Tag Archives: Literature

The Sack of Thames-on-Singapore

Posted on 21/10/2023 by alasdairflett

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 , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Imperial sunsets

Posted on 23/09/2023 by alasdairflett

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 →

Posted in Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The deserts of Scotland

Posted on 24/06/2023 by alasdairflett

I’d always wanted to read Walter Scott. In fact, I’d attempted to before – embarking on a free Kindle version of Waverley which was abandoned for whatever reason; probably the dense prose style that strains the attention of a restless … Continue reading →

Posted in Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Well World

Posted on 04/06/2023 by alasdairflett

In three months I will start my legal traineeship which lasts two years and at the end of which I will become a qualified solicitor. Meanwhile, I will be known as a “trainee solicitor”. Before then, though, I’ve been asked … Continue reading →

Posted in Review | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A bestiary of Buendias

Posted on 29/04/2023 by alasdairflett

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is unlike any other book I’ve read. It took me some time to get into though. I wasn’t hooked by the first page by any means. There was time to tune … Continue reading →

Posted in Review | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A rose is a rose is a rose

Posted on 20/07/2021 by alasdairflett

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco is presented to the reader as the text of an authentic medieval manuscript form the fourteenth century. Its author’s love for the time period radiates from every page; beyond passion, beyond fascination, … Continue reading →

Posted in Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Remembering Alasdair Gray

Posted on 05/01/2020 by alasdairflett

Artistic blooms tend to be triggered by seismic technological or political change. Where the first Scottish literary “renaissance” arrived as the result of the brutal shock to romantic sentiments the First World War had dealt, a new flurry of writing … Continue reading →

Posted in Tribute | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nynorn and beyond

Posted on 30/07/2019 by alasdairflett

Orkney: an interesting case study for historical linguists In the following, I’ll discuss my passion for historical linguistics and how this discipline is especially interesting in relation to Orkney and the now-extinct language of Norn. Firstly, I’d like to explain … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Burger flippin’

Posted on 28/08/2018 by alasdairflett

You find me at the end of a month in the role of grillmaster at Eusa’s Gilded Garden burger outlet. After an unshaven dressinggowned week or so with a short intermission in Stirling for my brother’s brass band course concert … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Personal experience | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Flett

Posted on 25/02/2018 by alasdairflett

Ah, Sunday. A fine day for reflection and calm, quiet contemplation. In Germany a brief respite from consumerism (also perhaps an inconvenience). Additionally, and purely coincidentally, you understand, optimal for the garnering of likes as the weekend’s accomplishments tie together … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Personal experience | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment