Новости за 21.12.2016

From the TLS archives, Anthony Burgess explains the art of book reviewing. “Usually the writer knows far better than the reviewer what his faults are, and if he could get rid of them he would. The fairest review any novel of mine received was one I wrote myself. I had read the book and knew it pretty thoroughly, so I was able to discuss its faults and virtues with some confidence. But I was widely condemned for this, and I found it difficult for some time after to get work as a reviewer”

The tale of the 17C French prisoner confined in an iron mask raises many questions — not least whether the mask was made of iron. “Wearing an iron helmet would quickly induce septicaemia and death. Since the prisoner lived to be over 70, it must have been removable and worn only when his face risked being seen”. Alexandre Dumas “adopted gleefully” a theory that the prisoner was Louis XIV’s twin brother. The truth is probably far duller — so we are lucky that it continues to elude investigators

An institution. A joy for ever. Coolest gadget for advanced cooks: The PolyScience induction burner, $1,800. “This thing is amazing. It is, to be sure, a specialty product. But it’s a great specialty product. Basically, it’s an induction burner that also has a temperature probe to regulate the temperature. I’ve used it as a deep fryer, to make candy, to do sous vide and slow cooking, and, of course, just to cook regular things. Spectacular success with all of them. It is both precise and powerful”

Review of Patrick Leigh Fermor’s Letters. “He was drawn to distinctiveness in all spheres: remote communities, disappearing languages, secret castes, national characteristics, blue blood, any hinterland where ‘the wireless is out of earshot. His latter-day journeys were less Chatwin than Chatsworth, but the twinkling labyrinth of Fermor’s erudition has kept its fascination, as has the character behind it. Not just a traveller, but a man on equal terms with mountain warriors”

A brain injury changes a man’s character. He used to be gentle and kind; now he is violent and cruel. Is he the still same person? Our instinctive answer is No. Try again. A brain injury changes a man’s character. He used to be violent and cruel; now he is gentle and kind. Is he still the same person? Our instinctive answer is Yes. “You can undergo a fundamental transformation of character and still be judged to be the same person, provided that the transformation is in the right direction”

The shop at 135 Henry Street has been a bindery for as long as anyone can remember. At some point people began calling it Henry Bookbinding. Its owner, ex officio, became Henry. “He measures by sight and with homemade tools that have no names except in Yiddish. His predecessor, his brother’s father-in-law, kept working in the shop until well into his nineties. That seems more or less to be Henry’s goal. Very little about the work has changed over the years, which suits him fine”

In search of Bunny Wailer. “Just when the band was about to take off in the 1970s, Bunny turned his back on fame and fortune. He retreated to the deep bush of the Jamaican hinterland to plant his crops and commune with his god. I imagined him darkly and stubbornly brooding in his tent whilst his eager compadres went out to fight over the spoils of Babylon. There was a primal quality to Bunny Wailer that I, as the son of Jamaican parents, recognised. Bunny was the original Blackheart Man”

“17th September: Edward Albee dies. We met once, I think in 1972, when we were seated at the same table at the Evening Standard awards lunch. I was struck by how stylish and Ivy League he was (like Woody Allen, who wore similarly dapper outfits then), slim and neat in a look I always fancied. More striking was that Albee was there in company with his male partner, which was still a bold step in 1972 and only the second time I had come across such an open avowal of a gay relationship”