THREE STAR REVIEW

After Goya has received a 3-star review over at Goodreads.

I'm really very pleased - the Goodreads community is mainly made up of sincere, dedicated readers - who better to ask for an honest opinion?

And, I'm pleased too because the three-star rating tempers the four and five-star reviews - hopefully causing potential buyers to be less cynically inclined to think that the reviews are too good to be true. 

The reviewer makes some insightful observations, especially with regard to the political background:

" ... the amount of organisations. I'm sure if I was more up on my history I would have been able to cope with this with more ease, but I did at times get confused about who was part of what and the various different causes and what they stood for." 

The preface to Antony Beevor's excellent The Battle for Spain gives a partial list of thirty-eight political parties and groupings, plus a list of acronyms of more political, military and intelligence organisations active during the conflict. The title of Gerald Brenan's account of the war, The Spanish Labyrinth, reinforces the perception of the splintered nature of dissent.

In After Goya I tried to get this across - and challenge the convenient reductionism of Franco's bloc and Soviet Communist inspired opposition, viz. good versus evil, fascism versus socialism, monarchism versus republicanism, nationalism versus federalism - without labouring the point.

Thought for the Day

Riots are an expression of rage.
Rage is an expression of thwarted desire.
Riots are prompted by the refusal of some to engage with the sincere desire of many.

Desire may be formed by the want of information, by the need of sustenance, by the rejection of taxes, levies and hindrances to the common good.

Those few who thwart the desire of the many will always need armies to defend their estate. Such defence is a ruinous occupation; ruinous of compassion, of common wealth and of common desire for advancement.

FIVE STAR REVIEW

My novel, After Goya, now has a 5-star review over at Amazon US:

"A Gripping Read.
After Goya is engaging from page one and takes you on a thrilling journey throughout Spain and across time. Its a wonderful mix of Art History, Spanish Civil War politics, International espionage and conspiracy theory. Haarlson Phillipps is a great writer who skillfully pulls you into the intrigue and twists and turns the plot keeping you riveted. A great read! "

Blimey.

UK TOUR

I'll be in the UK when you're reading this.

Visiting the North to attend the wedding of a very good friend's daughter.

We may have time to meet up with a very good friend - depends on train schedules.

Then hooking up with my son to visit Edinburgh and catch up with a friend and former colleague whom I've not seen for several years.



Then flying to Bristol and meet with a dear friend who lives in Box, before moving on to Banbury to stay with two close friends and attend a meeting, as a guest author, of The Thin Ladies' Reading Circle.

And, I'll take a trip to Oxford to catch up with my daughter - who, though having finished her PPE finals, will still be at St. Hilda's.

After this excitement I'll be calling in on my mother and sister in Bishop's Cleeve and attending a birthday party for one of my two nephews before flying back home to Barcelona.

One of the organisers of the Thin Ladies' Reading Circle explained, "We are not called the Thin Ladies because we are undeniably lithe and attractive. No. We are called the Thin Ladies because we prefer thin volumes. However, we've made an exception for you."

Sounds OK by me.

The Guardian City Guide to Barcelona

My non-fiction writing alter-ego has had two articles published in The Guardian.

Go HERE and HERE if you'd like to find out about interesting bars and tapas bars in the wonderful city of Barcelona.

Other contributors to the Guardian Barcelona City Guide include Jill Adams (editor of the esteemed multi-lingual Barcelona Review); Matthew Tree, esteemed English-born writer of fiction and non-fiction in Catalan; and  writers from Le Cool, the online monthly events guide (well worth signing up for), and the Barcelona based, English-language, Metropolitan magazine.

The Guide hangs together very well - with lists of literary haunts, bargain shops, contemporary Catalan restaurants, art hangouts, clubs, as well as boutique hotels and pensións, etc etc. And it's all fresh - deftly avoiding mention of many of the usual suspects which get mentioned in the popular guides.

And, I discovered a few surprises. For example, Matthew Tree lists the café-bar Bauma as a literary haunt. I'd never have guessed. Bauma is very near where I live, and I pass the place nearly every day.

