Monthly Archives: August 2008

The Act of Love

August 26, 2008 – 9:33 pm

My review of Howard Jacobson’s new novel The Act of Love appears in the latest edition of Prospect. Subscribers to that magazine can read it here.

By Jonathan Derbyshire | Posted in Reviews | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Dead serious

August 9, 2008 – 4:04 pm

In 1776, shortly before he died from a “disorder” in his bowels, the philosopher David Hume wrote a brief last testament entitled My Own Life. This little autobiography is remarkable for, among other things, Hume’s serenity and imperturbability in the face of death. At one point, he even changes tense from present to past (”I [...]

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Fitzgerald - again

August 7, 2008 – 7:26 am

I’ve just come across an excellent blog devoted to the work of Penelope Fitzgerald. It’s worth a visit.

By Jonathan Derbyshire | Posted in General | Tagged , | Comments (0)

On Penelope Fitzgerald

August 5, 2008 – 7:53 am

This piece about Penelope Fitzgerald, which coincides with the publication of her collected letters, So I Have Thought of You, appears this week in Time Out London. The piece isn’t on their website yet. When it is, I’ll add a link here.
[Incidentally, a much more comprehensive reappraisal of Fitzgerald's fiction by Julian Barnes appeared in [...]

By Jonathan Derbyshire | Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Comments (2)