by Peter Scotchmer | Stories
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. –F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby I have often wondered why it is that some slight and unremarkable memories remain strongly embedded in our waking consciousness while others...
by Peter Scotchmer | Reviews
The Art Thief by Michael Finkel : A Book Review This year, 2023, has seen the publication of Michael Finkel’s The Art Thief, a riveting true account of the escapades of Stephane Breitwieser, a native of Alsace, and probably the most prolific art thief in history...
by Peter Scotchmer | Reviews
Richard Ovenden, Burning the Books: A History of Knowledge Under Attack, (John Murray, 2021) Kenneth Baker, On the Burning of Books: How Flames Fail to Destroy the Written Word, (Unicorn, 2016) The aim of those vandals who burn books in an open forum is arguably to...
by Peter Scotchmer | Essays
“It’s as clear as mud.” Since mud is not clear, the speaker cannot mean what he says. (Let us assume he is male). In fact, he means that what he has heard or read is unclear. Very unclear. He says the opposite of what he means to emphasize his difficulty in...
by Peter Scotchmer | Stories
(A Children’s Story for Grown-Ups) Editor’s note: The Pendulum has already swung back to defend Enid Blyton’s Noddy books from charges of racism and of excessive insensitivity to such human afflictions as having large ears. See the Independent...
