Howard Turner

Former operational research analyst living in South London. Interests include books, literature, Russian, Ancient Greek, opera, theatre

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

I found existing Russian translations of 'Spring and Fall' by Gerard Manley Hopkins impossible, so Google Translate and I have attempted the following, trying to present what Hopkins said in the way that he said it. Comments will be welcome!

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

@MicheleBerdy @MitchFriedfeld In Britain, I think you just get random outbreaks of Greek names among the upper social strata. There is a certain number of Creons and Joastas round whose parents filed to consult a classical dictionary.

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

@MicheleBerdy @MitchFriedfeld I suspect that this was because the peasants lived in a purely Orthodox environment while the upper classes were more exposed to general Christian notions like Anna and Andrei. Also with the move to urban life I imagine that obvious signs of peasant origin were bsndoned.

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

Or see: https://t.co/GzCkJqeijZ

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

A young Bangladeshi (via Spain) nurse asked for recommendations for 'novels', which did not really give me much to work on.
Anyway, I came up with the following list, but I'm sure people can improve upon it:
Understanding English life
What Was Lost Catherine O'Flynn

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

The classic wide-reaching English novel (also very good):
The Night Watch Sarah Water
I suppose I read the following many times as a gloomy student, so it may be objectively my favourite 😊 read most times ) book:
The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

Fun and fantasy
Alice In Wonderland Lewis Carroll
The lion, the witch and the wardrobe C S Lewis
Elements of the novel: (How simple can something be and still be a novel?):
The lover Marguerite Duras
La femme de Gilles Madeleine Bourdouxhe [title of the English translation]

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

On the reputation of British doctors and hospitals: https://t.co/ouyKLcloDT. Seems like they need more money!

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

(As for women v men, a few hours ago I was having an interesting chat with a young night nurse who had also suffered and we decided that what mattered was not your sex but whether you had had this experience.)

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

Just made a donation of £200.00 to @saltburnlass -approved https://t.co/ICvB6xsWfF to express my satisfaction at having gone a day or so without severe pain in the urino-genitary region.

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

This summer school in Tallinn looks interesting:
Reason Russia from the Mind. An Original Summer School on Russian Language and Culture in an Era of Change
Website: https://t.co/9wtM9O97AQ
Register for the school: https://t.co/VdriEtNvlM

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

I don't think you can blame American prejudice here - Israel, Finland and Brazil(!), all of which are violently 'socialized' systems by American standards, have higher-placed entries than we do.Seems that we really do need more money for development and quality improvement.

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

A sidelight on NHS (under-) funding maybe. I came across this and the UK doesn't fare at all well:  https://t.co/aTLsrJteV2. It looks like there's one more-or-less 'world-class' hospital (St Thomas's) for the use of idiot Prime Ministers and then...

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

Outline of an annual hypothecated wealth tax for NHS funding: https://t.co/WlS9Dd0OnQ (you could also get rid of CGT AND IHT)

[Mujtaba Rahman @Mij_Europe]

.@radeksikorski on 🔥. The kind of diplomacy I can get behind. Everyone should watch this clip today

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

Looks like the UK's attempt to sanction itself by means of Brexit is proving more successful than the civilised world's attempt to sanction Russia.

[Howard Turner @hturner40]

Enthusiastic and bilingual feedback for the latest English-speaking session under the aegis of the Oxford Kharkiv Association