Making History

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Edith Peers and John McLinden both have authority in dual roles, while Ruaraidh Hastie’s raisin-scoffing spook has a nice line in misleading bonhomie. All of the roles, down to Sheila Thomson’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pancake server, contribute to a finely tuned ensemble. praiseworthy So why did I read, finish and rate this reasonably well? inspite of the stylistic faults, there were some truly good moments between characters in the story. There was also a valiant effort to utilise time travel and history in a very un-scifi way in my opinion. This was a bit of fun and refreshing. Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives. Technically, this is praiseworthy, with the lighting of Ian Cunningham adding atmosphere. Farrimond’s sound design also impresses; the use of period-appropriate pop music, something that so often irritates in its obviousness, works here because of the obvious care with which it is done. Such care suffuses every aspect of this impressive production.

translated roughly as "mismatched light seriousness." Despite Fry's light touch, he does hit on some thought-provoking issues. "What-if" exercises are interesting when you've got someone to give you proper context along the way. A polymath like Fry certainly knows enough European history to do that. In my mind, his knowledge of the German experience between the wars more than made up for the inherent flaws in time travel logic. (I doubt even Stephen Hawking could make the physics behind such machinery sound plausible.) The second half of the book had me gripped. If I had not arranged to meet with a friend for lunch, I would have read this book straight through all morning. History Matters - pass it on is a campaign to raise public awareness of the huge contribution that history, heritage and the built environment make to our quality of life. It unites the whole heritage sector, led by the National Trust, English Heritage, the Historic Houses Association and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and events will be held over the next six months at hundreds of historic locations across England and Wales. Supporters include David Starkey, Tristram Hunt, Simon Thurley, Stephen Fry, Bill Bryson, Shami Chakrabarti, Tony Benn and Boris Johnson.

For one, I realised how unusual it is to read a WWI account (even tho fiction) from a German perspective. What is more, Fry did this rather well and without resorting to a lot of stereotyping or using cliches.

Or history is heritage studies: cotton mills, marshalling yards and collieries smartened up as 'resources' for school trips; take the kids into the kitchens and servants' quarters of the stately home and ignore the saloons and great rooms above stairs for fear of giving offence. British culture, besieged on all sides by guilt: guilt at empire, guilt at English domination of the United Kingdom, guilt at slavery, at industrial wage-slavery, at Boer Wars, Afghan Wars, mutinies, massacres and maladministrations. Most impressive is the way he has handled a story that falls naturally into two halves. The second half is potentially the more interesting and richer in terms of subject matter, a fact that would have led a more indulgent and less ruthless adapter to come up with a lop-sided play, with all the difficulties a lengthy second act entails. Instead, the focus and attention is exceptionally impressive. speed and panacheIn a rather circular, roundabout way, Fry makes the point that cultural conditions result in so many things that the removal of one person won't necessarily mitigate the development of some particular outcome. While he did a great job illustrating, in a small way, how some small changes would result in a world that is more or less racist/bigoted or homophobic... he left out all the super interesting bits about what was happening in Germany after WWI that resulted in the rise of nationalism and cultural rebirth -- which created a really excellent environment for a charismatic leader. I like the alternate history told in first person perspective, and I like the extra implications for even worse and more dire consequences of the protagonist's attempt to "fix" history.