I did enjoy all your thoughts about Ishiguro, thank you for sharing them – nice to see a wide sprectrum of opinion, too. It would be very dull (and there would have been no point in the book group meeting) if we all agreed!
A much briefer post today, about a book I’ve only flicked through, but which looks rather wonderful. I bought it at the National Portrait Gallery a while ago, it’s called, as you can see above, Insights: The Bloomsbury Group by Frances Spalding.
Basically, it’s the Bloomsbury Group in paintings, with biographical details, especially those relating to artistry. Not to be confused with The Bloomsbury Group reprints by Bloomsbury, this is Virginia Woolf et al. In fact, this resource is so wonderful that I’m going to list the ‘et al.’ – Desmond MacCarthy; Leonard Woolf; Vanessa and Clive Bell; Duncan Grant; Roger Fry; Lytton Strachy; Dora Carrington; Lady Ottoline Morrell; John Maynard Keynes; E.M. Forster; Frances Partridge; Gerald Brenan; David Garnett; Philippa and Marjorie Strachey; Margery Fry; Bertrand Russell.
For each there are two or three pages – one being a painting, then the others a mixture of paintings/photographs and biographical detail. As a biography of the Bloomsbury Group it is not exhaustive, but it is certainly unique as a resource. And something really interesting, beautiful, and quick to browse through – giving a real feel for the group and their interaction with art.
A great ‘coffee table book’, or gift – which is said a lot, especially around Christmas, but I do think this is a brilliant little book for anyone interested in these people or the period. Fear not, you don’t have to go to the National Portrait Gallery to pick up a copy – it’s available here on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com, not to mention The Book Depository, which is cheapest of the lot.