Lord Steerforth

I knew a gay couple who'd been together since the 60s and bought a house together. One of them suddenly had a fatal heart attack and because there was no will or legal status for gay relationships, his partner was forced to sell their home and give half the money to the family who'd disowned him.

One of the best books of 2025, this deserves a wider reach. I suppose novels about postpartum psychosis are a hard sell, but this was a compelling, beautifully written story that was ultimately consoling rather than depressing. All new parents should get a free copy on the NHS!

Why do people do this?

I've always looked after my books very well, to the point where someone looked at my shelves and said "Well you obviously haven't read most of these."

*Googles DNF, then feels very silly for missing the obvious.*

Will Sharpe is a fine actor, but it was a poor casting decision. Why go to all the effort of painstakingly recreating the costumes and interiors of the late 18th century, only to cast someone who looks nothing like Mozart? It's just weird to watch.

Nicola Barker's Darkmans is a flawed masterpiece: brilliant, maddening, hilarious, absurd and strangely profound when you least expect it. As a reader, it's like being kidnapped by a charming madman. Tucked away in the novel, on page 461, is a pretty good description of her approach to writing:

The ending perfectly sums up how I feel about John Carey. I loved everything about him, right down to the sound of his voice.

I'm watching Alexander Korda's 1939 film 'The Four Feathers' and all seemed well until this jaw-dropping WTAF moment:

The Hammersmith and City line yesterday, during rush hour. Have I missed a memo?

Good God, you're right! I've never noticed. In my defence, it's such an awful song, I've tried not to think about it over the years.

An absolute fantastic Vaughan Williams double bill from the LSO and the London Symphony Choir, with Antonio Pappano. From the ethereal beauty of Flos Campi to the visceral excitement of Dona Nobis Pacem, I'm so grateful to have heard these neglected gems. #halfsixfix

YouTube video by Fred and Harry Borden I Photographed Isabella Blow (And It Was Awful)

This is a hugely entertaining video, full of gossip and uninhibited schadenfreude. Interviewed by his son Fred, photographer Harry Borden isn't afraid to dish the dirt on some of the awful people he's encountered during his career.
youtube.com/watch?v=Bl8-...

I'm back in Morocco for the first time in 45 years. I expect things to be different, but I wasn't prepared for how similar they'd be in other ways. Lots of people still travel in donkey-drawn carts and the clothing seems to be as traditional as ever. It's still the country I loved back in 1980.

I don't think the author of this phishing email has quite grasped the rudiments of cyber crime.

The subtitles in this film are really helpful.

I got lost today (a common occurrence) and ended up having to walk along a main road back to my car. On the verge, I found a series of abandoned pages from a photo album. How and why did they end up here, and what would the album's owner have made of this odd destiny 43 years ago? So many questions.

He never quite managed to shake off his association with the cinema. But although his music became deeply unfashionable toward the end of the 50s, it has stood the test of time. Yes, it sounds like film music, but it's wonderful stuff and rich in invention.

I only ask because I remember going on caravan holidays and having gas lighting, which seemed really exciting at the time.

I forgot to check Peter Bradshaw. If he loves or hates a film, I'll usually take the opposite view.

Well, that was two hours of my life I'll never get back. Described as a thriller/comedy, Die My Love had few thrills and no comedy. It could have been a good drama about post-partum psychosis, but ended up being both boring and depressing. The cast were great, particularly Jennifer Lawrence.

With gas lighting, I hope?

YouTube video by BBC Archive 1983: A Package Holiday to Benidorm | Forty Minutes | Classic BBC Documentary | BBC Archive

This is one of the finest (and funniest) documentaries the BBC has ever produced. It's also incredibly painful to watch if you're English. Watching this as a teenager was my first experience of national shame: youtu.be/PfU6XX5XU4M?...

I was trying to remember why the photo of Ivan Klima seemed familiar...

Exhibit A:

My favourite eight symphonies today:

Beethoven 3
Shostakovich 6
Sibelius 6
Rosenberg 3
Magnard 3
Mendelssohn 3
VW 3
Rubbra 6

The more astute will notice that they're all third or sixth symphonies. I assure you that it's a coincidence.

Good to see Glazunov get a mention.

I usually like Apple TV dramas, but my wife and I had to turn this off within minutes. I didn't even get to the part where I had to overcome my aversion to Emma Thompson. Maybe it got better, but to compress so many 'quirky' clichés into three minutes doesn't bode well.

So many well-known writers of my youth have dropped off the radar. Remember when David Lodge was huge?

Ivan Klima's death has come as a shock, as I thought he'd died years ago. Overshadowed by Kundera and Havel, he's been neglected in recent years, but I thought his novel 'Judge in Trial' was one of the best accounts of living under communism I've read. Glad he outlived his oppressors by 36 years.