'Goodbye, my brother,' the old master said

i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword

The Weasel: Force 10 - Fence blows down again. Weasel retires to bed with copy of Bleak House.

One possible reason for Margaret Thatcher's uncharacteristic support for the new British Library, which ended up costing pounds 511 million, emerged the other day when I saw Michael Portillo popping in there. After all, unemployed ex-ministers have to pass the time somewhere. (I think it was Mr Portillo's first visit, because I saw him being directed to the cloakroom, so it should be at least a couple of years before the memoirs appear.) Sad to relate, Lady T has not yet found time to pay a visit to this palace of learning. I was shown round by the same genial BL guide who whizzed me through the old joint in Bloomsbury exactly a year ago. "The new building has a 200-year lifespan," he explained in an effort to justify the mind- boggling price-tag. "The average Tesco superstore costs pounds 40 million and has an estimated life of 15-20 years. For the price of 13 Tescos, you have a national library."

Arts: Hughes breaks silence with secret poems to Sylvia Plath

The Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes, today breaks his silence over the life and suicide of his first wife, Sylvia Plath, with a volume of poems that few knew existed. Clare Garner reports on the poetic account of his days with Plath.

Obituary: Buxton Orr

Buxton Daeblitz Orr, composer: born Glasgow 18 April 1924; married 1955 Isabelle Roberts (marriage dissolved), 1968 Jean Latimer; died Hereford 27 December 1997.

Classical & Opera: Peace and inspiration

Christmas choral concerts don't have to be all `Jingle Bells' and `The Messiah'. Composer Judith Weir has devised an eclectic and pleasing mix of old and new music to be performed at Christ Church, Spitalfields

Reviews: Jazz: She knows it makes sense

Mike and Kate Westbrook The Albert, Bristol

VARIOUS ARTISTS 15 Years In An Open "Boat" On-U Sound/Virgin CDV 2833

The likes of Oakenfold and Weatherall may be better known for their remixes and indie/dance crossovers, but it's arguable that without the pioneering work of Adrian Sherwood through the Eighties and Nineties, dubwise production would never have secured quite as firm a hold within the UK music business.

Cricket: Australia set to deliver a crushing blow

Australia 235 & 395-8 dec England 161 & 130-5

Dead losses

Ever lost something really important? Don't want to be reminded?

Bright as Fire: The Westbrook Blake Salisbury Festival

Looking for the venue of Wilton church could lead you first to the baptist chapel in the marketplace, and a fit and proper setting for an evening with William Blake. It was, of course, the wrong church - though its low-ceilinged acoustic may have been just right - and the grandeur of Wilton church proper looked a bit too Byzantine for old Bill's tastes. Inscribed on the walls at either end of the altar were all the commandments possible except the one that was really relevant: "Thou Shalt Not Play Drum Solos."

O clouds, unfold!

From Jah Wobble to Johnny Depp, by way of Mike Westbrook and Allen Ginsberg, interest in William Blake and his works is at an all-time high. Roger Clarke surfs the legacy of our first multi-media artist

Here comes stubble

Jah Wobble's long musical career takes a strange new twist with `The Celtic Poets'

Obituary: Abbot Aelred Watkin

Abbot Aelred Watkin was one of the most loved and most respected monks in the Benedictine Order. The two most conspicuous features of his character - a deep spirituality combined with an infectious love of life - are encapsulated in one of his favourite quotations from William Blake: "Everything that lives is holy; life delights in life."

Obituary: Allen Ginsberg

Allen Ginsberg was the exemplary avant-garde figure of the post- war world. In verse, in politics, in his own intimate life - there was no room for a "private" life - Ginsberg resisted and disdained the orthodox, the social lie. Few people have done as much to make non- conformism respectable in our time as he did.
Career Services

Day In a Page

Independent Travel Shop See all offers »
Lake Como and the Bernina Express
Seven nights half-board from £749pp Find out more
Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian coast
Seven nights half-board from only £859pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from only £199pp Find out more
Budapest city break
Three nights from only £229pp Find out more
Paris by Eurostar
Three nights from £259pp Find out more
Babies behind bars: A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail

Babies behind bars

A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail
Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm for under 25s

Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm

Is Mosquito, the alarm only under-25s can hear, a blessing or a bane?
The art of living in small spaces: Architects are learning how to make less, more

The art of living in small spaces

Space in cities at a premium so architects are learning how to make less, more...
Special report: The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

The story of Sir Mervyn King's reign at the Bank

After four 'nice' years as Governor of Bank of England, things turned decisively nasty
Zombie nation: Our enduring fascination with a world full of death and destruction

Zombie nation: Our fascination with death and destruction

A new season of shows on Radio 4 is inspired by dark tales of future dystopias. Meanwhile, zombies are marauding in the multiplexes...
Martin Stephen: 'Ofsted says comprehensives are failing the most able but teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

'Teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

It doesn't take a selective system to nurture the best minds, says a former head of St Paul's boys' school.
The retail empires strike back: Can new technology lure us back to the high street?

Can technology lure us back to the high street?

The high street has been bruised and battered by online firms but in-store technology is helping to enliven the retail experience...
The 10 Best new smartphones

The 10 Best new smartphones

Photos, films, music, apps and browsing - the latest mobiles can do it all
Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

McLaren man admits 'failed gamble' with car has left him pinning hopes on 2014 campaign
James Lawton: Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe

James Lawton

Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe
'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over