Alison Gibbs
@guineagibbs.bsky.social
140 followers 240 following 340 posts
Books, theatre, gardening, history, guinea pigs, running, yoga, comedy, folklore, wild places, South London stuff.
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guineagibbs.bsky.social
Another of those days where I silently fume at my nemesis. Do I live rent free in her head or is she in mine?
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
iandunt.bsky.social
Calling English a 'rip-off degree' is one of the most blatant exhibitions of personal barbarism I've ever seen. You've demonstrated nothing but the poverty of your own mind.
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
naomialderman.bsky.social
I cannot understand what these people think the purpose of human life is?

It is *not* "pursue joy, deal justly, love well, try to understand as much and see as much of this beautiful world and of the deepness, richness and variety of human culture and experience as you can before you die"?
outonbluesix.bsky.social
How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
lbflyawayhome.bsky.social
“An example of the town of the future is Coventry.... Traffic and pedestrians are kept apart and the roads are planned to let traffic flow smoothly”

(Our Land in the Making, 1966)
Artist: Ronald Lampitt
Illustration of the precinct shopping centre in Coventry, with its shiny 1960s architecture, walkways and colourful flower planters
guineagibbs.bsky.social
I really hope this doesn’t catch on, in general, but also this particular example - living in a place called Norwood, the name is going to play havoc with the algorithm. I don’t want a load of AI nonsense to come up whenever I search for Norwood.
guineagibbs.bsky.social
I feel like I read Great Expectations too young - I found it a struggle at the time - but Bleak House’s plot really is a tangled web. The other (Dickens adjacent) book I definitely read too young was the Moonstone: re-reading once more familiar with detective fiction as a genre, I tore through it!
guineagibbs.bsky.social
I saw this come up again on Facebook today and re-read that opening paragraph. I feel like I understand the context much better than when I first read it - having the Crystal Palace dinosaurs in the neighbourhood helps - but there’s no doubt it’s the Dickens I found most challenging to read.
newyorker.com
A 2024 study found that 58 per cent of English majors at two Midwestern universities had so much trouble interpreting the opening paragraphs of “Bleak House” by Charles Dickens that “they would not be able to read the novel on their own.”
What Happens After A.I. Destroys College Writing?
The demise of the English paper will end a long intellectual tradition, but it’s also an opportunity to reëxamine the purpose of higher education.
www.newyorker.com
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
dorianlynskey.bsky.social
It is possible to cherish the BBC as an institution while also saying that BBC News is failing very badly, day after day, in its duty to inform and that it always fails in a right-wing direction. It desperately needs to recover its integrity
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
guineagibbs.bsky.social
Watching Nosferatu in the hope of being pleasantly scared in a minor key, but it’s just pure ham. What a shame…
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
naomialderman.bsky.social
I have dealt with my BIG FEELINGS about people saying mean things about London by writing this about 57 things I love in London. There were 100 things I loved, but it got too long for one email. London is inexhaustible.

naomialderman.substack.com/p/57-things-...
57 things I love in London
because London is so good. it's just so so good.
naomialderman.substack.com
guineagibbs.bsky.social
I can add so many things - the Crystal Palace dinosaurs, Tooting lido (I’d choose it over Brockwell), the view from Streatham Common (Van Gogh loved it too), the Ikea towers of Croydon, Battersea Park & its zoo, John Soane’s museum, the Inns of Court, Bloomsbury, the Barbican, the wobbly bridge…
guineagibbs.bsky.social
It’s my favourite no filler album. No track I’d skip, except Waking the Witch, because to this day I still find it too scary to listen to. But I’d add in Under the Ivy, which is glorious.
guineagibbs.bsky.social
Our daughter’s school suffered a fire in the holidays and we are fundraising to buy books and resources for the temporary site they are moving to. Anyone who is able to donate - thank you!

www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/juliansptfa
Supporting Julian's Primary School after fire
On 23 Aug, the Streatham site of Julian's Primary school suffered a serious fire. We will soon be crowdfunding to help support the school.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
john-self.bsky.social
Fifteen years ago, Jon noticed that Penguin's new Modern Classic edition of Nabokov's Lolita had stripped out the foreword by "John Ray, Jr." - who needs this yawnsome old intro! - ...which is actually part of the novel. A contact at Penguin told me the following Monday morning was not a jolly one.
Penguin's 2010 reissue of Lolita
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
levparikian.bsky.social
This is just the saddest news. A really good man and a really good bookseller.
radiobeartime.com
Really sad news.

Jonathan was a mensch and Bookseller Crow is a joy.
Reposted by Alison Gibbs
john-self.bsky.social
Shocked beyond belief to hear (via the shop’s IG account) of the death of Jonathan Main, the stalwart of Bookseller Crow in Crystal Palace.

I only met Jon once but we chatted online for years and he was so very funny, interesting, and knowledgable (with apt cynicism) about the book world. RIP Jon.
Bookseller Crow shop window
guineagibbs.bsky.social
I don’t think most other people sneeze quite as violently as our family seem to do. We would carry all before us.
guineagibbs.bsky.social
No mention of the Wales Scotland match on your rugby page? Shame! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
guineagibbs.bsky.social
I can remember one of the really bad smogs - Feb or March 2014 - I had a terrible hacking cough and I stood in Brockwell Park to see the view and London was completely lost in a haze of pollution. It’s definitely improved since then.