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My favorite things London
No, I am not there, but this was a request from a loyal MR reader. Here goes:
1. Mystery writer: Eric Ambler, most of all A Coffin for Dimitrios; the villain is pathetic, not fearful, and this is most of all a study in collective mythmaking.
2. Philosopher: Francis Bacon. I'm not a Straussian but he really does have hidden and deep meanings. Read Perez Zagorin on Bacon for a guide to the complexity of it all.
Honorary mention goes to Jeremy Bentham, whose proposal for interest-bearing currency, ideas on animal welfare, and Auto-Icon (most of all the text, not just the body) still stand ahead of their time. He was a subtle thinker, not a one-dimensional simpleton.
3. Favorite song off London Calling: "Jimmy Jazz" remains dearest to my heart.
4. Favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie: Vertigo may be the most complete masterwork, but the best segments of The Birds, Psycho, and Marnie (all inconsistent movies) stick most deeply in my mind.
5. Favorite Henry Purcell recording: The Complete Odes and Welcome Songs, and no, eight discs of this music is not overkill.
6. 17th century economics pamphlet: Nicholas Barbon's Apology for the Builder. Barbon to Dudley North is a wonderful period in the history of political economy, spend a few weeks reading that stuff sometime. This short pamphlet has increasing returns, aggregate demand management, urban economics, and the invisible hand, all well before Adam Smith.
7. Favorite neighborhood to stay in: Kensington, it is leafy green and away from both the monarchy and the hideous theatre district.
8. Favorite painting in: The National Gallery offers stiff competition, but how about this Gauguin, in the Courtauld? As for carpets, here is the Ardebil, in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
9. Pianist: The elegant Clifford Curzon remains underrated. He produced a lyrical account of Liszt's B Minor Sonata plus try his Schubert B flat sonata and his Mozart.
Other stuff: Do I really have anything to add about Chaucer, Blake, Defoe, Forster, Keats, Milton, Samuel Johnson, Dickens, Orwell, Turner, Turing, Mick Jagger, Tim Harford, Stephen Jen, and The Economist? Maybe, but not today.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on September 26, 2007 at 07:06 AM in The Arts | Permalink
Comments
"He was a subtle thinker, not a one-dimensional simpleton."
High praise.
Posted by: josh at Sep 26, 2007 7:22:45 AM
London-born pianist John Lill is well worth a listen - especially when playing anything by Beethoven.
Aside from Purcell, other favourite Cockney composers of mine include Arthur Sullivan (of 'Gilbert &' fame); and John Dowland the lutenist - especially when played by Londoner Julian Bream.
Posted by: Bruce G Charlton at Sep 26, 2007 7:25:34 AM
Soccer team?
Posted by: Jack at Sep 26, 2007 8:06:21 AM
The best Indian food I ever had was at Cafe Spice Namaste in SE London.
Posted by: Ted at Sep 26, 2007 8:14:50 AM
Yeah, a couple of years ago my wife and I spent a week in London and ate nothing but Indian food. Spectacular!
Posted by: Ned at Sep 26, 2007 8:33:50 AM
For a good time in London read Alexander Baron's The Lowlife.
Posted by: Dan at Sep 26, 2007 9:01:15 AM
T: thats the right name but the wrong bacon! Francis Bacon the PAINTER is the best Bacon in Blighty!!
Posted by: angus at Sep 26, 2007 9:06:26 AM
The Lakes.
Posted by: Eric Bloodaxe at Sep 26, 2007 9:19:17 AM
Oops they're not London,sorry.
Posted by: Eric Bloodaxe at Sep 26, 2007 9:20:46 AM
Hi folks,
Can someone point me to where Bentham writes about interest-bearing currencies? I would like to explore that in a little more detail. I recall that Larry White wrote a paper indicating that it would be impracticable today. But I think it would be a good idea, and am surprised that one of the many small private currencies that are circulating out there have not experimented with this.
Thanks!
Mike
Posted by: Mike at Sep 26, 2007 10:25:17 AM
Come on tyler. it's ridiculous to lump london in with all the other obscure dumps you write about. it would make more sense to write 'my favourite things on this particular street in london'
Posted by: adrian at Sep 26, 2007 10:51:49 AM
Re Hitchcock, I'm very fond of Frenzy --- IMO his best late (post-Birds) movie and his best London movie, with great scenes in the old Covent Garden fruit-and-veg market that was demolished shortly after the film appeared.
Posted by: Nick at Sep 26, 2007 2:00:08 PM
Yes, Yes on Eric Ambler, especially A Coffin for Dimitrios
Posted by: Brendan at Sep 26, 2007 3:20:54 PM
Kensington isn't the coolest neighborhood.
what about camden or holloway.
Posted by: thehova at Sep 26, 2007 8:03:36 PM
And not one mention of Shakespeare. London overwhelms.
Posted by: Trieu Truong at Sep 27, 2007 12:16:14 AM
And set there:-
My Fair Lady is pretty good, as musicals go. Mary Poppins beguiles littlies.
Posted by: dearieme at Sep 27, 2007 4:41:04 AM
Favorite novel about London:
London: The Novel
Posted by: Sebastian at Sep 27, 2007 11:54:47 AM
As a Londoner, I couldn't recommend Kensington. Full of people with too much cash and not enough sense. London's real qualities are in the parts where history meets modernity, old rubs up against new, international hits local, cultures clash and money greases cultural enterprise. Southwark and Bethnal Green are probably the hottest part of town at the moment for these types of experience.
Posted by: Tom at Sep 27, 2007 12:08:22 PM
Holloway?! holy cow, I was only living there 5 years ago, things must have changed dramatically since then.
Posted by: Luis Enrique at Sep 28, 2007 3:28:14 AM
Wow, thanks Tyler. Some great suggestions. I should get to know most of them better than I do.
Kensington makes sense as a place to stay in, but it is not the coolest or most vibrant of areas to live in or spend time.
But don't worry Luis, neither is Holloway, which remains as dumpy and grim as ever.
Posted by: Gabriel at Sep 28, 2007 7:27:42 AM
And as of some date in November, it will be only two and a quarter hours from Paris by train.
Posted by: dearieme at Sep 28, 2007 10:17:46 AM
Not to nitpick, but could you have chosen a Hitchcock movie actually set in London?
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