This piece has been a long time in gestation. Ever since Justin Welby announced his departure, I've found myself jotting notes, revisiting history, and anticipating the inevitable turn the Church of England would take. Today’s announcement is therefore no surprise - only the confirmation of what many of us had already suspected. It seemed fitting, … Continue reading The Archbishopric of Canterbury: From Augustine’s Cloak to Sarah’s Mitre
Tag: history
The Man in the High Castle: History as Hallucination
Some novels ask ‘What if?’ and there are novels that ask ‘What is?’ Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle manages the perverse trick of doing both at once. Set in a United States divided between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan after an Axis victory in the Second World War, it ought to … Continue reading The Man in the High Castle: History as Hallucination
We: A Sermon in Glass and Giggles
f you ever wake up in the morning and think, 'Life would be so much better if everyone behaved exactly the same,' then I recommend you either take a cold shower, or read Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We. For here's a book that takes the notion of a perfectly ordered society and runs it to its logical conclusion … Continue reading We: A Sermon in Glass and Giggles
The Book of Catweazle
Being a Remembrance of his Misnamings, Quirks, and Misadventures Set forth in his own crack’d tongue, with a Preface from our world ‘For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face.’ — 1 Corinthians 13:12 When I was a youngster, Catweazle was one of my favourite programmes - part comedy, part … Continue reading The Book of Catweazle
From Knock to Knell: An Autumnal Double Act
Today I was struck by three acorns! Nature has a peculiar way of tapping us on the head when she wants to remind us of something. If it were a meteor, we’d call it apocalyptic. If it were a coin, we’d call it providence. But an acorn - that comic nut of destiny - is … Continue reading From Knock to Knell: An Autumnal Double Act
Wording 