The Week UK - 03.08.2019

33

Last Chance

The end of history...at the Royal Court,

London SW3 (royalcourttheatre.com). David

Morrissey and Lesley Sharp star in Jack

Thorne’s comedy about the pitfalls of socialist

parenting. Afteraslow start you “find yourself

hooked” (Times). Ends 10 August.

Van Gogh and Britainat the Tate Britain,

London SW1 (tate.org.uk). This “uneven but

unmissable exhibition” looks at how van Gogh

was inspired by Britain, and how he in turn

inspired British artists (FT). Ends 11 August.

Book now

TheCorfu Literary Festivalis aweek-long

celebration of books and cricket. Alongside talks

by Sebastian Faulks, Peter Frankopan, Adam

Nicolson and Sofka Zinovieff will be matches

between locals and Authors XI–the writers’

cricket team. 23-30 September, Corfu Town,

Corfu (corfuliteraryfestival.com).

Thebig screens on beachesthis year

include Luna Beach Cinema, Brighton

(lunabeachcinema.com) until 18 August;

Aldeburgh,Suffolk (aldeburghcinema.co.uk),

9-10 August; andPorthmeor, St Ives, Cornwall

(porthmeor-beach.co.uk), 14 and 28 August.

Just out in paperback

Autumn in Veniceby Andrea di Robilant

(Atlantic £9.99) is the “gripping story” of Ernest

Hemingway’s love affair with Venice–and the

18-year-old girl he meets there. The tale of

“his last muse” intimately depicts the writer’s

fractured heart and the consequent impact

on his work during his 50s (Sunday Times).

3August 2019 THE WEEK

The List

Revolutionary Roadby

Richard Yates, 1961 (Vintage

£9.99). This isabook about

male pride and vanity, and the

prison of suburbia–two of

my own favourite themes.

Richard Yates, like F. Scott

Fitzgerald, isamaster of

burying complexity within

simplicity. At one level, it is

astory aboutacouple who

want to escape the daily

drudge. At another, it is a

deep rumination about femin-

ism, denial and cowardice.

Jonathan Strange&Mr

Norrellby Susanna Clarke,

2004 (Bloomsbury £8.99).

Susanna Clarke’s remarkable

tour de force takes fantasy

deep into the realm of grown-

up fiction. The power of her

imagination stunned me–the

imaginary worlds she creates

are so rich and sophisticated,

you believe in them entirely.

The Wisdom of Insecurity

by Alan Watts, 1951 (Ebury

£8.99). If ever there was a

book that told you what you

needed to know about life,

this is it. Alan Watts quotes

Lao Tzu–“Those that know

don’t speak, and those who

speak don’t know”–and

then proceeds to wonderfully

contradict it by producing a

short work on Eastern

thought that is the wisest

bookIhave ever read.

The White Albumby Joan

Didion, 1979 (Fourth Estate

£8.99). AlthoughInever

read short stories,Ilove

essays. Tom Wolfe, John

Steinbeck, John Updike

and Arthur Miller are all

wonderful essayists, but

better at fiction. Joan Didion,

though, is the true master

(mistress?) of the form.

Great Expectationsby

Charles Dickens, 1861

(Penguin £5.99). There

has never beenastoryteller

like Dickens, although

Jonathan Franzen is shaping

up. GE is the greatest coming-

of-age novelIhave ever read,

and Pip the hero you never

stop loving as he makes

mistake after mistake, and

thus learns the difference

between what he wants and

what he needs.

Best books... Tim Lott

The author and journalist picks his five favourite books. His new novel,When

We Were Rich,isthe sequel to his 1999 Whitbread prize-winningWhite City

Blue.His memoir,The Scent of Dried Roses,isaPenguin Modern Classic

The Week’s guide to what’s worth seeing and reading

Van Gogh’s Olive Trees (1889)

Television

Programmes

Panorama: Stacey Meets

the IS BridesStacey Dooley

travels to holding camps in

northern Syria where she

meets Western women who

joined Islamic State. Mon

5Aug, BBC1 20:30 (30mins).

The Conjoined Twins:

An Impossible Decision

Documentary following

conjoined twins from Senegal,

who have defied expectations

by living to two-and-a-half.

Their father now has to decide

whether to go ahead with a

highly risky operation to

separate them. Mon5Aug,

BBC2 21:00 (60mins).

Sacred WondersFrom the

temples of Angkor Wat to the

Shaolin Temple in China, this

series explores how faith has

driven people to extraordinary

acts of creativity. Wed7Aug,

BBC1 21:00 (60mins).

This Way UpSix-part comedy

starring comedian Aisling Bea.

Aftera“weeny” nervous break-

down, TEFL teacher Aine (Bea)

tries to get her life on track.

With Sharon Horgan.Thur

8Aug, C4 22:00 (35mins).

Thou Shalt Not KillStylish

Italian crime series from

Walter Presents. Savvy

female detective Valeria Ferro

struggles withacomplicated

work and personal life. Fri 9

Aug, More4 21:00 (130mins).

Films

Brooklyn(2015) Moving

adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s

novel about an Irish émigré

(Saoirse Ronan) in 1950s

America. Sat3Aug, BBC1

22:20 (100mins).

AMost Violent Year(2014)

J.C. Chandor’s thriller about a

businessman trying to avoid

corruption in 1980s New York.

With Jessica Chastain. Fri

9Aug, BBC2 23:35 (120mins).

Titles in print are available from The Week Bookshop on 020-3176 3835. For out-of-print books visit biblio.co.uk

New to Netflix

The Great HackMade by the

team behindThe Square,this

documentary givesachilling

insight into the Cambridge

Analytica data-selling scandal.

With contributions from Carole

Cadwalladr, the journalist who

broke the story, and whistle-

blower Brittany Kaiser.

Orange Is the New Black

The inmates of Litchfield

penitentiary return for a

seventh–and final–season

of the landmark drama.

The Archers:what happened last week
Shula tells Alan she wants to be ordained after all. Alan agrees to arrange for her to meet with
the diocesan director of ordinands. Emma and Ed visit their house. Ed loves seeing Emma look so
happy. Jim comes home all cheery from birdwatching with Robert. Alistair seizes the moment to
ask if he wants to report Harold to the police. Jim doesn’t want to. His whole life would become
about what Harold did to him. Adam offers Edabonus to thank him for his hard work. Tim collars
Ed at work, saying they need to get rid of the weed killer. Ed asks him to leave. Tim stops at the
estate and introduces himself to Will. He offers Will the weedkiller and Will realises he’s the man Ed
knows. When Will threatens to call the police, Tim says that would beabad idea as the weedkiller
is in the Grundys’ barn. Will confronts Ed and they get intoafight. Adam pulls Will off Ed, and Will
blurts outthat Ed’s been selling illegal pesticides. Ed swears he never sold anything, he just did the
driving. Adam says that Home Farm has had enough trouble with illegal chemicals and sacks him.
©ELENA HEATHERWICK