To choose only 10 bars, 10 bars which serve tapas, and have a maximum 120 words to describe each, was a testing exercise. They are not The Best, but 10 of the best. I got the assignment through Spotted by Locals - where you can read more, and more up-to-date, articles about bars, restaurants, clubs, galleries, museums and other local spots.

Spotted by Locals was awarded The Guardian Best Travel Website Award, 2011.

AMAZON UK REVIEW

After Goya has received a first review on Amazon UK. Four stars no less. 

"... original in its theme, coherent in its writing, with good descriptions of place and character and delivers appealingly cinematic action scenes."

You can read the full, and fairly lengthy review HERE.

I'm very pleased, and feeling a little humbled, that the reader took the time and trouble to post a review. 

If you're still dithering about whether to splash out £2.06/€2,32 or $2.99 on the Kindle version go check out the review. 

Or, if you don't have a Kindle, go to Barnes & Noble and buy the Nook version HERE. 

Or, if you have an i-Pad, (yes, I mean you, Sumner) go to the Apple Store HERE, download the FREE i-book app and go to the i-bookstore.

Or, you could venture over to Smashwords HERE.

And, if you don't have any of these gadgets you'll have to wait for the print version priced at £7.99 in the UK.

Barça v. United: Poetry, Philosophy and Ethics: 3 - Drama: 1

OK, let's get two things straight before we discuss the details.

The difference in this match was not Messi versus Rooney - the difference was Ferdinand versus Piqué.

Old Trafford sells itself as The Theatre of Dreams. I'm aware Guardiola encourages his players to read poetry.

The difference in this match was the difference between POETRY and DRAMA.

Poetry won.

Poetry is more closely associated to Ethics - Drama associated to Entertainment. Poetry won AND provided more entertainment than Drama.

Piqué played a quiet, effective blinder - blocking, intercepting United's thrusts and then, via both carefully aimed clearances, and luckily timed back passes, but with constant awareness, consistently delivered the ball upfront. By contrast Ferdinand clumbered around like a club-footed donkey - outpaced, wrong-footed and out-thought. The difference can clearly be seen when Messi hits his goal scoring shot - Ferdinand instinctively shies from the ball's flight to protect himself - Piqué would, by instinct, have put himself between the ball and the goal.

Rooney's goal was offside - look at it again - and again and again,  and you will clearly see one, then another, Man U player clearly offside and in position to influence play just before the ball goes in.

Valencia should at least have copped a  yellow in the first half - and, by rights, should have been sent off. I counted his niggly, little trips, pokes, shoves and deliberately badly timed tangles (not tackles, not tangos - but somewhere in-between) - 11 altogether. I counted them off, and after four, I said, "Next time it's got to be a yellow card." But no. We were well into the second half before the ref finally reached for a card - minutes after too quickly grabbing a yellow for Alvés.

Barcelona took United for a little spin on the carousel - and won.

Then, after winning, Barça formed a pasillo - or guard of honour - to clap their opponents from the field. Ethics - not Drama.

Then Carles Puyol, the team's current true captain, handed Abidal the captain's armband so that he could legitimately receive the cup - knowing, as all Barça fans know, Abidal had recently recovered from liver surgery. Ethics - not Drama.

Nothing more to say - or be said - Poetry, Philosophy and Ethics won tonight - Drama lost.

AFTER GOYA EBOOK

I'm pleased and proud to announce that my novel, After Goya , is now available as an ebook in several formats. The global price is $2.99 and at Euro and Pound equivalents, but with VAT added.

If you have a Kindle, or a Kindle app for PC or i-Pad, etc you can sample a few free chapters and buy a copy at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.de. I've already sold a few copies at both the U.S. and U.K. Amazon sites.

If you have any other type of reader, or want to read a sample on your laptop or desktop before buying a copy then I suggest you go to Smashwords. ISBN: 978-1-4581-2596-5.

The book has already shipped to Barnes & Noble and the Apple i-Tunes store - and will be appearing in their catalogues next week.

In a few weeks readers in Australia and New Zealand will also be able to purchase and download the ebook at Borders, Australia; Angus & Robertson and at Whitcoulls in New Zealand.

