'The Rainbow' by Yasunari Kawabata

13 October 2026

I am very grateful to Geoff Crossick for giving me a copy of another classic Japanese novel, 'The Rainbow' by Yasunari Kawabata, originally published in 1951 and translated into English by Haydn Trowell in 2023. This is a very different book to 'The Woman in the Dunes' by Kōbō Abe (also reviewed here in October 2026). Compared to that 1960s surreal existential novel 'The Rainbow', written a decade earlier, feels like a more conventional narrative. But it's an equally fascinating insight into Japanese history and culture. 'The Rainbow' was written and set in a Japan coming to terms with the aftermath of World War II and has the eerie feeling of a country that is on the cusp between two very different worlds. This is the story of a middle-aged professional man - an architect - who is the father of three daughters by three different mothers. In some ways this is a gentle, ambling tale of the two oldest daughters wanting and not wanting to meet their younger stepsister for the first time. While the novel is straightforwardly realistic, without any elements of magic realism or dreamlike narrative, there is still a strange ennui to the plot. The characters spend a lot of the book visiting villas and palaces built for members of the Japanese nobility who had been stripped of their wealth and privileges after the war. With the public now able to see inside these grand houses for the first time it feels like the Japanese people are tourists walking through their country's history. The novel's plot manages to be both a slow, gentle examination of family relationships in which nothing much seems to be happening, and simultaneously a bizarre series of melodramatic events including infidelity, unplanned pregnancy and suicide. When I first started listening to 'world music' and attending the annual WOMAD Festival, in the early 2000s, I was driven by a frustration with what felt like the increasing banality and predictability of mainstream pop music. I loved discovering music, from around the world, that didn't follow the familiar patterns I was used to and still had the potential to surprise me. I've enjoyed reading Japanese novels for similar reasons, precisely because I find it hard to see where the plot is going. It's also fascinating to learn more about Japanese culture and traditions through fiction. 'The Rainbow' is full of traditional tea ceremonies and the size of rooms in houses is routinely measured by the number of tatami mats that would fit on the floor. ("In the six-mat pavilion, there was a four-and-a-half-mat room used for the tea ceremony ...") 'The Rainbow' is quite a melancholic, reflective story showing a country coming to terms with itself through the microcosm of a single family.

Claire Marsden

13 October 2026

Claire Marsden is a French horn player, currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music. She was Joint Principal Horn of the National Youth Orchestra from 2023 to 2025 and she reached the final 5 brass players in BBC Young Musician 2024. Claire also happens to be a resident of Ampthill in Bedfordshire and last Friday I was at Ampthill Methodist Church to see her perform with the pianist Sam O'Neal as part of the Ampthill Recitals series. It was great to have the chance to see this brilliant young horn player so close to home, and to see her playing a new Woodhead horn, made for her in Ampthill by Luke Woodhead. She played the whole of the 'Horn Concerto No 1' by Richard Strauss and the first movement of Beethoven's 'Horn Sonata' - both of which I have played myself (though not in public!). She also introduced me to pieces for the horn by Eugene Bozza, Paul Dukas and Sigurd Verge - all of which were very enjoyable and technically impressive. Claire spoke well to the audience (and seemed to relax more into her playing after speaking). It was wonderful to see her in concert at this early stage in her career.

'Once Upon a Time in Sokoto' by Inua Ellams

8 October 2026

On Tuesday we were at the Royal Theatre in Northampton to see 'Once Upon A Time In Sokoto' - a new play by Inua Ellams. Directed by Roy Alexander Weise for Fuel in association with Touring Together (a collective that includes Royal & Derngate Northampton), 'Once Upon A Time In Sokoto' explores the pre-colonial history of Nigeria, through 24 scenes set from 1865 to 1903 in the Sokoto Caliphate in West Africa. It's a fascinating, entertaining and moving production using a mixture of storytelling and drama with four actors playing multiple parts - and breaking the fourth wall to involve the audience in their story. This is a family saga spanning three generations as well as a political, economic and military history lesson - very effectively knitting personal stories with macro historical events. Amelia Jane Hankin's set provides an impressive backdrop but this is an intimate narrative that would also work well in an empty classroom. The audience is drawn into the storytelling and the four actors (Adeola Yemitan, Antonia Layiwola, Bayo Gbadamosi and Will Atiomo) are excellent. It's a fast-paced, thoughtful, eye-opening history.

