Never Give Up

Diary of a London Writer by Miranda Miller

Hello Everyone,

Londinia, Her People by Judith Ravenscroft

My beloved sister-in-law, Judith Ravenscroft, died in September after many years of living with Parkinson’s. She was a gifted writer and in this last novella she invites us to enter the rich inner life of a woman preparing to die. The biographer Lyndall Gordon has written: “The simplicity of the storyteller’s voice, its directness, honesty and insight, is a great achievement.” Londinia sees herself as the spirit of London and in this intense and original novella she remembers her life and the people who were most important to her. I find it particularly moving to read it again now, when I can no longer talk to her.

I also loved Meira Chand’s volume of stories, The Pink, White and Blue Universe, written in the 1970s but only just published by Marshall Cavendish Editions.  Meira Chand grew up in London and has lived in Japan, India and Singapore. She writes  with enormous sensitivity and a sort of melancholy wisdom. Like all really good writers of short stories she presents a moment in a life that tells us about the whole person. As she writes in her Author’s Note, she wanted to explore “my own curious insider-outsider position in the culture.” I think she succeeds brilliantly.

Gordon and I have just been to Munich, where Becky and her family are spending part of the summer. Jon is attached to the University there and they’ve been given a wonderful flat overlooking the Olympic Park. I had a refreshing swim in the pool there – much needed as it was boiling hot, and Gordon unfortunately felt ill. This is a photo of them all in Venice, which they visited for a few days. The three boys celebrated their 8th birthday there.

For me, one of the high points in Munich was a visit to the Alte Pinokothek, a magnificent art collection, really one of the best in the world; I saw paintings by Durer, Memling, Rogier van der Weyden,  Breughel, Cranach, Rembrandt, Rubens, El Greco, Velazquez…

Rogier van der Weyden’s Annunciation

Because the Neue Pinokothek is closed some later paintings are on the  ground floor, including these two by Ensor and Manet:

James Ensor’s Still Life in the Studio

Manet’s painting of Monet’s studio boat

I spent a happy afternoon there but should warn you that the guards in the museum seem to be trained to make children unwelcome. I had a similar experience in the National Gallery in London recently. Most museums now want to attract children’s interest as they are after all the cultural tourists of the future. Is there an international conspiracy to make children hate art galleries? I do hope not.

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