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Author Archives: alasdairflett
Gentlemanly pursuits and David Graeber’s ‘Bullshit Jobs’
Woodside Library has a “take a book, recommend a book shelf”. I’ve borrowed from it multiple times. The last time I did so, I picked up David Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs and recommended North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. I had … Continue reading
Posted in Review
Tagged 19th century, bullshit jobs, capitalism, David Graeber, dignity, Edith Wharton, ideology, Literature, Review, society, The Age of Innocence, UBI, universal basic income, work
2 Comments
The Wexford-Pembrokeshire Way or a Hiberno-Welsh Odyssey
These are trying times indeed. I’ve been watching connected criminal proceedings at the Glasgow Sheriff Court as part of my job as a trainee civil litigation solicitor. On the third day observing I had cycled back down to Carlton Place … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Personal experience
Tagged Dublin, Fishguard, Holyhead, Ireland, life, Normans, Our Lady's Island, Pembrokeshire, pilgrimage, St Davids, St Magnus, Wales, walking, Wexford, Zola
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From the new petty bourgeoisie to the PMC: a review of Dan Evans’ ‘A Nation of Shopkeepers’
According to Dan Evans, I am a member of an emergent social class he calls the new petty bourgeoisie. Evans’s thesis is that the new petty bourgeoisie has been the driving force in left politics and populism over the past … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Personal experience, Politics, Review
Tagged aspiration, Corbynism, Dan Evans, graduates, ideology, life, Marxism, Nation of Shopkeepers, petty bourgeoisie, PMC, proletariat, Review, self-employment, socialisation, socialism, University
1 Comment
On a Central European vibe
I am nearing the end of a beginner’s course in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I decided to try it after watching many Breathe and Flow yoga videos on YouTube where the guy (Florian) frequently mentions how his yoga practice feeds into the … Continue reading
Posted in Life, Review
Tagged All of Us Strangers, Austria-Hungary, bjj, brazilian-jiu-jitsu, cathedral, Central Europe, film, fitness, Glasgow, Good Solider Svek, jiu-jitsu, life, Literature, martial-arts, Review, Sandra Huller, work, yoga, Zone of Interest
1 Comment
North and South: 19th-century doorstopper still bears the heft it once did
As far as Victorian novels go, I think North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell retains a degree of accessibility that many have shed in the intervening 150 years or so. The North/South divide lives on in the popular consciousness where … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Review
Tagged 19th century, bourgeoisie, Britain, capitalism, Collateral, Condition of England, Elizabeth Gaskell, liberty, Literature, Marx, money, North and South, Review, strikes, Thornton, trade, trade unionism, Victorian, wages
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My year in music: 2023
2023 has very much been a year of two halves professionally. In June I left my job working as a steward at Glasgow Cathedral and took up the role of paralegal at Digby Brown, becoming a trainee solicitor with them … Continue reading
Scrooge the Affective Altruist: ‘A Christmas Carol’ reviewed
I have a complicated relationship with Charles Dickens. He is the epitome of the Author. He was hugely prolific, massively popular, and has had a profound cultural impact on how Britain sees itself. How is it possible, then, to dismiss … Continue reading
Posted in Politics, Review
Tagged A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, Adam Smith, altruism, Britain, Charles Dickens, Christmas, effective altruism, emotion, feeling, Hard Times, Literature, Man of Feeling, Marx, philosophy, Review, Scrooge, sentimentality, social justice, The Dark Knight Rises, trade unionism, UK, Victorian
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The Sack of Thames-on-Singapore
Last weekend I finished one of the best books I’ve read this year. This is The Singapore Grip by JG Farrell. It is an epic novel and also a family saga of sorts. It’s about a business dynasty and a … Continue reading
Posted in Review
Tagged British Empire, empire, Empire of the Sun, Hamlet, JG Ballard, JG Farrell, Literature, Malaysia, Peep Show, Review, Singapore, The Singapore Grip
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Imperial sunsets
I first read J G Ballard when I was getting into the idea of the postmodern. His novel Crash is seen as a seminal (pun intended) text. Crash is a difficult book, conceptually and also because it is rather disgusting. … Continue reading
Flett-cetera 