www.list.co.uk/books
Reviews
ANDREW O’HAGAN (ED) A Night Out with Robert Burns: The Greatest Poems [.52’ ' ' ....
Robert Burns has been ‘sainted, painted, tormented and toasted'. as the book blurb playfully informs us. He is also a source of boredom for schoolchildren. linguistic perplexity for non-Scots and undiluted pleasure for Ayrshire entrepreneurs. In short, Burns‘ ‘incredible afterlife', as novelist and essayist Andrew O'Hagan pithin writes, is a source of wonder. so much so that his poetry itself sometimes stands in danger of being overlooked.
Purists will undoubtedly prefer a ‘straight‘ Burns collection, ideally aged and bound in leather, but a diverse number of readers will warm to O‘Hagan's approach, choosing poems that matter to him, some famous, others obscure. and offering a motley collection of fragments of his own. Ranging from a recipe for Whisky Collins to complement ‘Scotch Drink' to a sentimental account of his daughter‘s birth for ‘Handsome Nell‘ these are mostly entertaining, occasionally irritating; a mention of the Blair-Bush love-in is already outdated. The timelessness of Burns‘ poetry stands in contrast to O‘Hagan‘s personal and contemporary camaraderie.
However, by suggesting a story of how Burns might be read today, O‘Hagan invites a hesitant reader into a fresh perusal of the poems. His account of having to sing ‘My Love She‘s But a Lassie Yet‘ in a gymnasium filled with ‘tittering Ayrshire schoolchildren‘ is amusing, even touching. Writing with great affection, O‘Hagan calls Burns ‘the prince of poetry, not only for me or for Scotland, but for the world.‘ He can also be restrained, informed and a delight to read. (Hannah Adcock)
(,Ill'i l-Itl/tllll-ly‘tt [liiflMfl I, t, . v tint Ill “will «aw: .' ."«-','»:,:,:~l-: " ,' ‘ STEPHENKING “I ‘ ALPUBLISHED Duma Ke i.u.ri;irii.;ri.irit ilt int tar» ,. , ‘ u 1 z .1 y niirlluurtl. ’lll(i(;ilt‘ " rmn‘i m r- ' "
it irirlrlm F. fST'Hllflli‘lil‘
.. lilllliH flirtiit".r>tt;irw ,_ T"I."i[,‘»,’,"i dz,“ ,v. .. v
tillti ll‘. ililiil tlw- rlrwniiti ti;r".;i'.i',;:.‘. Hi" .1 "1' . . " ' i.» cathy Ke'IV
rzlitiiitm ;ir :im H 8-H I111 "Viv": 9'17"?" “I l v» I t ' " Lessons in Hmrttimzik int tlio’r liiirm lump-r; ltllf tutti; .'.".'i it» R N 5 l; ' . ,1. lX/IQ has; broken her "i’i‘?”¥l’i“'- 1'V3'tlllidllfl "mt/,'iutw:,.t, : , . 2. ' .' ()‘letllf?fl£lilt)lli illlll‘.ttltll, tiiit <:(itir;li.<it:rl 'i’, w; ry -«,1'}l;t Q N THE ' .2 I: o ‘,. 2,, tiavrrig affairs; with ‘“ 1”" "“t‘j‘i‘fillll‘li‘. r:'/“_"'-:,'-i"': : ~ .- 1 ‘. . . . : lllflltltE’l riitrri while her (“WWI “NH” 5"” "'3 ' -' l .;, t ageiriqauntliaisiust .Mmk t rlriitirttlrsilri. gmwz; f'w" tli: '1»; 5 ( «M. ‘ ....,~ It I, . discovered her " ‘-" ‘ '*‘ ii "i 7 ,; .v ,y' husband‘sinfidelity. HY - ‘Tn'fii' ' : " in E9; _-,,, . Horne/Collins. i v ""7 'l‘r '3 , :;~.,-r i, . ,r;v ° Monty Don Around 't; «35,. 4,4,“... WM, ‘.~,,,.,,, k, i I. the World/n 8t)
Counterknowledge
:A;|;,i~rvt;. .... TWA ‘:‘:i f'u'“ 1'“,- '»':.:'r* '3 "‘-."‘>il’l<:i‘t J: .T ,t' i';'l‘.'r; :, . ,‘ " rt' (5"”(j(3’)5‘ rm? " ’l' .. “41"2, ‘31:? Nut: MM“! ’i" iflttril' Mdt'fli H0”? ti" t“’ n -:' " 2 2") Drusemm "(was the