'As You Like It' by William Shakespeare

7 October 2026

The first time I saw 'As You Like It' was on our very first visit to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1992 - a production directed by David Thacker, with Samantha Bond as Rosalind. I can still the remember the moment at the end when she stepped to the front of the stage to say "It is not the fashion to see the lady the epilogue ...". On Saturday we were back at the (new) RST to see Daniel Evans' brilliant new production of 'As You Like It'. Using an all male cast (which Shakespeare wrote for) strangely makes more sense of the gender-swapping plot (as it did in the Lord Chamberlain’s Men production of 'As You Like It', reviewed here in August 2022). Tony award-winner Jonathan Groff, is very impressive as Rosalind/Gannymede and Fisayo Akinade as Celia gives a wonderful comic performance. Tim Preston's Phoebe almost steals the show (blurting out "Gannymede, do you like my wedding dress - I made it myself!"). And it was lovely to see Gary Wilmot (who we saw in 'Anything Goes' at the Barbican, reviewed here in September 2021) making his RSC debut (playing both the Dukes), and RSC veteran Richard McCabe as a surprisingly playful melancholic Jaques. When the action shifts from the court to the countryside it becomes clear that the Forest of Arden has been relocated to Wales (and why not?) - with Anisha Fields' magnificent set bringing an enormous, and amazingly realistic, Welsh grassy hillside into the centre of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre: the reveal is a stunning moment. And the composer Theo Jamieson introduces a capella male voice choir harmony to Arden with a series of beautiful musical interludes (mostly sung in Welsh by the 'Arden 7'). It's a very enjoyable production - the best RSC show we have seen since Rupert Goold's amazing shipboard production of Hamlet (reviewed here in February 2025).

'The Woman in the Dunes' by Kobo Abe

7 October 2026

My introduction to Japanese literature was via David Mitchell's 2001 novel 'Number9Dream' - his homage to Haruki Murakami. This led me to the novels of Murakami, four of which I have written about here (starting with my favourite 'Kafka on the Shore', reviewed here in October 2006). Murakami's books usually start in a contemporary real-world Japan into which magical realism starts to intrude, leading us into a parallel fantasy world. I'm also a fan of the Japanese-British novelist, Kazuo Ishiguro - who I was lucky to see in conversation with David Mitchell at the Royal Festival Hall in 2016 (reviewed here in February 2016). Several of Ishiguro's novels have a surreal. dreamlike quality that reminds me of Murakami, particularly 'When We Were Orphans' and 'The Unconsoled'. More recently I enjoyed ‘Tokyo Express’ - a Japanese detective novel by Seichō Matsumoto, first published in 1958, and translated by Jesse Kirkwood in 2022 (reviewed here in June 2024) - a gripping tale, beautifully told, with a gentle Japanese politeness. I am very grateful to Geoff Crossick for extending my knowledge of Japanese literature by giving me a copy of the classic Japanese novel 'The Woman in the Dunes' by Kōbō Abe, originally published in 1962, translated into English by E. Dale Saunders in 1964 and adapted into a Cannes Festival Award-winning film by Hiroshi Teshigahara. 'The Woman in the Dunes' is a deeply strange, existential novel. "The man" is a school teacher from Tokyo who visits a coastal fishing village to collect insects. The villagers, whose homes are constantly on the verge of being destroyed by the advancing sand dunes, trap him and force him to help them in the Sisyphean task of shovelling endless amounts of sand. The grim reality of his sandy prison, the physical demands of the labour, his increasingly desperate attempts to escape and the horrible effects of the constantly flowing sand on the human body are told in painstaking detail. The contrast between the bizarre surrealism of the situation and the practical, precise description of it reminded me of Yann Martel's 2001 novel 'Life of Pi'. In its surreal examination of human existence 'The Woman in the Dunes' also made me think of 'Waiting for Godot' by Samuel Beckett (published in 1952), though the occasional bantering dialogue here is all in the man's head: he has very little conversation with "the woman" with whom he is incarcerated. 'The Woman in the Dunes' is fascinating, peculiar and enthralling but it's also quite an uncomfortable read, particularly in the way the man treats the woman and the introduction of sex into their relationship. The sand-strewn, surreal nightmare is a lens through which to examine questions of human existence and particular issues to do with class. But I think I probably missed other references and analogies and I was grateful for the introduction written by David Mitchell for the 2006 Penguin Classics edition (which you can read at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/oct/07/featuresreviews.guardianreview26). 

