Monthly Archives: October 2013

‘My favorite book’

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Patrick Lennon

‘V[ery] happy 40th / This is my favorite / book – so you / better enjoy!’ What was he thinking? Doesn’t he know that when giving someone a gift – a friend, a relative, a lover, whoever – the thing … Continue reading →

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Important Artifacts etc.

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Patrick Lennon

There are good ideas that turn out to be good ideas, like the paper clip, or the safety pin. And then there are those good ideas that turn out to be not so good, like the automatic seat belt in … Continue reading →

Posted in Leanne Shapton, Novels with pictures in them, Photography, Picture novels | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Second sight: Ciaran Carson’s Shamrock Tea

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Patrick Lennon

Surprisinly enough (or perhaps not), relations between Belgium and Ireland go back a lot further than Ireland’s entry into the EEC in 1973 or than the founding of the Irish College in Leuven in 1607 when Leuven was part of … Continue reading →

Posted in Belgium, Ciaran Carson, Fiction, Fiction set in Belgium, Geel | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Lady and the Unicorn

Posted on October 12, 2013 by Patrick Lennon

There must be a long tradition of literature inspired by (real) paintings or photographs or other artworks. Two examples from among many others, I guess: W.H. Auden’s poem ‘Musée des Beaux-Arts’ was inspired by Brueghel’s The Fall of Icarus, and … Continue reading →

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Expo 58 by Jonathan Coe

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Patrick Lennon

Jonathan Coe’s Expo 58 tells the story of Thomas Foley, a rather bland British civil servant who works for the Central Office of Information, as he is dispatched to the first World’s Fair since WWII. His role? To keep an … Continue reading →

Posted in Belgium, Brussels, Expo 58, Fiction, Jonathan Coe | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment