Autumn Journal in January (From Oxford Mail)

Autumn Journal in January

11:28am Friday 23rd January 2009

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It's the opening of the Ron Howard film Frost/Nixon tonight and I am looking forward to seeing the movie, based on the play by Peter Morgan.

I think Michael Sheen is a great actor - he was very watchable as Blair and Kenneth Williams - and I am also looking forward to his portrayal of Derby County manager Brian Clough in the film version of David Peace's stunning fiction The Damned United.

I won't be going to see Frost/Nixon tonight because I am otherwise engaged. I have been invited to hear spy novelist Henry Porter speak at Wootton-by-Woodstock village hall.

Porter's novel Brandenburg focuses on the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago, and apparently the locals have constructed a miniature Berlin Wall to welcome him. Perhaps I'll be able to take a piece home as a souvenir.

Although I'm looking forward to seeing Frost/Nixon, I would also like to see All The President's Men again, to remind myself of the background to the American President's resignation.

I've been re-reading the book by Woodward and Bernstein, and it's a gripping account of how two local journalists for the Washington Post followed a trail of money all the way to the White House.

The book is well written, but you have to keep your wits about you, and I have to confess that late last night I threw in the towel as the names of Sloan, Stans, Mitchell, Liddy, Hunt, and Magruder started to swim before my eyes.

Woodward and Bernstein made thousands of phone calls to get their story and did lots of door-knocking, often getting the best results when they met their sources, including Deep Throat, in person.

After putting All The President's Men to one side, I picked up a 2007 Faber copy of Louis MacNeice's selected poems and was pleasantly surprised by the readability of Autumn Journal.

A quick search online and I found an interesting article about the poem by Michael Carley on a book blog called Vulpes Libris.

Earlier this week I had an email from Mostly Books in Abingdon inviting me to a book group discussing The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale.

The evening was being filmed by a crew linked to the Richard and Judy book group, I believe. I declined the kind offer because of my appointment tonight, but it sounded like an interesting evening, and I will be intrigued to see which authors manager Mark Thornton next invites to his award-winning store.