Yearly Archives: 2008

Who we, white man? (part xxxvi)

Posted on August 20, 2008 by acb

Larry Moran quotes an interview with Dan Dennett: “The very fact that we agree that there are moral limits that trump any claim of religious freedom—we wouldn’t accept a religion that engaged in human sacrifice or slavery, for instance—shows that … Continue reading →

Posted in God, War | Comments Off on Who we, white man? (part xxxvi)

Tour dates

Posted on August 17, 2008 by acb

I will be performing on the radio tonight, when the Viking slavery programme that Louise and I made is featured on Radio Four’s Pick of the Week: this would be your chance to learn why every smart Ukrainian family would … Continue reading →

Posted in Blather, Journalism, Sweden | 1 Comment

A visit to Ammarnäs

Posted on August 7, 2008 by acb

The most important thing I saw this trip was a lynx, galloping across the road in front of the car about 40 km from Ammarnäs. The back legs seemed longer than the front ones, which made it look almost ungainly, … Continue reading →

Posted in Sweden, Travel notes | 2 Comments

Back: fantastic reviews

Posted on August 7, 2008 by acb

I was watching the girls’ under 50kg arm-wrestling competition when my daughter texted me with the news of the Paxman review in the Guardian. A beguiling account of one man’s absorption in and by a country. … He writes a … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Sweden | 2 Comments

Gone Fishing

Posted on July 15, 2008 by acb

I’m off to the photograph in the header for three weeks and I don’t plan to post anything until August the 6th or 7th. Have a wonderful summer, all of you.

Posted in Blather, Housekeeping, Sweden | 1 Comment

FT review of Fishing in Utopia

Posted on July 14, 2008 by acb

Another gratifying review, from the Financial Times, where Hugh Carnegy, the executive editor, likes Fishing in Utopia,a lot, though he thinks, god knows why, that I am “a melancholy soul”. It is the window on Sweden that gives this book … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Literature, Science without worms, Sweden, Travel notes | 3 Comments

a throwaway line

Posted on July 9, 2008 by acb

All civilisation depends on two things: self-restraint and hope for the future. That’s why it can survive some wars. But if they go, it goes.

Posted in Blather | 4 Comments

Another really good review

Posted on July 6, 2008 by acb

John Carey reviews Fishing in Utopia,in the Sunday Times: thoughtful and illuminating, with a kindly quote towards the end: Fishing in Utopia is a lament for a lost Eden. But it is more than that. Essentially it is a story … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Literature, Sweden | 5 Comments

Back to bed with Diarmaid

Posted on July 5, 2008 by acb

Another hundred pages of MacCulloch’s Reformation this morning; wonderful stuff. The parallels with today are not in the least bit cheering; among them the way in which the printing press, like the Internet, allowed everyone, however ignorant, to join in theological … Continue reading →

Posted in God, Literature | 1 Comment

Buy this week’s New Yorker

Posted on July 5, 2008 by acb

for a wonderful essay on Chesterton by Adam Gopnik (not online) which tackles the question of his anti-semitism head on. I had not realised quite how vile it was; as Gopnik says, if he was a man of his time, … Continue reading →

Posted in Journalism, Literature | 1 Comment