CUl‘filJIfé‘tt”. theories. flint It's; 33:. (1 d Flt-"gr ,, WW: . r, ,1.- {I g. .. globe in search of the pfit‘ll(i()ll‘,’lll.‘i tilld lltlll tiliff'llétil‘J:"}(:(l|(1'il(:, war). at; l." TM" 1m. "le . 1"“? «wins, w. 'iwv --: v z “"931 (ii-"Gem"?! lit‘titiii\‘.'<>rkt;;1||iii, «inatirnnsri‘ zirvl il‘i(: kt: l"‘:‘..".(:{)1(rflittl‘r' ‘ turnip/1m inn-'2" ittli. min: i“? .t‘ Eiw "‘fl‘t‘imcgv "‘(JIUU'V‘Q Stephen King raises; his; gm: all patrons; (iti'ttngriwi tun": ."(t “Twp: unit ';I' ’Z(,.".T7’;T .-.t rm: :r-ru'u 1' ; 13"” 0‘ plant mmmm lttli itll the lltlli (‘i?liitll\, target. it‘ iil(r (‘Lliffl ’i’/L."?‘.:' lii‘17lltxlli tgitiit Hum r i" .1 ' :l' f {WU SW'CC‘ trade“. Willi tint; 10m) ‘.'\.’|ll(lt1‘tl r(:t’t(;l‘.t;t; ’sf s;o<:tr:t;il C:muffin/rm>.'.':e,-;mt: timt ‘irilt‘w-v W m: it» ~ ’ w WQ’UONfO/d 3‘ i "WW1 Slim?“ Slum. Ht‘ iiil'lklilt]_ r.g;ttt'z‘ ‘2“.‘r‘0'1gi. iittrrzittirt: that u .’,l£:‘)‘;;' 3 run"? mr‘w: FWD/30” l.‘§_ of course. Illitlllltlllt; momdmg ttv Détllllétl‘. :;.'.;ar'ii, ::;.tw:'tsi.;m:. r-ti'W-r. f‘iw's: w v. James Patterson it‘l the illllllt', mlnpttitiurir; l‘it‘fllthxflt Haunt; :;r:>t>;it>é, suggest"; Minna“. Hut With "a‘ine tit lllfl f§llllf§i0l HUMOIS filllt‘rtti' Ignite, (um: <r‘ l'tr,rvii;s;’:r‘ iy ;: Clix nu-nvhv :, ' 4 w ' Paetm S‘Wenm (perhaps; more so lilttlt iilt' i"tt;-r".t:f m 'f‘w: .‘Tst fiil')"fS(/.'i:'.l ti 0" ‘:'::;ti’iir‘ ; fl.” r}, I‘IOGVC’” Oder/“V” tor the titiukr; cantor, :;t.t‘r‘ man: 'r\'/€(i'::,’l‘>"1\)‘:i(;\ any»... . Andy]. . )- Lirirlsa‘y B’)xr:r is on
tlioiii:;t=l\.u:;l Lllltl t‘tlllllllt] ltltxitl (if; 2"»;- US <1'5ii':flii.°"«':l " ' ' the "a" (’f a \ it illttlb K. , governors son who
to his written wwl tor .ttr". titstmtfl MARK PM“ ' I! m.“ h” the trrst illllt? it':; (:4in tv ivztt:;tt2vv~wi::.rm; a: “ tn) WERNHAM grwfnrt rm. w; n I “813 (“sappmrff'l \'I.,h\; (#:p‘”\‘l ,"\\.r (r: 7;:(1i in! ‘i )‘}.; "1.9,, {'1';l. - . , v. I x \ M , 4.. in v; n .3 l5 \i'\ 7i ,1 i“ -. '03 ' r“ .(;.(_‘rrwv ( ‘,"( ‘7 ir-rv - r ‘ )(l \- ‘ f t l . t Iii“ / H 1‘ j 1_‘ (v 1‘ t H. ‘J‘. Darkest Evening of the
lllllllmiltlit‘. the author :\t="e~t't1‘i"\til«“it"i’uusz. ultl‘ttil‘iét". C: r in ‘K‘ {Univ an“. :w t: skillet} and tfoittmih 7a.! :‘..tn .a'v: aw” O. " writ“ h :y I; YE‘WA SUSUC‘NSG “(f-’9' pittt‘titzml tit stringing the .io.-.>'r"“t;-"t I" "kl-"t; A ,Ht.m,.....» (I which features; some
rattler along. {N7 14y . .1 w. r -‘ battling attaCks on a
HMO. Kirk) ltPIlllllS to 1 z , f' r, v 3,") , t‘ r(, {,gr" ' HOWE!“ Who {UN} 8 time honoured , f, ;, 1.. ,7 _.. I ,1 my... a... . dog res-Cue centre. obsessions. titls time 1 I; n .. HarperCol/ms. mixing up the gig“ f .. . hf, .t. 2,...) Wendy Holden t‘ott‘..tlt‘st‘e'tt‘o from ,1 I I “in... g . / ,2“. ,1 ,l {j Filthy P.1d? Comedy riotir-timth Jim 3 w u .. . set in a country Village
MIKE DASH ,_ ' , ,. whereaWAGa
ptnsicttlix tiotmlitttteim . . r- :
whit‘ular accident ‘.'.“lf.‘i Sf}??? C'rcus I ,1”, g, .. ,. ; London banking wrfe. ruminations an art .arit: J 1: I: ... .r.’ a; .1, _.';' a zealous green and memo“. m, mm, ' . ,. ,, ,, ’1‘, ,, ,1. , U MA. A... an aristo's missus are retreat making .3 NICO 2:":z .' ";:.»~ '.";".»',- : ‘f' o'e- p1: on a COH'S'OD Course iOCdilCll Change- from '4' '.-_:’z 1;: er ' " {-2 l. “I; . Over an aHOtmem Popular Protagonist {)9 Lee C?" C" . ’."‘,: I proleCt- Rewew \enue Maine. The spells ' r ’ x r .‘ B' r L x «W "
./ X}: THE LIST 27