This is why Chekhov happened. He was raised on Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, and he said no. The loquacious masters had taken epoch-length self-examination and the quest for meaning as far as it could go, so he went with no definite meaning and definitely no endings. Fair enough.Like Dostoevsky before him and Grossman after, Tolstoy understood…
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Review of ‘3 Days in June’ by James O’Connell
3 Days in June: 3 Para’s Battle for Mt. Longdon by James O’Connell My rating: 5 of 5 stars The author was motivated by the view that much of what had previously been written about the battle was very off-base, and he wanted to put the record straight. Having read some accounts of the battle…
Puffer, Pout and the Cudgel Tree
An afternoon in St. Helier, Jersey. I look down at the harbour wall and jetty, and across the water to Elizabeth Mount, off St. Helier on the south coast of Jersey. It’s late afternoon, and the causeway to the Mount is covered by the tide. Looking down from my fourth-floor window is a paved area…
Three Pairs of Feet
‘Move your feet!’ shouted our coach, Mr. Whitby. Wingy was laying down his oppressive regime of orthodox left arm spin during practice, and I was on the retreat yet again. Terrified of catching an edge, I waited until the last moment to play the ball, content to square up and clumsily push it away. ‘Feet,…
I won’t be going to work tomorrow
It’s a day late, but I thought I’d try and help Cubs fans who regard going back to work so soon after their World Series triumph as an unreasonable intrusion into their celebrations. Besides, any business in Chicago that doesn’t shut down during the parade is just BEGGING for you to send them a letter…
Dutch Pea Soup
My Mum does a great Dutch pea soup. It’s thick to the point of chewy and is filled with innumerable ingredients, most of which you could never prove were in there because they’ve been cooked into a merger. It has a sneaky heat about it…Which brings me more neatly than you’d think to the 2015 Cayman Islands Half-Marathon.
People-watching in NYC
German guy: “What’s happening?”
Me: “Maybe the apocalypse”
American (to his German friend): “Ugh…he’s European as well [as you]…British…”.
NYC Marathon Part 8: After the Aftermath – 26.2 Points
For about an hour after the marathon I was wondering whether perhaps running marathons was – for me – a bad idea. I recalled the skinny guy in the med tent telling a medic that this was his first and he wasn’t sure he was cut out for this. Well if he’s not cut out…
NYC Marathon Part 7: The Aftermath
The problem was not my time (4:13:32), which was good enough for about 17,100th out of 49,600 – it’s my age. If I was between 75 and 79 years old my time would have been good for second in my age group category, and I kicked the 80-89 age group runners’ butts. In ‘reality’ though…
NYC Marathon Part 6: Bonk
“…shortly before the ascent up Mount Fifth Avenue began, a massive brick wall jumped out of the road in front of me and I slammed into it. I looked down at my legs in puzzlement, half-expecting to find a small child hanging on to each of them”
PORK ROPE 