Joe Spivey
@joespivey2002.bsky.social
Reader, bleeder and mercy pleader
Some personal thoughts on an ENORMOUS game at Wembley.
They are, at last, ready to win.
Hull KR at Wembley
substack.com
June 6, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Some personal thoughts on an ENORMOUS game at Wembley.
“Eyre Crowe’s question had always been: ‘Should the war come, and England stand aside…[and] Germany and Austria win, crush France and humiliate Russia, what will then be the position of a friendless England?’ The historian’s answer is: better than an exhausted England in 1919.”
The Pity of War
The Pity of War
May 22, 2025 at 1:01 PM
“Eyre Crowe’s question had always been: ‘Should the war come, and England stand aside…[and] Germany and Austria win, crush France and humiliate Russia, what will then be the position of a friendless England?’ The historian’s answer is: better than an exhausted England in 1919.”
The Pity of War
The Pity of War
It’s two years since Amis died, and his scything bountiful charisma is the still the standard against which all scribblers are judged. He dropped the literary drawbridge to a simple-minded young Spivey and his critical swagger upholsters my mind still!
May 19, 2025 at 9:09 PM
It’s two years since Amis died, and his scything bountiful charisma is the still the standard against which all scribblers are judged. He dropped the literary drawbridge to a simple-minded young Spivey and his critical swagger upholsters my mind still!
My latest ⬇️
“Mouth-breathing mortals abandon realism at their peril. Ropner Hall and its habitants (both lazily stateless) do not cohere in the presentation of a believable, smooth story. The author’s predilections for madness make The Ladie Upstairs a jarring, mirthfully obscure hallucinogen.”
“Mouth-breathing mortals abandon realism at their peril. Ropner Hall and its habitants (both lazily stateless) do not cohere in the presentation of a believable, smooth story. The author’s predilections for madness make The Ladie Upstairs a jarring, mirthfully obscure hallucinogen.”
The Ladie Upstairs — Open Letters Review
A review of Jessie Elland’s debut novel
openlettersreview.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:59 PM
My latest ⬇️
“Mouth-breathing mortals abandon realism at their peril. Ropner Hall and its habitants (both lazily stateless) do not cohere in the presentation of a believable, smooth story. The author’s predilections for madness make The Ladie Upstairs a jarring, mirthfully obscure hallucinogen.”
“Mouth-breathing mortals abandon realism at their peril. Ropner Hall and its habitants (both lazily stateless) do not cohere in the presentation of a believable, smooth story. The author’s predilections for madness make The Ladie Upstairs a jarring, mirthfully obscure hallucinogen.”
Trollope on the obsession (prominent in his age and ubiquitous in ours) with the writerly spark ⬇️
“To me it would not be more absurd if the shoemaker were to wait for inspiration, or the tallow-chandler for the divine moment of melting.”
“To me it would not be more absurd if the shoemaker were to wait for inspiration, or the tallow-chandler for the divine moment of melting.”
May 8, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Trollope on the obsession (prominent in his age and ubiquitous in ours) with the writerly spark ⬇️
“To me it would not be more absurd if the shoemaker were to wait for inspiration, or the tallow-chandler for the divine moment of melting.”
“To me it would not be more absurd if the shoemaker were to wait for inspiration, or the tallow-chandler for the divine moment of melting.”
Within its ‘analytical’ sections, this book has all the bigoted bloviation I expected. The slippery attribution of modern meaningless to atheism gives it a repulsive piety. It coarsens throughout and cradles at the end, leavened by equivocations just in case we mistook Murray for a monster.
May 4, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Within its ‘analytical’ sections, this book has all the bigoted bloviation I expected. The slippery attribution of modern meaningless to atheism gives it a repulsive piety. It coarsens throughout and cradles at the end, leavened by equivocations just in case we mistook Murray for a monster.
My latest Substack⬇️
“What will happen when all the foreigners’ removal does not result in national prosperity? What will happen when Reform’s otherwise scant knowledge base is shown to be ludicrously unbecoming for high office? These will be phenomena for the next generation of political analysts.”
“What will happen when all the foreigners’ removal does not result in national prosperity? What will happen when Reform’s otherwise scant knowledge base is shown to be ludicrously unbecoming for high office? These will be phenomena for the next generation of political analysts.”
The Reformation
Could Farage's phalanx take back control?
open.substack.com
April 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
My latest Substack⬇️
“What will happen when all the foreigners’ removal does not result in national prosperity? What will happen when Reform’s otherwise scant knowledge base is shown to be ludicrously unbecoming for high office? These will be phenomena for the next generation of political analysts.”
“What will happen when all the foreigners’ removal does not result in national prosperity? What will happen when Reform’s otherwise scant knowledge base is shown to be ludicrously unbecoming for high office? These will be phenomena for the next generation of political analysts.”
My latest ⬇️
“If only Harding had given more splendour to his sentences and given more umph to his explorations, we might’ve been witnesses to a remarkable book on the incommensurability of Nazism and science, the vanity of hope in fascistic countries, or the temporal erosion of human empathy.”
