Saturday 7 July 2018

Newspapers

I just don't know how anyone could manage without a daily newspaper.   Alright, there is the television news - and I always watch News at 6pm.   But it is here and then gone.   With a newspaper you can go back to the beginning and read the whole thing again if you don't quite understand what is being said.

The trouble with any news though is that it is manufactured with some political bias depending upon from which paper one is reading it.   I take The Times during the week (as opposed to The Mirror, The Telegraph or The Mail) and on a Saturday I take The Guardian.   It has a bit of a sit on the fence attitude which I find irritating but on Saturdays it has all sorts of bits and bobs which are interesting.   First of these is the Review.

Each week The Review has an Interview and this week it is with the writer  Marilynne Robinson.
She speaks of her wonder at just being alive and of
her friendship with Obama, who says she has 'fundamentally changed him for the better'. She
condemns cynicism as 'slick, unrelenting and inducing a state of helplessness.'

She has a face which is devoid of any kind of cynicism, she loves her own company and says the world would be a better place if we loved it more.
It is such an uplifting article.   Do try and read it.
She has written 'Housekeeping,' Gilead' and, more recently, 'What are we doing here?'    Has anyone out there read any of her work?   If so I would like to hear what you think of it please.


 

18 comments:

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

And in this warm weather you realise that you can't fan yourself or swat flies with the TV news!

Ruth said...

Thank you, Pat, for making me aware of Marilynne Robinson. I'm a reader but have never read any of her books. I intend to!

Here's a link to that article in The Guardian for your readers who may not have read it: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/06/marilynne-robinson-interview-barack-obama-donald-trump-writer-theologian

Bea said...

We take the New York Times throughout the week. I find that I can't always keep up with it, to be honest.

Heather said...

I haven't come across any of Marilynne Robinson's work, however I do watch the news but I don't trust newspaper's to print the full truth and am beginning to wonder if they ever did.

Terra said...

I subscribe to my local daily newspaper for the local news. The national news is all warped left wing in most papers but I read the whole paper to stay informed. I haven't read any books by that author; I am in an Anthony Trollope reading spree, with P.G. Wodehouse for laughter.

Unknown said...

Yes, I have read M.R's books, my favourite being Gilead, (probably because that is the first one I read) and find them well-written, with believable characters and good story-lines. My granddaughter passed them on to me and we both agreed they warrant re-reading.i.e. they are keepers. Any books that appeal to a thirty-year-old and an eighty-eight-year old must be special.

EH

Derek Faulkner said...

I have read the Telegraph seven days a week for about 45 years, before that it was the Daily Mirror. I am a newspaper and news fanatic, even when I've been abroad I've sought out the nearest supplier of an English paper each day.I continue to read the Telegraph because after all these years it's like a favourite armchair to me - and normally gets read in the same! I love it's size and have my favourite sections - the obituaries being to the fore. I don't read it because it leads me in any particular political direction, I just can't start the day without reading it. It doesn't concern me that a newspaper might, or might not, be making some kind of right or wrong political statement, I just enjoy reading my paper each day

The Weaver of Grass said...

I know how you feel Derek. I couldn't manage without a paper - I do all the puzzles in The Times over my breakfast each morning. As for the News in the papers - I think it is far too much to ask that we ever get an unbiased view any more.

Good point John!

Thank you Ruth for that link.

Chris said...

Sometimes the thought of the newspaper waiting for me at my front door is what gets me up in the morning!

Judith said...

I'm like Chris. It's the knowledge that my paper is waiting for me at my gate that gets me out of bed and up and dressed in the morning. It's worth having it delivered for that alone! And the puzzles, of course.

Cro Magnon said...

I used to read The Times online, then they started to charge, and I stopped. Now I read The Mail online, which is OK for certain things but filled with far too much inconsequential rubbish. I haven't bought an actual newspaper for decades. I suppose I'm part of the decline of Fleet Street.

thelma said...

Went and read the article, I bought a Guardian in the morning as we only have the Times delivered on Saturday, and I do so miss the Guardian at the weekends. Like the female writers in the Guardian, but Giles Coren is very witty in the Times, and I am almost beginning to like Matthew Parrish as well. Left or right bias does it matter?

Librarian said...

I only have a weekly paper delivered each Thursday, "Die Zeit", and hardly ever manage to read it before the weekend. With most of my weekends now spent away, unread issues are piling up which I find rather a shame.
For local news, I go to the homepage of my hometown's daily paper. I also read The Ripon Gazette and Yorkshire Post online occasionally. For the main news, I try to catch the daily news "Tagesschau" on German state TV at 8:00 pm, usually my tea time on week nights.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks everyone. Always interesting to read what you think, whatever the subject.

Peter said...

Yes, she is a good writer, highly recommended. My book group read Gilead and we found it a good discussion book.

Gwil W said...

Of the British papers I have the Guardian app (a) because I deleted my bbc app and (b) because it's free, downloads quickly and is easy to navigate . I suppose they have to 'sit on the fence' at the Guardian as they were forced to destroy their computer hard drives by the British Government, or face the consequences.

Traveller said...

I read the Guardian and the Daily Mail online. Think it is good to read news from both sides of the spectrum. Though much of the DM is dedicated to what MM is wearing and the clothing of “celebrities” that are completely unknown to me.

A book recommendation for you A Fine Balance....if you haven’t read it I am jealous. I can only read it again, you can read it for the first time.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thank you for these comments. Peter if your book group found it a good discussion book then that seals the idea. I shall order the book and read it.
Thanks Traveller for the recommendation of A Fine Balance too.