Parkinsons UK is now a regular gig. Ken gave them the new show about Sir Arthur Sullivan, complete, not just with Gilbert.

At London (Hampstead) U3A Ken is still running the “Topical Topics” group & is currently putting together his eleventh term for next Spring but this has to be the last, as getting a speaker every week in Term Time has exhausted his contacts list. He gave talks himself on: Edvard Grieg;; Franz Schubert; The Thirty Years War; Berlioz; The North-West Passage; The Waltz; Bartok; Prehistoric Britain with 'Off the Beaten Track' to come before Xmas. He did Shostakovich in the Summer Programme and London Region, with Avis doing Paul Klee: Modernism can be Fun, also in the regular talks and The Fauves; Journey from Alsace and two talks on Picasso. Ken walks to the U3A as usual. He has been working on a large number of history talks this Autumn, on-going.

Royal Academy & Tate. As usual, we went to all the shows.

Plays:- “Albion” by Mike Bartlett Operas:- “Aida” by Verdi

Ken's reading list of books for the year Essential reading marked in red:-

“Never had it so Good” by Dominic Sandbrook. History of Britain from 1956 - 1963.
“Four Futures” by Peter Frase. Communism, Rentism, Socialism & Exterminism, with the last, the most likely &
the one we are currently on our way to.
“Promised you a Miracle” by Andy Beckett. About the Thatcher period from 1980-82 & what actually happened.
“The Summer after the Funeral” by Jane Gardam. Whimsical. Borrowed from “Black Watch” at Xmas & returned in the Summer!
“The Nizam’s Daughters” by Allan Mallinson. Boys Own tale by a soldier. A bit didactic about India.
“Night shall overcome us” by Kate Saunders. Rattling good tale 1909-1921 of 691 pages.
“The Ancient Paths” by Graham Robb. Tough read but worth the effort. Had to change my King Arthur talk.
“A Year in Provence” by Peter Mayle. Not read before, a travel classic.
“Maigret and the Tall Woman” by Georges Simenon. One of his battle of wills tales.
“Jackson’s Dilemma” by Iris Murdoch. First of hers I’ve read. Enchanting.
“Hotel Babylon” by Imogen Edwards-Jones & anonymous. One of her series using insiders to grass up businesses.
Hilarious & scary.
“The Noise of Time” by Julian Barnes where he tries to get into the soul of Shostakovich. Very good.
“Possession” by Antonia Byatt. Wonderful, four stories in one.
“Maigret at Picrett’s” by Georges Simenon. Unusual tale.
“The Hand” by Georges Simenon. The most claustrophobic tale I have ever read, I think. Not a Maigret.
“The Wings of the Dove” by Henry James. Sad & rather over-written in parts: too many subordinate clauses
causing paragraphs to stretch over pages.
“Maigret takes a room” by Georges Simenon. Odd one with an unexpected denouement.
“The Gustav Sonata” by Rose Tremain (who I don’t like personally). Very upsetting.
“The Great Divide” by Joseph Stiglitz. Inequality is bad for everyone. No change there, then.
“Maigret’s Memoires” by Georges Simenon, in which Simenon is a character.
“Black Ops” by Carlton King. A black spook’s memoires. Needed editing.
“The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins. Justly much praised. How she planned it, I cannot imagine.
“The Lure of Greatness” by Anthony Barnett. Subtle analysis of why people voted Brexit and for Trump.
“Maigret’s Revolver” by Georges Simenon. Odd one, this.
“The Counterfeiters” by André Gide. A whimsy with a book-within-the-book.
“My Name is Lucy Barton” by Elizabeth Strout. A masterpiece.
“Nutshell” by Ian McEwen. Clever. A lot of people found this funny. I didn’t.
“The Pigeon Tunnel” by John le Carré. Called ‘Stories from my Life’ & just that. Good read.
“Soviet Freedom” by Anthony Barnett. Fascinating in view of what happened.
“Maigret is Afraid” by Georges Simenon. Small town cover-ups.
“All out War” by Tim Shipman. Staggering account of the referendum campaigns. Reads like a thriller.
“Dangerous Crossing” by Rachel Rhys. Ship to Australia in July 1939. Great build-up of tension to a murder.
Interesting to compare travel conditions to present day holiday cruising.
“Maigret and the Man on the Bench” by Georges Simenon. Intriguing but solved by routine police work.