Tag Archives: Justin Cartwright

The book that meant most to me was 'The Wind in the Willows.' It sounds ridiculous, but that was my vision of England. Justin Cartwright

The plane approaches Cape Town and, as always, I am astonished by the view of Table Mountain and the surrounding sea. It is so overwhelmingly beautiful that I feel the urge to belong – not necessarily to the people, but to the landscape. Justin Cartwright

The druidical claims for Stonehenge seem to belong to that bonkers-but-persistent strand of Englishness that believes there is something particularly mystical about the English themselves, who were clearly a chosen people. Justin Cartwright

Just before the opening of the 20th century, the Collyer brothers, Homer and Langley, are born into great privilege on the Upper East Side of New York, in a mansion overlooking Central Park. Justin Cartwright

Advertising, the product of capitalism, can only justify itself on the premise that the market is a force for good. Justin Cartwright

I was lucky to get to Oxford. I am now an honorary fellow of my old college, which is nice, particularly for a colonial like me. Justin Cartwright

I thought I'd write a massive postmodern novel about Richard the Lionheart and Robin Hood, but it turns out they couldn't have met because the first mention of Robin Hood appears 60 years after Richard died. Justin Cartwright

I have worshipped Berlin from the day I read 'Two Concepts of Liberty' in South Africa. It seemed to make it respectable to be a liberal. Justin Cartwright

This is the strange thing about South Africa – for all its corruption and crime, it seems to offer a stimulating sense that anything is possible. Justin Cartwright

Homer Collyer's chosen form of self-expression is the piano, although late in life, when his hearing also goes, he takes to writing. Justin Cartwright