Simon Varwell's Blog, page 8

November 3, 2016

Refugees, hipsters and jumpers

This is a piece written about my third trip to Armenia in 2016. Click on the main Armenia page for an overview and to read all posts in the series.

Street artFor a country that rubs shoulders with so many neighbours, and which has been a part of various empires over the centuries, Armenia can strike you as a pretty mono-ethnic place. Despite borders with Georgia and Iran (plus less friendly Azerbaijan and Turkey) and strong links to Russia, it’s nonetheless easy to conclude that virtually everyone is A...

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Published on November 03, 2016 13:45

October 17, 2016

Two books by Tom Coote

Tearing up the Silk RoadVoodoo, Slaves and White Man's GravesI first stumbled across the travel writer Tom Coote on Twitter a couple of years or so back, though I’d file him under “people who don’t tweet much but ought to as they’re interesting”.

That led me to his two books, both of which I enjoyed and would like to share a few thoughts on just now (there is a third book forthcoming, and that looks very interesting indeed).

The two books are quite different, though share the same spirit of adventurousness and travel to countries that aren’t necessaril...

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Published on October 17, 2016 13:13

October 9, 2016

Leaving Alexandria, by Richard Holloway

Leaving Alexandria, by Richard HollowayFor the past few years I’ve been heavily involved in the Highland Literary Salon, a local writers’ group. A few months ago I stood down as chair of its committee after being in that role for two years, but still help out where I can. One such instance recently was where I chaired an event with guest author Richard Holloway as we discussed the craft of writing memoirs. As “homework” for this task I read his 2015 memoir Leaving Alexandria: A Memoir of Faith and Doubt, which I would like to revi...

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Published on October 09, 2016 12:54

October 1, 2016

The Outrun, by Amy Liptrot

The Outrun, by Amy LiptrotAnother book review, and it’s another I’ve picked up through Twitter.

It’s worth emphasising as an aside that Twitter’s a great place to get reading material that you really like. With so many authors on there, you can follow whichever writers you wish, find out what they’re like and what makes them tick, and even interact with them. If you don’t like them, then you can unfollow. The ones you stay following will be the ones whose updates and perspectives on the world you enjoy and who make yo...

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Published on October 01, 2016 13:30

August 22, 2016

Me And You Again, by Fraser Balaam

Me & You Again by Fraser BalaamThe latest in my recent attempt to clear my vast “to read” collection on my iPad’s Kindle collection isMe And You Again, by Fraser Balaam. I know Fraser in a sort of passing way – we chat on Twitter from time to time, we’ve exchanged the occasional email, and we know a few folk in common, but we’ve not (to recollection) actually met.

So if it wasn’t for that explanation (which doubles as a disclaimer), I doubt I’d know about Fraser’s book, which is therefore a relief because not only is it ri...

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Published on August 22, 2016 13:39

August 21, 2016

Charlotte Street, by Danny Wallace

Charlotte Street by Danny WallaceIn an attempt to prise myself away from an oftennon-fiction-heavy reading list, and especially travel writing within that, I’ve been trying to read a bit more fiction lately.

Though it was a slight fail of adventurousness on my part a while back when I read a novel by a writer actually best known for his travel and memoir-based stories, Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace.

Having enjoyed Danny’s non-fiction – Join Me and Friends Like These are life-affirming and especially worthy of highlightin...

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Published on August 21, 2016 09:12

August 20, 2016

Mind The Gap, by Tim Richards

Mind The Gap by TIm RichardsTwitter never fails to be an continualsource of interesting people, and one of my great joys on that platform is the ability to follow the lives and works of a host of great travel writers and journalists. It’s a great insight into how the world of travel works, a chance to travel vicariously, and a constant reminder of how glad I am not to depend on this unrelenting and precarious source of income for my main job.

One such contact I’ve made – and enjoy chatting to regularly – is the Melbourn...

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Published on August 20, 2016 12:06

August 14, 2016

The Clava viaduct in three photos

Sometimes in life, it’s worth trying something a second time. And indeed a third.

As is my habit, I spend a lot of time on trains, particularly the line south from my home in Inverness to Edinburgh. It’s a line that of course I am a bit tired of now, though it did at least give me the idea for my latest book, so I mustn’t grumble.

And I have been inspired by doing the book to see a bit more of the line from the other side of the train window, such as at the Pass of Killiecrankie.

One of the m...

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Published on August 14, 2016 23:55

July 29, 2016

Why (almost) everything is the Labour Party’s fault, and (almost) certainly not Jeremy Corbyn’s

As I sit down to write this, it seems that the United Kingdom isentering a fresh level of hell. So many things are wrong in this country that it is hard to know where to start, and it is the fact I can’t properly articulate the problem, never mind my anger about it, that makes the situation doubly depressing for me.

But I feel compelled to try.

On the most immediate level, there appears to be economic decline and social disintegration as a result of the UK’s recent decision to vote to leave t...

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Published on July 29, 2016 13:15

Why (almost ) everything is the Labour Party’s fault, and (almost) certainly not Jeremy Corbyn’s

As I sit down to write this, it seems that the United Kingdom isentering a fresh level hell. So many things are wrong in this country that it is hard to know where to start, and it is the fact I can’t properly articulate the problem, never mind my anger about it, that makes the situation doubly depressing for me.

But I feel compelled to try.

On the most immediate level, there appears to be economic decline and social disintegration as a result of the UK’s recent decision to vote to leave the...

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Published on July 29, 2016 13:15