And, again all being well, you will soon be able to buy a very special EPUB edition from this blog. I say very special because Ester, indefatigable formatter-in-chief at ebookation, has done an outstanding job of not only converting the text but also the ornaments which separate sections and chapters, replaced missing and mis-placed accents, and included a table of contents and additional material in the end papers. The result is very impressive for an ebook.

Converting a word processor document into an ebook format, though not difficult, is not straightforward. The conversion process often strips out  common punctuation marks and accents and replaces them with less common marks and symbols; line spacing, justification and section breaks can go walkabout all over the page.

Smashwords' conversion engine, known to writers and publishers as the Meatgrinder, converts basic Word docs into eleven different ebook formats. And, it does a pretty good job of it. However, because, by default, it is designed to produce texts that can be read in all formats the result is a compromise.

And so, after successfully formatting the Smashwords version -- and ensuring it was good enough to get into what they call their Premium Catalog --  Ester, at ebookation, spent more time refining and embellishing the text as an EPub file. In effect, Ester has produced a limited edition of an ebook.

I'VE BEEN AMAZONED

Yesterday my daughter was walking through Oxford town centre when she received a call on her mobile from Amazon. (US? UK? Germany? France? We do not know.) The caller, with an Irish accent, demanded she give him my mobile number.

'We've sent him two emails - we need a reply,' the caller said.

My daughter, a little fazed by this bizarre contact and its timing, refused to give them my number. She doesn't know my mobile number by heart (and neither do I), and didn't see it was her business to help other, unidentified, persons meddle in mine.

Today she hands in her thesis. You can imagine her state of heightened sensibilities. Three years of intense study - collections imminent and finals looming. And there was Amazon hassling her - on the High Street - as she enjoyed a rare few carefree moments.

How did Amazon get her mobile number? I have never given it to them. I have never given them my mobile number (which is why, the caller said, they were asking her for it).

And, then I remembered. Two years ago I ordered a book for her from Amazon France - I must have given her number as a contact in case ... in case. Hang on ... she's changed her phone and number at least three times since then.

'Tell yer da' to contact us,' the caller said.
'Give me your number and I'll tell him to contact you,' my daughter replied.
'I can't give out our number ...'
 
To be continued .....

Let's Eat Art

Called into an exhibition at La Pedrera, you know, as you do, on the way home from work, the other day.

Really glad I did.

As I say,  just turned up - no expectations - and woah!

When you have chance you must go see this exhibition.

There's work by Picasso, Dalí, Juan Gris, Ben Nicholson, Joan Brossa, Joseph Beuys, Piero Manzoni, Richard Hamilton, Daniel Spoerri, Sarah Lucas, Sam Taylor-Wood, Gordon Matta-Clark, Martin Parr, Miquel Barceló, and that Belgian surrealist whose name always slips me (Marcel Broodthaers), and short films by Chantal Akerman, Werner Herzog and Marina Abramović.

However, for me, turning up off the street, not knowing nothing, the section comprised of still-lifes was a revelation. Incredible. So vivid - so full of life. One of the works - Kitchen Corner by Spanish artist Vicente Victoria (1650-1709) - is so fresh it would not look out of place on the cover of a contemporary culinary or gourmet magazine.

I was so taken by the exhibition I've since re-visited it four times - each time finding something new, something worth lingering over.

Though the whole exhibition builds to a premature celebration - or artistic endorsement - of the much lauded chef, Ferran Adrià -  it is a fascinating show.

I'll be going back.

The exhibition runs until June 26th. The exhibition is open from 10am to 8pm EVERY DAY. Admission is FREE.

The image of pomegrantes above is called Epitaph, created in 1996 by Antonio Girbés, born in Valencia in 1952. Click on his name and check out four amazing photo galleries of his work.

English University Funding: A simple, workable all-round win-win solution

Undergraduates who have had the benefit of a private or independent secondary education should pay FULL market-rate fees (i.e. cost plus margin) plus a contribution to a bursary fund.

Cambridge £60,000 per annum. That'll do nicely, thank you, sir.

Oxford £72,000 per annum. Thanks, m'lord.



Undergraduates who go to University via a state education, i.e. five consecutive years attendance at a publicly funded secondary school, should pay NOTHING (and receive a stipend).
Yasta.
Problem solved.

