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With respect, that "especially" is ridiculous. It's bad news for his fans, yes, but to suggest that it's "especially" bad for his fans, thus implying that it's even worse than it is for the man himself and his family and loved ones, is plain crass.

Well said, Sparkchaser. It's extraordinary idea that something that we have evolved in order to eat is apparently so bad for us. What a strange process this evolution is, eh? Olive oil is good for you but can, in certain situations be carcinogenic. To explain: you should never cook with virgin...

I've just ordered Nancy Mitford's The Pursuit of Love, Love in a Cold Climate and The Blessing. I've not read any of her work before but am curious.

So many – Fairytale of New York, as already mentioned. In Dulce Jubilo, assorted carols, but particularly Silent Night and Come All Ye Faithful (I love the descant) – and honestly, who can resist Bing and White Christmas?

Homo sapiens is an omnivore, so eating meat and fish and diary products is entirely natural. If you're concerned about cruelty to non-human animals in food production, then there's a really quite simple solution – buy from reputable suppliers. Best of all, buy from a farmer who farms in a...

Not the hair on my head, dear heart. What about Schwarzenegger fans?

Dr Who? Brilliant fun – and decently written. The seasonal special will be the TV highlight of Christmas Day. One of the pleasures of Russell T Davies's writing is that he can throw in moments of genuine pathos and, just when you least expect it, really tug at your emotions. The scripts...

I think this pretty much nails it. In that sense, then reading anything will exercise the brain as opposed to reading nothing and not exercising it. But on another level, reading light and escapist fiction (and I'll include fantasy within that) will, if nothing else, continue a process of...

I didn't think that you weren't – but I thought that it was a funny comment, as well as having more than a grain of truth to it. :) Actually, I'd suggest a trip to Paris for any woman who can possibly make it. It's an education to sit in a café and just lwatch other women. It's not that...

Good for your parents. It sends a shudder down my spine to read news reports of schools in the US refusing to let Harry Potter books be taken out of school libraries without written permission from parents, and to read of the same books being burnt by church groups (even CS Lewis's Narnia...

~~LOL~~ Nice one.

:rolleyes: Pathetic. Good for you on getting an A+ anyway.

It's quite possibly an early copy that was sent out to reviewers (I've had more than a few of those myself over the years). However, I've never known substantive differences between one of those and a final copy.

I cannot answer for anyone else, but I read it, as an atheist, for the simple reason that someone gave it to me as a present. And besides, I was curious to see exactly what made so many believers so hysterical. It was most enjoyable. Personally, I found that, once reason had had the chance to...

Silverseason, I agree with your essential point about the Bröntes and Dickens. Neither particularly presented the world as an 'easy' place, although in the case of the sisters, that was through a brooding 19th century romanticism, whereas the latter was a social commentator. You mention Oliver...

Much of it filmed in my locale. Indeed, my local shopping street was transformed for it and my other half's barber's was specifically used. Haven't seen it yet, but the presence of Armin Mueller-Stahl is a substantial enticement.

Completely concur with this. I certainly find it the case with an author such as Thomas Mann, but while reading his work takes me longer than that of some other authors, I find it immensely rewarding. That isn't to say that I don't also enjoy lighter fiction, but I would suggest that such books...

Watched La vie en rose last night. I've heard a lot of comments about the disjointed nature of the way in which the film tells the story of Edith Piaf, and I watched in expectation of finding it at least slightly annoying, but this really wasn't the case at all. It seemed entirely coherent...

Nana by Émile Zola Part of the massive Rougon-Macquart cycle, Nana tells the story of a Parisian tart whose meteoric rise destroys several French families. Ending with Nana's death and the start of the Franco-Prussian war, Zola uses the novel as an allegory of the decline of the Second...

Perhaps he's really meaning that he'll look like this: