Coming to the end of a good novel is rather like coming to the end of a good relationship. I suppose the main difference is that a good novel remains good right until the end, whereas a good relationship ...? Hmm. Logic says that it can’t be ‘good’ anymore by that stage, otherwise it wouldn’t [...]
This post is dedicated to my daughter, and to all others who are currently undergoing quarantine and self-isolation due to COVID-19. When she first spotted the message on her mobile, sent by the quarantine police (as she liked to call them) scarcely an hour after arriving back home in Kraków in the middle of the [...]
I should imagine that most of us at some point in our lives have woken up in bed with that horrible morning-after feeling. And I don’t mean a hangover. No, what I have in mind is that sudden whoosh of awareness, of unwanted memory after the final dregs of sleep have drifted into oblivion. That [...]
With the start of a new year, I’ve been thinking a lot about my relationship with you. Yes, you, my once-beloved inner demon. You’ve given me some of the most euphoric moments in my life – hope, excitement, promises for a golden future; but time and time again you’ve fallen short of your promises. And [...]
Yes, I know, that’s an illogical title because lights are inanimate objects without hearts and therefore don’t have feelings. But what about the person who’s looking at them? Haven’t you ever done that, on a sombre autumn evening, like the one that’s engulfing me right here and now? Haven’t you ever stood on a lonely [...]
“I hope we can still be friends.” “Please let’s still keep in touch.” “I’ll always treasure the time we had together.” “You’ll still always mean a lot to me.” Any of the above phrases sound familiar? Or should I say the above clichés, because at the end of the day, that’s what they are. You [...]
I’ve just been to see Steven Spielberg’s The Post, which bored me ever so slightly at the beginning, to be honest (or not). But soon it got me so roped in by its central dilemma that it got me thinking about the question of honesty in all of our normal, humdrum lives. Not enormous issues [...]