'Death is No Sportsman', 'With a Bare Bodkin' and 'Death Walks the Woods' by Cyril Hare

27 September 2026

I'm continuing to work my way through the detective novels of Cyril Hare (previously reviewed here in July and August 2026). I've now read: 'Death is No Sportsman' (published 1938) - an Inspector Mallet novel centred on a fishing syndicate on the River Didder; 'With a Bare Bodkin' (published 1946) - a wartime, office-based mystery, featuring the lawyer Francis Pettigrew, which has an amusing meta-textual element as one of the characters is himself an author of murder mysteries; and 'Death Walks the Woods' (published 1954) - another Francis Pettigrew novel which nicely links together some of the characters and geography of the other books, including 'When the Wind Blows'. All Cyril Hare's novels give a fascinating glimpse into the social history of the period and have a genteel, polite, English approach to brutal crime, but always with an unexpected, clever, plausible denouement.

'The Time of Our Singing' by Richard Powers

25 September 2026

I am grateful to Gareth Coles for giving me a copy of Richard Powers' 2002 novel, 'The Time of Our Singing'. I had previously enjoyed reading 'Playground' by Richard Powers (reviewed here in January 2026) - a novel that relied on a single brilliant twist. 'The Time of Our Singing' is a much more complete work - an epic family saga of more than 600 pages, covering more than half a century. The story follows the three children of mixed-race parents who aspire to raise them beyond the constraints of time and identity, immersing them in a world of classical music. But the realities of the outside world make it increasingly difficult to live without picking sides, particularly as the civil rights movement begins to respond the a rising epidemic of racial violence across the USA in the decades following World War II. At times it reminded me of Peter Flannery's 'Our Friend in the North' with the main characters (here three siblings rather than four friends) moving apart and then reuniting over several decades, to a background of real world news events. It is incredibly densely written: I often had to read a sentence several times to fully understand its various allusions. Powers treats the reader as an equal (and equally up to speed with classical music, physics, the civil rights movement etc), never patronisingly explaining. I realised I was probably missing much of the rich detail but I don't think that mattered too much. Powers' writing about classical music is incredibly detailed, precise and accurate (as far as I could tell: I definitely didn't get all the references). The book also deals with physics, time and relativity - both practically and metaphorically. It's a huge undertaking but the family saga at its heart is a powerful emotional hook and I was desperate to learn the fates of the various family members. Although the main narrative of the siblings' lives is told linearly (by the younger brother, Joseph), the other chapters jump backwards and forwards in time, filling in the story of their parents, grandparents and more. And, in common with the theme of time as non-linear, this pleasingly gives the sense that all these lives are going on simultaneously. Long lost, much missed characters live on in their own time strands right through the novel. Like any family saga there are, necessarily, many passings and the tale is often sad (and at times quite harrowing). But the complex mix of ideas, emotions, characters and history is brilliantly constructed and a compelling read.

