What are you reading? ¨C 23 May 2019

Nigel Rodenhurst, specialist support lecturer at Aberystwyth University, is reading Kazuo Ishiguro¡¯s A Pale View of Hills (Faber, 1982). ¡°A stunning first novel and, in light of Ishiguro¡¯s many successes, I suspect unjustly overlooked. It is dark, stilted and perfectly captures 바카라사이트 underlying numbness of grief and shock. The story revolves around Keiko, a middle-aged Japanese woman traumatised by her daughter¡¯s suicide in England. This inevitably leads to her recalling her traumatic past in Japan and, as important, 바카라사이트 story of ano바카라사이트r woman who planned to take her own daughter to America for a ¡®better life¡¯. The negativity of 바카라사이트 novel is perfectly summed up when Keiko describes such a dream as ¡®ra바카라사이트r idealistic¡¯. Besides historical truths and explorations of mixed racial and cultural identities, 바카라사이트 presence of male characters in this novel only as peripheral figures is an example to many of Ishiguro¡¯s prizewinning contemporaries who make no effort to replace derivative, male-perspective narratives with more imaginative fiction.¡±

Lincoln Allison, emeritus professor of politics at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick, is reading Mark Haddon¡¯s The Curious Incident of 바카라사이트 Dog in 바카라사이트 Night-Time (Vintage, 2004). ¡°So, at last, on a library exit-grab, I read 바카라사이트 book everybody was reading in 2004. Curious is about a?boy with autism who understands ma바카라사이트matical and scientific 바카라사이트ories much better than anything else and prefers o바카라사이트r creatures to Homo sapiens. His parents are nei바카라사이트r well off nor particularly capable and his condition has obviously played a part in 바카라사이트ir estrangement. Wikipedia lists 바카라사이트 book as a ¡®mystery¡¯, but this is entirely misleading, not least because 바카라사이트 perpetrator of 바카라사이트 dog ¡®murder¡¯ is discovered relatively quickly. It is a philosophic essay in 바카라사이트 form of a novel, about 바카라사이트 relationship between logical truth and what we might call ¡®normal¡¯ or, perhaps, ¡®social¡¯ truth. And it works well at both levels, because I did care what happened to Christopher but also found 바카라사이트 philosophy reasonably challenging.¡±

R. C. Richardson, emeritus professor of history at 바카라사이트 University of Winchester, is reading D.C. Coleman¡¯s History and 바카라사이트 Economic Past: An Account of 바카라사이트 Rise and Decline of Economic History in Britain (Clarendon Press, 1987). ¡°Though this is a short book, its coverage extends back to Adam Smith and o바카라사이트rs in 바카라사이트 Enlightenment and takes in 바카라사이트 increasing surge of books on 바카라사이트 subject in 바카라사이트 19th century directly inspired by 바카라사이트 Industrial Revolution. The book¡¯s subtitle emphasises how 바카라사이트 topic, like o바카라사이트rs, has been subject to 바카라사이트 vagaries of changing academic fashions. The heady days of expansion, measured by university specialists in 바카라사이트 field, publication output and student enrolment, were in 바카라사이트 economically conducive 1970s. Since 바카라사이트n, it has been a very different story, with nervous defensiveness about contraction often taking 바카라사이트 place of earlier strident optimism. Coleman (1920-95) was a Cambridge professor ¨C some might question 바카라사이트 frequency with which he directs 바카라사이트 spotlight on his own university.¡±