Evelina River

@bernardtjoy That’s interesting. Everybody sees something different. For me, it’s all in the eyes.

All about what he does with the lips here. *** Peter Paul Rubens, ‘Portrait of a Young Man with a Black Beret’ (c. 1620/25) (detail).

What’s the first word that comes to mind?

How are we supposed to deal with the current generation? It seems a swastika symbol on a book about Hitler’s Third Reich might be a threat to their “public” image if someone else sees it. Who are these people who care more about what an infinity of faceless nobodies think than they care about learning about history… So much for intellectual curiosity. Welcome mass mediocrity.

@biggestboy118 Are you serious? Are you an adult? Can not you or the people around you actually read the title? Do you need a time out? Do you need to call your mommy?

how the fuck am i supposed to read this in public man

@bernardtjoy Tetley’s at three in the morning.

Making the tea is part of the writing process.

People have been accusing me of “tribal signalling” all day long so I want to make something abundantly clear: I have no tribe; I reject them all unreservedly; I would not become a member of any of them to save my life.

@bernardtjoy I would also nominate: Edith Wharton, “The House of Mirth” and “The Custom of the Country” F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Great Gatsby” Richard Wright, “Native Son” Vladimir Nabokov, “Lolita” and “Pnin”

Name a better one. We'll wait.

I love it when social science people meet art and humanities people and there’s a complete rupture of minds. Whereas engineering folks would generally grasp the complexity of the problem in an instant, find it really interesting and want to explore it — social science people (not all, but many) tend to want to shut it down.

The very same people who think intelligence can be measured also think success can be measured and that tells you a great deal.

“Socialism has created the illusion of quenching people's thirst for justice: Socialism has lulled their conscience into thinking that the steamroller which is about to flatten them is a blessing in disguise, a salvation.”

She’s such a great actress. It would be wonderful if she would lean on that, her real talent, instead of something so ephemeral as beauty, in her old age. It’s a bad example to women everywhere unfortunately. And I say this with real sorrow because I admire Demi Moore so much as a creative artist. But it’s time for women to stop selling out.

Demi Moore, 63 years old and absolutely stunning on the red carpet. ✨ Some people really do age like fine wine. Would you rate this look a hit, or is it a bit too much? 👇

@stephenRB4 Kazuo Ishiguro, Donna Tartt, Emma Donoghue.

Who’s your favourite living author? 📚

@bernardtjoy Disgusting. I don’t smoke anymore but I enjoyed it very much at one time. I can’t stand these new Puritans. What’s happened to Britain?

Reject modernity. Embrace tradition.

Tattoos are traditionally a sign of criminal gang activity in places like Russia. They instantly identify their bearer as belonging to the underclass. I have never understood the appeal of tattoos to Westerners. Among other things, they always remind me of the commandant of Auschwitz and his collection of hideous lampshades.

having zero tattoos is going to become a coveted status signal sooner than we realize

I think you’re right, anyone born in the US before 1970 had the best of both worlds— old world and new. I can’t help but feel sorry for younger people like you who have to cope with this insanely and sometimes seemingly deliberately negative, almost nihilistic culture. On the other hand, I know my favorite grandmother also felt sorry in some ways for us, her grandchildren. She told me that for everything each generation gains in terms of Progress, we lose something as well. For her generation and ours, she said, it was the shrinking natural world.

I wish I was born in like 1952.

A lovely clip of Daphne Du Maurier aged 64. I miss this generation of women who looked as they were and felt no shame. Refusing to be crushed by ageist, sexist expectations & not being modified to look 35 forever. #actingYourAgeCampaign #DontCastHerOut

That’s the role of the writer, to say what shouldn’t be said out loud. But usually on paper. Not normally in polite company or to one’s family and friends. Chekhov’s maxims are perhaps appropriate here. Though he was so gentlemanly in his personal life he was practically an Englishman and I’ve always believed since the English became proper gentlemen they’ve lost the ability to write truly great literature.

Telling truths as you see them was never a popular thing to do. It never won anyone friends.

@GAltringham Fargo, Erin Brockovich, Sleeping with the Enemy, Mona Lisa Smile, Pacific Heights, Heavenly Creatures, A Room with a View

What's one of your comfort movies? A movie that feels like home, one you're familiar with and enjoy revisiting.

Andrea del Verrocchio Madonna del latte dettaglio

“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing.” ― George Bernard Shaw

Depends on the writer. Depends on the era, too. Nowadays we’re much more aware of the role of early childhood and family relationships in our future lives. We’re also much more aware of personality styles and potential problems. For example, we can avoid a lot of unpleasantness in life if we don’t deliberately share our diaries with our spouses or partners, as Tolstoy did with poor Sonya. Tolstoy actually kept three diaries in later life: a diary for public consumption; a diary between himself and his wife; and a diary supposedly for himself alone. And people wonder why in his dying days he was so miserable he had to run away and die in a train station far from home. Simple answer: because he drove everyone around him insane with his selfishness… A fine line between genius and madness in many cases.

You can either have human relationships or you can be a writer. I'm so sorry, you can't do both.