Cruise to Spain, France and Italy

25 September 2026

For a third year running we enjoyed a wonderful Mediterranean cruise on the Queen Victoria. This time we joined the ship in Barcelona and visited the largest number of ports we have done on a two-week cruise, stopping at Ibiza, Ajaccio in Corsica, Messina in Sicily, Salerno, Civitavecchia, Marseille, Villefranche, Genoa and La Spezia, before spending a day in Rome. We were thrilled to discover the amazing archaeological site at Paestum near Salerno. Here you can walk around the ruins of the Greek city of Poseidona from 600 BCE (and the Roman town that succeeded it) - a site that feels as big and extensive as Pompeii, with three surviving Greek temples that rival the Parthenon in Athens. We also loved the beautiful Cinque Terre coastal hillside villages near La Spezia. We enjoyed returning to Nice (from Villefranche) and discovering Marseille and Genoa for the first time. And we finished by visiting the incredible Galleria Doria Pamphilj in Rome - a stunningly opulent Palazzo in the heart of the city, housing an extensive art collection. 

'How the Other Half Loves' by Alan Ayckbourn

3 September 2026

On Wednesday we were at the Old Vic in London to see Phillip Breen's new production of 'How the Other Half Loves' by Alan Ayckbourn. It was fascinating to see the Old Vic auditorium reconfigured for this 'in the round' production - which is how the play was originally staged 57 years ago. And it was a wonderful show with an excellent cast (led by Roger Allam) and brilliant comic timing, which was truly hilarious. 'How the Other Half Loves' now feels like typical Ayckbourn, with its single domestic setting, a seemingly simple comedy of manners that builds into a cleverly constructed farce of words (rather than of slapstick), playing with theatrical conventions in complex ways while still being perfectly clear and easy to follow. But this was an early Ayckbourn play that helped to establish that model, and it was notable that it lacked the darker turns of many of his later works. Alan Ayckbourn has now written more than 90 plays  and this is the 10th I have reviewed here. (We previously saw ‘Constant Companions’ his 89th play at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough in 2023 - reviewed here in September 2023). 'How the Other Half Loves' famously shows two households simultaneously existing in the same hybrid living room, leading to the tour-de-force 'dinner party from hell' scene which is perfectly executed in the Old Vic production. Despite dealing with the pain and sadness of infidelity, this is an incredibly funny feelgood show. 

Edinburgh Festivals 2026

2 September 2026

We had a wonderful visit to Edinburgh last week, seeing 20 shows in four and a half days. On the Edinburgh International Festival we loved 'The Golden Age of Hollywood' - John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London at the Usher Hall playing music from classic MGM musicals of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Most of the original sheet music from this period was lost but Wilson has meticulously recreated the arrangements and it was fantastic to hear them live. We were also lucky to see the brilliant Pavel Haas Quartet playing string quartets by Martinů, Korngold and Dvořák at the Queen's Hall. On the Edinburgh Fringe we saw lots of amazing fringe theatre. Our favourites included 'Helen Bradley: Painter and Storyteller' - a one-woman show with Kara Wilson playing the Edwardian painter from Oldham telling us the story of her life while we watched her painting a picture in the style of Helen Bradley. 'Sublimation' was another great solo performance - written and acted by Frank Murdocco - about a one-man business struggling to survive in contemporary New York when offered a Faustian bargain that would solve his financial crisis while compromising his political and moral principles. We enjoyed EXIT - a strange but compelling piece of physical theatre by the Belgian company Circumstances, which is essentially four men walking through doors for an hour. This wordless show is funny, inventive and incredibly impressive, blending circus skills, dance and gymnastics. 'Supposing' - a new play by Zinnie Harris at the Traverse Theatre starring Nicole Cooper and Richard Conlon - was a stunning piece of small-scale theatre. After falling into a hole in the street outside the local theatre, Sally becomes convinced she has been cursed and begins to hear a Greek chorus in her head. She appears to be living a series of Greek tragedies - to the bemusement and increasing concern of her husband. It's a funny, intriguing and disturbing play, brilliantly acted. But I think my favourite fringe show this year was 'The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much' by the physical theatre company Voloz Collective - a Hitchcockian noir spoof set in 1960s New York involving spies, terrorists, assassinations and political plots. Four actors conjure up a comic book world with the minimum of props and the maximum use of their bodies. It's clever, fast-moving and hilarious.