Copy: The National 02/02/12

>> We’ve all done it. Bought an entrance ticket for a gallery or a museum and politely declined when a well-meaning employee suggests that we purchase the glossy guidebook. But in the case of the Museum Of Islamic Art in Doha, I would definitely recommend that you take them up on their effort, Reflections On Islamic Art. Ok, so many of you are probably not going to be checking out the incredibly impressive building on the south end of Doha Bay any time soon. But Reflections On Islamic Art is so good, it can stand alone.

Instead of simply explaining the art in the rooms, editor Ahdaf Soueif gathered together 27 novelists, poets, actors, filmmakers, artists and thinkers from across the world, brought them to Doha, and let them loose in the museum. They could write anything they wanted to, about anything they wanted to. The results are really thought-provoking – Tash Aw’s selection sets him off into childhood reminiscence, Riz MC writes a poem about his grandad’s attic.

When I spoke to one of the contributors, Suad Amiry, she thought that one of  the great successes of the book is that even if you have no intention of visiting Doha,Reflections encourages its readers to look closer next time they go to any museum or gallery, to find personal connections with work rather than rush to see the famous stuff. Which, like ignoring the guide book, is also something we’ve all done…

Click here to read the full story about Reflections On Islamic Art in The National  

Copy: The National 22/01/2012

>> When I spoke to Richard Davenport-Hines about his new book Titanic Lives, we had a long conversation about Julian Fellowes’s success with Downton Abbey. He’s lent kind words on the front of Richard’s book, which, seeing as Fellowes’ Titanic series is likely to be must-watch television in the Spring, is quite a coup. Anyway, Davenport-Hines’ theory is that the huge popularity of the show isn’t just because we’re obsessed with period drama or posh people, but because he’s so generous with the characters. On the whole, good things happen to good people. Certainly in the first series it’s this spirit of seeing the best in people which is so, well, surprising: you’d expect Bonneville’s character to be a classic uppity aristo stamping his foot on the proles, but he’s far from it.

That’s one theory. The other seems to be that we’re obsessed with the lives of posh people and period drama in these austere times. I don’t fully buy that – Downton is interesting because it’s a brilliantly told story full of great acting. Which is why, in the end, it’s enjoying worldwide success, even if it is barely-disguised soap opera, rather than simply enthralling a few million on a British Sunday night.

Click here to read the full story on Downton Abbey’s worldwide success in The National

Copy: Metro 18/01/12

>> Sadly, Metro don’t publish their book reviews online. So here’s my review of ex BBC Sport Editor Mihir Bose’s new book tracking how sport moved from its Corinthian roots to becoming one of the most influential and money-making institutions in the world.

The Spirit Of The Game: How Sport Made The Modern World by Mihir Bose
(Constable, £18.99)

Three stars

Sport has become one of the major codifiers of ‘soft power’ – the way in which states and organisations express their global influence outside of traditional military or economic might. Witness, for example, the Chinese efforts to engage with the world using table and lawn tennis, and finally the Olympic games. How we got from kickabouts on Victorian fields to this very 21st century state of affairs is the basis of eminent sports journalist Mihir Bose’s new book, which begins by noting the strange influence of Thomas Arnold’s 1857 novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays on promoting a kind of moral and religious code on the playing of games. Bose tracks how that zeal transformed into something more powerful and universal, taking in everything from the 1995 South African rugby world cup victory which seemed to unite an uncertain nation, to the strange tale of Coca-Cola, which went from ‘capitalist drink’ to global beverage by allying itself with the right sports. It’s a huge undertaking, and Bose, as you’d expect from the former BBC Sports Editor, knows his stuff. But at almost 600 pages its encyclopedic feel is daunting and somewhat dry – The Spirit Of The Game does a better job of tying myriad themes together than it does telling a new story.

Copy: The National 16/01/12

>> It was truly strange to start last week speaking to the author Richard Davenport-Hines about his book published to coincide with the centenary of Titanic’s demise, and end it talking about a ship sinking off the coast of Italy on Gordon Burns’ excellent BBC Radio Manchester show.

I was doing the paper review with Manchester Evening News’ Diary Editor Dianne Bourne, and we were struck by how nearly every front page made some sort of comparison with Titanic. In fact, most of the eye-witness accounts from survivors did too. While I very much doubt whether we’ll be marking 100 years of the Costa Concordia accident with books, memorial cruises and a Julian Fellowes mini-series, there are some similarities. The captain said the rock ‘shouldn’t have been there’, just as the iceberg shouldn’t have been there. Abandoning ship was much more problematic than it should have been. And perhaps most strikingly, there have been murmurs of discontent from the industry that these huge liners are unstable and sacrifice too much in the desire to squeeze in cabin space and shopping malls  - just as the shipping lines of the early 20th century were dangerously obsessed with speed. As Davenport-Hines says, it was that obsession which in the end did for Titanic.

