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Burying The Emperor
John Ryle
‘Twenty-five years after his death, His Imperial Majesty, King of Kings, Elect of God, Defender of the Faith,was finally being laid to rest, though they still could not be certain how he met his end.’
John Ryle attends the funeral of Haile Sellasie.
Cats Explain Things to Me | Discoveries
Typo
Take a paws from your busy day for this week’s Discoveries – guest edited by Granta’s very own Typo the cat.
Certain Thoughts Arising out of being Pointed out by my Two-year-old Son
Raymond Tallis
‘I was also unable to imagine that future years would generate a pair of green-brown eyes which would look at me, a little brain that would recognize me, a small mouth that would re-christen me 'Daddy’.’
Chatwin Revisited
Paul Theroux
‘He was such a darter he seldom stayed still long enough for anyone to sum him up.’
Chère Madame
Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust’s letters to his neighbour, translated from the French by Lydia Davis.
Chicago’s Great Expositor
Wole Soyinka
‘It is not a complete man now dominating the affairs of the world from a historic mansion appropriately named the White House, although a case can be made that he comes close enough.’
China
Orville Schell
‘But if kitsch cat plates are a far cry from real art, they are also a far cry from socialist-realist propaganda.’
China’s Other Revolution
Orville Schell
‘Hurrying back to the rally ground, I could already hear the sound of martial music drifting out across Taicheng. As I approached the gates of the field, the music suddenly stopped and a strident voice began blasting out over a loudspeaker.’
Christopher Sorrentino | Portrait of My Father
Christopher Sorrentino
‘Those who strongly resemble one parent will recall the unsettling feeling of gazing into old photos and seeing, in relation to themselves, not the remote similarity of the grown-up sitting across the dinner table, but an exact likeness.’
Cinema’s Invisible Art
Jeremy Sheldon
‘Audiences don’t know somebody sits down and writes a picture.’
Co-operation for the Birds
Lewis Thomas
‘Somehow, despite the internal squabbles and constant competitions, the tree swallow societies manage to get by and survive, year after year.’
