new for the X-Factor (and which made it certain she would not win – but that’s another issue). Since X-Factor ended Cher has been recording an album which will be released in the autumn, and has recently released the video for a captivating and catchy (and wonderfully defiant) single (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdbyG2MrBHk) entitled Swagger Jagger.

Those Magnificent Ambersons

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) is in some ways the cinematic equivalent of Byron’s diaries. Of course the analogy is not too exact, as not all of the film was consigned to the flames, and we do have a remaining movie which might be described as a semi-masterpiece.

Early October Miscellany (2010)

I have decided to start posting my Miscellanies as and when they are of sufficient length, rather than waiting to the end of the month; the latter practice has resulted in some absurdly long entries.

Reeves on Mill: Chapter 9

In Chapter 9 Reeves is mainly concerned with the Principles of Political Economy (1848), Mill’s relationship with Harriet, and the delineation of Mill’s shifting position with regard to socialism. 

A Terrible Habit of Art

The touring National Theatre production of The Habit of Art (2009) by Alan Bennett was a massive disappointment. The play takes as its subject a meeting between Auden and Britten at the former’s Oxford residence in 1972.

September Miscellany (2010)

September has been a very good month. A score of  7.07 on the Depression Scale which is the second highest ever and by far the best September. This may be partly because I am now marking more generously.

Fifty Years Since Kennedy v Nixon

Apparently it is 50 years since the first televised Presidential debate in the US. A brilliant account of the contemporary impact of this was given on the  Trollope 19thC Studies list and the author gave his permission for me to reproduce it here…….

Crabbe – Tale 12:’Squire Thomas

‘Squire Thomas (or The Precipitate Choice) is one of the Tales in which Crabbe’s sometimes bleak view of humanity is revealed in its fullest extent. Every single character in this Tale is deeply unpleasant.

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972) is not an easy film. By that I mean to imply both that it is painful to watch as a result of the emotional intensity which it generates, and also that it is not easy to interpret.

Unbridled Romanticism

In Chapter 5 of The Roots of Romanticism Isaiah Berlin considers what he terms ‘the final eruption of unbridled romanticism’.