Joe's Jottings

Category: Personal Stuff

  • The Bus Book – w/c 18th February – The Threepenny Novel

    This week’s book was ‘The Threepenny Novel’ by Bertholt Brecht.

    I have to admit that I didn’t even realise we’d got it in the house until I was browsing the shelves and I came across it.  I knew it was based on his ‘The Threepenny Opera’, which in turn was based on John Gay’s ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ , and I knew it featured the character Macheath.  And that was it.

    So…what did I think? 

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  • Old and Wise – Alan Parsons Project

    The Alan Parsons Project is one of those bands / musical collaborations / call it what you will that I keep promising to listen to and never get around to it.  Having just heard the song ‘Old and Wise’ on the radio, I really think I should get my bum in to gear.

    Here are the lyrics – wonderful…

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  • The Bus Book – w/c 11th February – Graham Greene Short Stories

    This week’s ‘bus book’ has been a collection of Graham Greene’s short stories.

    For anyone who’s not encountered the concept of a ‘Bus Book’ I refer you here…

    I like Graham Greene. I particularly like his short stories and his novel ‘The Human Factor’, which I’ve always regarded as one of the two or three best espionage novels of the 20th Century. I like him so much that one of my own short stories is called ‘The man who liked Greene’.

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  • What is a Bus Book?

    I use public transport a great deal, and some years ago I started carrying a book with me wherever I went when I could expect a delay or a longish trip.  This book became known around the house as my ‘bus book’.

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