Tag Archives: literature

I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be

Posted on June 5, 2022 by lesleyjonesberry

I encountered T.S. Eliot when I was about 17;  Shakespeare I’d known a little longer.   Lines like these – allusions which I could actually catch (and Eliot was hugely allusive, especially in his earlier work) – played a part in the thrill of recognition I felt on first reading him.  I still, vividly,  remember starting to read the Four Quartets for the first time – at home, in the ‘front room’ as we called it (a whole socio-economic digression possible in that term.  I will resist). Continue reading →

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It goes without saying

Posted on April 15, 2022 by lesleyjonesberry

I often feel that I talk too much and, indeed, I often do.  Some of this is innate, I think:  I have such an urge to try to express things, I gain such relief and pleasure in my quest to … Continue reading →

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It is time to speak of Julia

Posted on January 30, 2022 by lesleyjonesberry

I am re-reading Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. It’s a striking, indulgent, flawed novel, I think. Not entirely successful, but somehow it communicates a – to me, irresistible – sense of beauty, loss and yearning which repeatedly draws me back. … Continue reading →

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Meet and greet

Posted on January 30, 2017 by lesleyjonesberry

What does an hour and a half watching Mark Rylance dressed in a bright orange puffed jacket clowning and making snow angels on stage actually give me, apart from pleasure? Continue reading →

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Quick now, here, now, always.

Posted on December 2, 2016 by lesleyjonesberry

Moving to London meant leaving my job – obviously – and I am searching for work.  Writing applications is laborious (oh, the irony that hunting for work is itself hard work) and disquieting.  I cannot know how long this process … Continue reading →

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Homeless, with a good book

Posted on February 9, 2016 by lesleyjonesberry

I found myself with an enforced absence from home. My son had requested a birthday party. He is a young adult, a ‘bounce back’ after university, so he didn’t want us to organise it.  Rather the opposite: he asked if … Continue reading →

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“A sad tale’s best for winter”

Posted on January 25, 2013 by lesleyjonesberry

It’s probably obvious already from this blog that I love stories:  I love them in books, I love them even more incarnate in the theatre.   I spent three years getting an English degree merely because it meant (in those heady … Continue reading →

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May cause drowsiness

Posted on July 26, 2012 by lesleyjonesberry

The first symptom of stress is often mild insomnia – an onslaught of thoughts at 3am, which seize the defenceless, semi-wakeful moment and prevent one from turning over and relaxing back into rest.  At least that’s how it is for … Continue reading →

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Suggestive reading

Posted on April 28, 2012 by lesleyjonesberry

I keep a note of books which look interesting (from reviews, friends’ suggestions and such like) and last weekend I converted this list into requests on the Library reservation service. A few days ago I received notification that the first … Continue reading →

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