Anyway, Davenport-Hines’ book Titanic Lives is fascinating, thought-provoking stuff – not least because it’s more of a social history of the people who made and travelled on Titanic rather than another investigation into why it sank. And Julian Fellowes likes it, which, currently, is quite the seal of approval.

Click here to read the full interview with Richard Davenport-Hines in The National

Copy: The National 12/01/12

>> Really enjoyed Great Expectations on the BBC over the Christmas break, not least because I was intrigued to see how they decided to end it. Would they go with Dickens’ original, or the revised, ‘happier’ version, or their own? In the end it was probably closer to the former rather than the latter, but it seemed to make sense within the structure of the story they told.

But even if they had ended it with a spaceship taking Pip and Estella to the moon, does it matter? Rarely does a new version of a Shakespeare play pretend we’re all in 1590 – each individual director teases out new elements and relevances for our times. Similarly, new television and film adaptations of Dickens’s novels, with their different endings and ideas, help keep alive the notion that his work isn’t simply to be preserved in aspic, but can mean as much in 2012 as it did in 1861.

This is what I explored in my first piece of 2012 for The National. But without the spaceship.

Click here for the full piece on whether changing endings matters in The National. 

Copy: The National 26/12/11

>> I love tall buildings. A few years ago it seemed like every spare plot in central Manchester promised a skyscraper to compete with the peerless Beetham Tower. Buildings like this

and this

And then the credit crunch hit, and we were left with the slightly worrying Student Castle as the only significant change to the Manchester skyline. A shame.

Beetham Tower, however, features in Kate Ascher’s fantastic new book The Heights. It’s a coffee-table book you might actually read, as comfortable telling us how tall buildings withstand wind as it is detailing the intricate history of tall buildings and their social impact. And nowhere, surely, have tall buildings had such an impact in such a small space of time as in The Emirates. So it was fascinating to talk to her about not just the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, but also  skyscraper design, use and function.

Click here for the full interview with Kate Ascher in The National. 

Copy: The National 19/12/11

>> If you’re stuck for a movie to get you in the festive mood, look no further than The Muppet Christmas Carol, the felty furry take on Charles Dickens’ classic broadcast tomorrow (Christmas Eve) on Channel 4. Gonzo is Charles Dickens, Kermit is Bob Cratchit and, brilliantly, Michael Caine plays Ebenezer Scrooge. “My name… is Ebenezer Scrooge…”

Anyway, I was reminded of it because everywhere else in the world – including the UAE – appear to be celebrating the arrival of the new Muppets movie. And we don’t get it until February. Now that is Scrooge-like behaviour. Still, it gave me the excuse to write about the mythology of the Muppets. Mahna Mahna…

Click here for the full Muppets story in The National

Copy: The National 19/12/11

>> Yes, yes, Coldplay’s date in Manchester was right at the start of December. I know. However, I was covering it for The National, as Chris Martin’s band are playing in Abu Dhabi on New Year’s Eve, and they’ve only just published the piece. I think it will be a genuinely brilliant way to see 2012 in – Coldplay are, no matter what the cynics say, incredibly good at massive, celebratory events. And it might look a bit like this.

“Even those who, quite bizarrely, watch proceedings from behind the open stage feel involved. I should know. I was one of them.”

Click here for the full review of Coldplay in The National

Copy: The Stage 15/12/11

>> If you have any little ‘uns in your life that need entertainments over Christmas, forget the tacky charm of the panto and take them to Horse + Bamboo‘s brilliant 55 minute show Red Riding Hood at The Royal Exchange in Manchester. It really is the loveliest way to spend an hour – a magical mix of puppetry, animation and even real-live human beings tell the story of the girl who goes into the woods in completely enthralling style.

“At the end, Quick and Dunford ask if anyone would like to see the puppets. The young audience literally run to see the wolf. Proof, then, that lo-tech theatrical methods still have the power to mesmerise.”

Click here to read the full review of Red Riding Hood in The Stage

Copy: The National 15/12/11

>> Lucy Caldwell‘s second book, The Meeting Point, has been one of my favourite finds of this year. And it’s not just me either – last month it beat the likes of Tea Obreht to the Dylan Thomas Prize, the judges calling it ”a beautifully written and mature reflection on identity, loyalty and belief in a complex world”. Ultimately, it’s a compelling story rather than a portrait – it’s about ex-pats and “Middle Easterners” trying to navigate their way through not just faith, but life, in Bahrain.

So it was a great pleasure to meet up with Lucy in the typical Bahraini surroundings… of the Kentish Town Canteen in London. I was really impressed by her attention to detail in the book, and as she got out some photos of Bahrain just moments after we’d greeted each other, I knew that she’d done her homework…

“I wrote it in Whitechapel, where you can hear the muezzin from the East London Mosque. There were Bengali kids running around my street, so I would talk to their mothers. I went to the mosque and I studied Islam. I think you have to if you’re going to write a book like this.”

Click here for the full interview with Lucy Caldwell in The National