“If only Harding had given more splendour to his sentences and given more umph to his explorations, we might’ve been witnesses to a remarkable book on the incommensurability of Nazism and science, the vanity of hope in fascistic countries, or the temporal erosion of human empathy.”
The Einstein Vendetta — Open Letters Review
The true story of a Nazi-era murder
openlettersreview.com
April 28, 2025 at 3:46 PM
My latest ⬇️
“If only Harding had given more splendour to his sentences and given more umph to his explorations, we might’ve been witnesses to a remarkable book on the incommensurability of Nazism and science, the vanity of hope in fascistic countries, or the temporal erosion of human empathy.”
“If only Harding had given more splendour to his sentences and given more umph to his explorations, we might’ve been witnesses to a remarkable book on the incommensurability of Nazism and science, the vanity of hope in fascistic countries, or the temporal erosion of human empathy.”
A media outlet discusses how his every belch and bleat is inexplicably covered, by inexplicably covering his latest belch and bleat! Reform have a grand sum of four MPs, and yet he need only wobbly his goiter for the nation’s press to congregate!
April 24, 2025 at 10:02 PM
A media outlet discusses how his every belch and bleat is inexplicably covered, by inexplicably covering his latest belch and bleat! Reform have a grand sum of four MPs, and yet he need only wobbly his goiter for the nation’s press to congregate!
Guileless, gibbersome and frantically frayed with inexactitudes. This was Peterson’s worst performance to date. His syllable-heavy sermonising and his drawling sanctimony is now unparalleled. I can’t believe I used to defend this flaccid charlatan at university gatherings!
April 19, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Guileless, gibbersome and frantically frayed with inexactitudes. This was Peterson’s worst performance to date. His syllable-heavy sermonising and his drawling sanctimony is now unparalleled. I can’t believe I used to defend this flaccid charlatan at university gatherings!
Like my own Kingston Rovers, Arsenal have for years conducted themselves in a professional manner and beaten most with a soldierly doggedness. That performance in Madrid was more elegant and much wilier. They’ve put away the CL holders. Who’s to say they won’t visit similar expertise on PSG?
April 16, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Like my own Kingston Rovers, Arsenal have for years conducted themselves in a professional manner and beaten most with a soldierly doggedness. That performance in Madrid was more elegant and much wilier. They’ve put away the CL holders. Who’s to say they won’t visit similar expertise on PSG?
Hell, I would be the last person to save Douglas Murray from a stint in the intellectual slammer, but his invoking expertise during an age of boundless stupidity should be cheered. Rogan has been emboldening and legitimising pillocks and warped theorists for years!
April 15, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Hell, I would be the last person to save Douglas Murray from a stint in the intellectual slammer, but his invoking expertise during an age of boundless stupidity should be cheered. Rogan has been emboldening and legitimising pillocks and warped theorists for years!
My latest review for Open Letters⬇️
“The lovemaking is less frequent and less operatic than has become commonplace. It is gasping, mannerly and performed at close quarters, bearing no resemblance to the lubricious bouts and emotive yelping that dominates teenage search histories.”
“The lovemaking is less frequent and less operatic than has become commonplace. It is gasping, mannerly and performed at close quarters, bearing no resemblance to the lubricious bouts and emotive yelping that dominates teenage search histories.”
Swept Away by Beth O'Leary — Open Letters Review
A review of Beth O’Leary’s new romance novel
openlettersreview.com
April 2, 2025 at 11:00 AM
My latest review for Open Letters⬇️
“The lovemaking is less frequent and less operatic than has become commonplace. It is gasping, mannerly and performed at close quarters, bearing no resemblance to the lubricious bouts and emotive yelping that dominates teenage search histories.”
“The lovemaking is less frequent and less operatic than has become commonplace. It is gasping, mannerly and performed at close quarters, bearing no resemblance to the lubricious bouts and emotive yelping that dominates teenage search histories.”
Edith Wharton has me in the palm of her hand⬇️
“It seemed to him that he had been speaking not to the woman he loved but to another, a woman he was indebted to for pleasures already wearied of; it was hateful to find himself the prisoner of this hackneyed vocabulary”
“It seemed to him that he had been speaking not to the woman he loved but to another, a woman he was indebted to for pleasures already wearied of; it was hateful to find himself the prisoner of this hackneyed vocabulary”
March 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Edith Wharton has me in the palm of her hand⬇️
“It seemed to him that he had been speaking not to the woman he loved but to another, a woman he was indebted to for pleasures already wearied of; it was hateful to find himself the prisoner of this hackneyed vocabulary”
“It seemed to him that he had been speaking not to the woman he loved but to another, a woman he was indebted to for pleasures already wearied of; it was hateful to find himself the prisoner of this hackneyed vocabulary”
Johnson’s is an incorruptible majesty. Whether we consult him on grace or swine, Petrarch or Polybius, malice or mustard, he frees us from ignorance and soothes us with his corpulent wisdom. Never shall we dare limit a sentence to three or four words when seventy-eight will better serve.
