Dalrymple writes on Robert Bridges, “the only doctor who was ever poet laureate”, in his latest BMJ column (subscription required).
The forgotten poet laureate
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Monthly Archives: December 2009
Loose Ends in Liverpool
In the December edition of the New Criterion, Dalrymple recounts a recent visit to the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and reflects on ideology in art:
“The Rise of Women Artists” as the title of an exhibition grated on me, for it seemed to me to be inescapably condescending, and to bring irresistibly to mind Doctor Johnson’s remark about women preaching: “It is not well done, but you are surprised to find it done at all.” In general, the more shrilly a principle is enunciated, the less securely is it believed. Were the pictures in the exhibition any good, and were they united by anything other than the sex of their painters? Could a specifically female sensibility be seen at work in them?
Soviet Britain
In the Salisbury Review, Dalrymple continues his warnings against the creeping Sovietization of British life.
UPDATE: The article is no longer available for free at that link, but you can download the entire issue for free as a PDF here (Hat Tip: Gustav). The Salisbury Review is building a new website, and it seems as if things are in flux. They are offering online subscriptions for only £10 per year. By the way, I see they have a couple of older Dalrymple articles that we missed. We’ll get those posted soon.
Breakfast With Socrates by Robert Rowland Smith
Dalrymple reviews a new book, unfavorably, in the Observer.
Taking your holiday at an airport hotel
In the Social Affairs Unit, Dalrymple recounts his surprising discovery: the pleasures of the airport hotel.
I began after a while to reflect on why I was enjoying myself so much. Clearly it had something to do with the anonymity of the place, and a release from the need to be somebody or play a part in front of others. There was no social pressure whatsoever; there was no need to pretend or to try to please. Airport hotels, then, are the realm of Pure Being. They are places of spiritual refreshment or even of retreat. They are, at least potentially, the monasteries of our time.Read it here
Smoking: out for the count
Who knew that Leo Tolstoy, “probably the greatest novelist the world has ever known”, was the original anti-smoking crusader? Dalrymple in the BMJ.