Author:Isaiah Berlin,Henry Hardy
'People are my landscape', Isaiah Berlin liked to say, and nowhere is the truth of this observation more evident than in his letters. He is a fascinated watcher of human beings in all their variety, and revels in describing them to his many correspondents. His letters combine ironic social comedy and a passionate concern for individual freedom. His interpretation of political events, historical and contemporary, and his views on how life should be lived, are always grounded in the personal, and his fiercest condemnation is reserved for purveyors of grand abstract theories that ignore what people are really like.
This second volume of Berlin's letters takes up the story when, after war service in the United States, he returns to life as an Oxford don. Against the background of post-war austerity, the letters chart years of academic frustration and self-doubt, the intellectual explosion when he moves from philosophy to the history of ideas, his growing national fame as broadcaster and lecturer, the publication of some of his best-known works, his election to a professorship, and his reaction to knighthood.
These are the years, too, of momentous developments in his private life: the bachelor don's loss of sexual innocence, the emotional turmoil of his father's death, his courtship of a married woman and transformation into husband and stepfather. Above all, these revealing letters vividly display Berlin's effervescent personality - often infuriating, but always irresistible.
Readers of Berlin's letters will find the same bubbling flow of malice, wit and human insight on the written page
—— The EconomistA dazzling display of intellectual pyrotechnics
—— Vernon Bogdanor , New StatesmanAs well as being sometimes profoundly wise, these letters are often laugh-out-loud funny
—— Brian Lunch , Irish TimesThey delight in flashing the stiletto, these donnish types, and impossible to conceive would be a college in which no academic grown had a dagger sticking out of the back. It is precisely this kind of malice which constitutes a naughty proportion of the book's appeal
—— GuardianIronic, gossipy, witty, intermittently profound and always intensely human
—— Justin Cartwright , Sunday Telegraph, Books of the YearThe book is beautiful and rich in prose, bold and deeply moving. The story is brilliantly narrated. It has characters that you will remember for days to come. A highly recommended book which you must pick up today, if you haven't already! This book has to be at the top of your to read list!
—— TheBookLoversReview.blogspot.comWhat makes Priya Basil's second novel so interesting is the complexity of the scenario it presents. One can imagine this kind of story being treated rather simplistically (as, for example, a tale of the heroic lovers striving to overcome all the obstacles life places in their way), but Basil doesn't do that - all her characters face difficult questions, and there are no easy answers... Adding a further layer to the novel is the way that events in its wider world interact with and reflect the personal stories of the protagonists... In all this, I haven't mentioned that Basil's novel is a good read purely in terms of its plot, as she manages several times to wrong-foot the reader over what will happen (or has happened). Yet there's so much more here besides, and it all makes The Obscure Logic of the Heart very satisfying to read.
—— DavidHBlog.wordpress.comWhat really sets this book apart from others is the beautiful prose used by the author. The descriptions that she uses are breathtaking and you really feel as though you are there with the characters, seeing everything that they are able to see... the ending was so powerful that it will remain with you long after you have finished
—— ChrissiesCorner.co.ukAround a century ago, Rudyard Kipling laid the foundations of modern children's literature with works such as The Jungle Book, Just So Stories and Puck of Pook's Hill. Far from the fusty Victorian conventions of the time, they were wild, magnificent stories that felt as though they'd always existed, stories people might have told each other in the caves
—— Daily TelegraphA must read
—— Toronto NOWCharming and quirky
—— BookbagDefinitely one to watch
—— Big Issue (National)Hudson’s ear for language…raises this debut novel well above the average
—— Lesley McDowell , Glasgow Sunday HeraldJanie’s irrepressible, childish glee and the sly humour into which it evolves give the novel a wry self-awareness that is both refreshing and endearing
—— Lettie Ransley , ObserverA gripping, often hilarious tale of growing up in the slums of Aberdeen. Hard to put down owing to the power of the narrative, its DNA is part Roddy Doyle/part Irvine Welsh
—— Ijeoma Onweluzo , The LadyA sumptuous novel. Read it for the sentences and smarts, and for the copious sexy parts
—— Richard Ford , Guardian, Books of the YearEverything I want from a love story: sexy, convincing, baffling, funny, sad and unforgettable
—— Juliet Nicholson , Evening Standard, "Books of the Year"Banville's exquisitely written novel unravels the deceptions of memory with wit and pathos
—— Telegraph
zpostcode
Recruit
weather
mreligion
Yellowpages
sport
constellation
shopping
name
game
directory
literature
Word
tour
furnish
Lottery
tftnews
lyrics
News
digital
car
dir
Edu
Finance