March 23, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Johnson’s is an incorruptible majesty. Whether we consult him on grace or swine, Petrarch or Polybius, malice or mustard, he frees us from ignorance and soothes us with his corpulent wisdom. Never shall we dare limit a sentence to three or four words when seventy-eight will better serve.
That was an eye-popping edition of Milan-San Remo! Pogacar defies anthropological science to leave a peloton spluttering in his dust and MVDP shows he’s undroppable on a good day. Pogacar is the most complete cyclist ever to clench his teeth and is certain to pepper tall stories one century hence!
March 22, 2025 at 9:49 PM
That was an eye-popping edition of Milan-San Remo! Pogacar defies anthropological science to leave a peloton spluttering in his dust and MVDP shows he’s undroppable on a good day. Pogacar is the most complete cyclist ever to clench his teeth and is certain to pepper tall stories one century hence!
Now we’ve left the EU, the Brexiteers want us to leave the ECHR. Then, when they continually fail to recognise our economic dependence on migration, they’ll next recommend we leave NATO, the Geneva Convention and - when all sanity has been forsaken - Earth’s own gravitational grip.
March 17, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Now we’ve left the EU, the Brexiteers want us to leave the ECHR. Then, when they continually fail to recognise our economic dependence on migration, they’ll next recommend we leave NATO, the Geneva Convention and - when all sanity has been forsaken - Earth’s own gravitational grip.
Today, a heinous weasel devoid of scruples against malice, had a lifetime’s sexual misconduct aired before the nation. Messrs Farage, Musk and Robinson shan’t be driven to the stump because the criminal does not reinforce their cravenly racist messaging. IT IS ALWAYS ABOUT DEMONISING BROWN PEOPLE!
March 17, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Today, a heinous weasel devoid of scruples against malice, had a lifetime’s sexual misconduct aired before the nation. Messrs Farage, Musk and Robinson shan’t be driven to the stump because the criminal does not reinforce their cravenly racist messaging. IT IS ALWAYS ABOUT DEMONISING BROWN PEOPLE!
Reading another P.G Wodehouse novel only reddens the new antagonism within me, because something more than the pot-hurling, Baron-bashing costless fun was possible. And yet, to my knowledge, nothing weightier exists for us to stew!
March 15, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reading another P.G Wodehouse novel only reddens the new antagonism within me, because something more than the pot-hurling, Baron-bashing costless fun was possible. And yet, to my knowledge, nothing weightier exists for us to stew!
“To question the veracity of ADHD, and notions of immutable attention spans, is to place oneself on a moral par with Hermann Goering or Darth Vader.“
My latest review for Open Letters ⬇️
My latest review for Open Letters ⬇️
The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O'Sullivan — Open Letters Review
A searing account of the modern epidemic of over-diagnosing everything in sight.
openlettersreview.com
March 8, 2025 at 9:35 AM
“To question the veracity of ADHD, and notions of immutable attention spans, is to place oneself on a moral par with Hermann Goering or Darth Vader.“
My latest review for Open Letters ⬇️
My latest review for Open Letters ⬇️
Reposted by Joe Spivey
Who radicalised him?
Kyle Clifford watched Andrew Tate videos before triple murder
Kyle Clifford watched Andrew Tate videos before triple murder
Jury was not told that former soldier convicted of murder and now rape was interested in self-styled misogynist influencer
www.theguardian.com
March 6, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Who radicalised him?
Walter Scott was very much a writer after my own heart. His swarthy, polyclausal madness demotes many Victorians into the mist with an unmatchable canter. And yet his dialogue is so light and ruggedly provincial that we cackle at every jest!
March 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Walter Scott was very much a writer after my own heart. His swarthy, polyclausal madness demotes many Victorians into the mist with an unmatchable canter. And yet his dialogue is so light and ruggedly provincial that we cackle at every jest!
Since innocently taking up running six weeks ago, the unreadable algorithm has pummelled me with adverts for ever more cushioned shoes, posters of ever emptier quotations and videos of ever prettier Californians huffing and puffing their way to fitness. Can a man not enjoy his hobby in peace?
March 5, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Since innocently taking up running six weeks ago, the unreadable algorithm has pummelled me with adverts for ever more cushioned shoes, posters of ever emptier quotations and videos of ever prettier Californians huffing and puffing their way to fitness. Can a man not enjoy his hobby in peace?
A good deed done in ninety seconds⬇️
Petition: Cancel Trump’s state visit
Stop Trump Coalition
stoptrump.org.uk
February 28, 2025 at 11:28 PM
A good deed done in ninety seconds⬇️
Reposted by Joe Spivey
I wonder whether they've run out of champagne in the Kremlin yet.
February 28, 2025 at 7:33 PM
I wonder whether they've run out of champagne in the Kremlin yet.