“Jeeves and the Wedding Bells” by Sebastian Faulks

Anna Barber: myartisliving

There are few things in this life which inspire a sense of giddy happiness as readily as an encounter with Jeeves and Wooster. P.G Wodehouse is a nonpareil storyteller; Bertie Wooster is utterly charming, warm-hearted and mad as a brush, and Jeeves is the unflappable deus ex machine, guiding his dotty master through the perils of 1920s high society with a deft and perfectly discreet touch. Wodehouse’s language is delicious, and offers us a glimpse of a version of England which we can only hope truly existed; even if we, his readers, cannot drift from country-house to country-house with our man-servants in tow, quaffing zonkers and extricating ourselves from an endless series of ill-advised engagements, it is strangely comforting to think that there was a time when a portion of the English did exactly that.

In “Jeeves and the Wedding Bells,” Sebastian Faulks has produced a hugely entertaining, and very…

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“Howards End is on the Landing” by Susan Hill

Anna Barber: myartisliving

I so rarely read literary criticism any more, and Susan Hill’s latest book has made me realize how much I miss it, and what a difference it would make to my armoury as a reader. The premise of Howards End is on the Landing is a simple one – rather than being seduced by the lure of best-seller lists and celebrity book-clubs, Susan Hill spent a year reading through the books she already owned. That choice leads her to revisit the authors she loves most dearly, and in doing so she is able to tell us stories about her life as a writer, and a reader, and the encounters she has had with some of the most important cultural figures of the past century.

I must confess that this is the first Susan Hill book I have ever read. I knew about The Woman in Black, of course, but…

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James Anderson, wrong.

Anderson describes 6-0 scoreline in favour of Australia as ‘flattering’.

I describe James Anderson as ‘missing the point’.

Perhaps he thinks 5-0 would be a bit fairer? Or maybe we’ve performed well enough to merit a 4-0 scoreline. Who cares? In for a penny, in for a pounding.

But remember, as was affirmed after our crushing Ashes victory, we now need to kick on and prove we’re the best in the world.

It would be easier to prove a chapati.

Allen Stanford Invitational XI

Mr. Popular

1. Allen Stanford
2. The Goddess Apate
3. Robert Maxwell (L-H bat)
4. Frank Abagnale
5. Charles Ponzi
6. The Talented Mr. Ripley
7. Richard Nixon
8. Ronnie Biggs (Wk)
9. Victor Lustig
10. JT LeRoy
11. Janus
12. Judas
13. Allen Stanford

Kevin Speaks

…tonight:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ghmdk
I don’t know if this programme was made prior or in response to Pietersen’s skippering (sorry, scuppering) of his own captaincy, but should prove stimulating. Or hilarious.

Body-parts XI 2009

The 11 cricketing body-parts most likely to have a decisive influence in test cricket in ’09…

1. Smith’s chin: on which the Proteas will have to take any poor day in the field, middle-order collapse, or accusation of distressing collective ugliness.

2. Cook’s eyes: huge, puppy-like, and needed to trace ball faithfully from crocked hand to stolid bat, thereby providing England with a rare top-order stalwart.

3. Ponting’s jaw: any strain to his relentlessly chewing mandibles will stem the flow of nasal banter and so nullify his hugely irritanting potency.

4. Pietersen’s left leg: utterly crucial for the on-side flamingo.

5. Amla’s beard: it’s huge, thick, and talismanic. Much like its owner’s captain.

6. Vettori’s glasses: not strictly a body-part, but enough of a fixture on Vettori’s face to merit inclusion. Should they bend, crack, or smudge Vettori might loose sight of the sixpence on which he needs to land his off-spinners to avoid having them hooned to the fence.

7. Flintoff’s ankle: weak, unreliable, nemesis and antithesis of the six-and-a-half foot wicket factory that rests upon it.

8. Dhoni’s head:  described on Wikipedia as ‘one of the coolest heads to captain the Indian ODI side’, Dhoni’s head will need to stay likewise coolicious in the test arena to satisfy rising expectations of India’s dominance in the coming year.

9. Simon Jones’ whatever it was: Jonesy did a bang-up job in 2005, can he return fit to up-root Australian stumps in 2009…?

10.  Panesar’s fingers: they’re huge, sinewy and connected to the second most important test beard of 2009.

11.  Fidel Edwards’ youthful visage: a lure to any confident senior batsmen, Edwards’ 12-year-old’s face will need to avoid hardening into a Gayle-like mask of death to continue inducing fatal hubris.