9 hours ago
Kate Atkinson: it's too late for me to read War and Peace
The Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff — a little gem of a novel from 1931 about a family taking their annual summer holiday. It's more of a character study than anything, because nothing really happens. In fact I found myself worrying that something would happen!
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby. I like my paintings to tell a story. In this one, which is in the National Gallery, a group of people have gathered to witness a demonstration of the necessity of oxygen. The oxygen has already been removed from the air-pump and the bird in question — a white cockatoo — looks to be on the point of expiring. The date is 1768, a cataclysmic period of change is coming and science is about to take over from God, and we are in a rather lovely drawing room watching a bird being suffocated.