Why should the State subsidise the academic aspirations of the wealthy?
If members of Oxford's dining club, the Bullingdon, can afford to spray fellow students with £400 bottles of French champagne then I'm sure they (or their parents) can find the wherewithal to properly pay their way.

The real-life consequences of this policy could prompt a rush of middle-class parents to enrol their kids into middling along secondary schools, thus dragging up standards in classrooms, and also prompt prospective undergrads from wealthy backgrounds to look to ensconce themselves in U.S. Ivy League universities or at comparable, distinguished European universities. This, of course, would in turn prompt the press to howl about a brain-drain.

In fact, there is already something of a brain-drain in process. Last year more than 22,000 UK nationals signed up to universities in Europe. The UK press seems remarkably quiet about the phenomenon. Why? Well, it's mainly students from working-class backgrounds taking the initiative. Courses are cheaper, accommodation is cheaper, public transport cheaper, health and welfare services more efficient, and the quality of life generally much better. And, they get to graduate without a debt the size of a mortgage hanging over them.

An unanticipated consequence of the new fees regime has been to stimulate a rise in the number of european universities offering a range of undergraduate and post-graduate courses delivered wholly in English and targetting English learners. I know, I teach on such a course. The students I teach each pay €5,400 (£4,750 give or take a few quid) for an MA.

You may think this solution a product of old style class-warrior thinking -- but think it through -- it's a win-win solution.
Over the medium to long-term such a policy would probably kickstart a few private universities into being - allowing middle-class undergrads to maintain their distance from the oiks. Teachers will have a choice of employer and terms and conditions (and avoid the ridiculous national requirements for teachers to have qualifications in unrelated disciplines). Recruiters will be able to target more clearly.

Some will call this educational apartheid, others will welcome this as a sign of maturity of the market in higher education. Even Portugal, the so-called economic basket-case of Europe, has more than 10 private universities and Spain, 20. The UK, France, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands could be said to be over-dependant on an exclusively public higher education system. While in Poland (the 6th largest higher education system in the European Union, with 1.9 million students) the rise of the private university sector has been dramatic - there are now more than 330 private institutions in the higher education sector.

And, in the UK? The singular instance of the University of Buckingham does not comprise a sector.

So, what do you think? Am I barking mad, or misinformed? Is my logic faulty? Is my analysis, and prognosis, misguided?

In the interests of disclosure - Between 1980 and 1983 the local authority paid my tuition fees and paid me a full maintenance grant for my first degree. In 1984 I paid  £3,000 for an MA from a publicly funded university - approximately £8,000 in today's money, and received no assistance whatsoever from the State. My daughter is currently studying PPE at Oxford, and my son is studying Anthropology and Philosophy at Manchester. I am occasionally employed by a private university and a public-private teaching foundation.

BTW the image is of Glasgow University - by pixelsandpaper

Barcelona, INK

In October last year Barcelona, INK published one of my short stories. The magazine - Barcelona's only literary magazine in English - (The Barcelona Review is in English, French, Catalan and Spanish) has now published six editions.

It was a real joy to go to the shop in Gaudí's apartment building, La Pedrera and see the magazine (containing my story) for sale.


If you'd like to sample Barcelona, INK go HERE and download pages from Number 5: Laughter in the Light – Henry Miller in Barcelona by Matthew Tree; a poem by Pere Quarts; Making Dance With Fruit by yours truly; a poem by Carles Riba; and an excellent story - See you in a mo (Manchester Barcelona Manchester) by Jeff King.

And, when you visit the Barcelona, INK website you'll see my name in the header, along with Colm Tóibín, Rupert Thomson, Joan Brossa, Paul Preston, Joan Margarit, Richard Gwyn, Henry Miller, Ian Rankin and George Orwell.

You'll understand why it makes me smile when I see my name there - even though it is spelled incorrectly (my grandfather used to go ballistic when anyone spelled the family name with only two 'p's).

Hope you enjoy reading the excerpt.

Barcelona, INK Number 6 is now on sale. It is available at the following outlets: La Central Raval, Central Mallorca, LAIE Pau Claris, CCCB, La Pedrera, Fundacio Miro, MACBA, BCN Books, Come-in Books and Hibernian Books in Gracia.