A Tale of Two Islands (Parts 4 and 5)

I'm sorry, but Shakespeare did NOT have Corfu in mind as his setting for The Tempest.

I very much doubt whether Homer had Corfu in mind when imagining the island of Scheria in The Odyssey, but that's a little more complicated.

For more on this topic, I have written about it at some length in "The Ionian Islands and Epirus, A Cultural History".

Even The Rough Guide gets it wrong.

No other comments on Part Four of "A Tale of Two Islands"

Or on Part 5

Was part 5 scheduled deliberately to be shown on the same evening as "The Inbetweeners". What was fact and what was fiction- young people misbehaving in Kavos, Corfu or in Malia, Crete?

Greece, "Hanging by a thread"

Kathimerini lead article on the Greek political situation (in Greek)

Extract in automatic translation:

"The country is still hanging by a thread. Today's vote in the House shows that the political system insists on suicide, its own and the country's. Even at this last moment, members of PASOK and KPS put their outdated personal obsessions over the interests of the country. We all realize how heavy is the load for politicians who bear the fortunes of the country. If they flinch now, Greece will get into a great and dangerous adventure without return".

“Announcing and passing laws is not enough if the administration and the general public undermine them" (Bundesbank spokesman, Kathimerini).

George Soros, On Greece and the EU

George Soros' new initiative.

Timon of Athens (2)

Somehow I had expected the National Theatre's production and staging of Timon of Athens to be a moral tale about greed, flattery, corruption and the state of the capitalist economy in the context of Athens itself:

"The commonwealth of Athens is become a forest of beasts" (Act 4, scene 3, l. 347-8).

Instead, it was firmly based in the City of London, and the play opens with the tents of the anti-capitalist protesters occupying the stage.

I don't know why I felt dissatisfied by the production at times. The writing is superb (but more kinder?):

From Timon of Athens:

Timon will to the woods, where he shall find
Th’ unkindest beast more kinder than mankind.
Act 4, sc. 1, l. 35-6.

Men shut their doors against a setting sun.
Act 1, sc. 2, l. 145.

I wonder men dare trust themselves with men.
Act 1, sc. 2, l. 43.

This is no time to lend money, especially upon bare friendship without security.
Act 3, sc. 1, l. 41-3.


At least the play seems to have had some impact on a senior Bank of England official. 

Wiltshire Life, Moonraker, November 2012

I enjoyed reading the article by Moonraker in November's Wiltshire Life.

Moonraker is the Editor-in-Chief, Mark Allen.

To read it, you'll have to buy it!

It's Mark's take on a visit I reported here.

Howard Jacobson makes me laugh

And it's a good medicine!

I enjoyed much in his latest novel "Zoo Time" (see extract), especially the parts that deal with the publishing and bookselling industries.

I'm now reading his collection of columns for The Independent, "Whatever It Is, I Don't Like It".

Find his columns here.

I wonder if the senior staff of the National Trust have read all his columns carefully (they seem to be aware of the views of Alan Bennett).

He's really good on Hardy (and Cornwall), on Washington DC and on Australia. And lots more besides (Dylan, Cohen). The more I read, the more I find to savour and enjoy. I look forward to another collection.