• LIFE

  Reinventing oneself

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 20/06/2016

  » It isn't uncommon for people to reinvent themselves when they move to another country. Doing so in their homeland is difficult, as they may well be recognised, even of they undergo cosmetic surgery. Yours truly had an interview column for a while, and more than a few subjects (farangs) made up lies about themselves as they went along.

• LIFE

  Expert Advice

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 13/04/2018

  » In several Peanuts comic strips, little Lucy sets up a booth. For a nickel she'll solve a problem bothering you. Her advice is quite good, indicating insight unlikely in the young. The thing about advice is that virtually everyone offers it, asked for or not, free and costly.

• LIFE

  Good cops, bad cops

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 18/05/2018

  » Few things are more disheartening than learning that those sworn to protect us from society's predators are corrupt, indeed evil themselves. Then who are the good guys, if any? Many a crime novelist raises this question without presenting a satisfactory solution.

• LIFE

  Supply and demand

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 22/09/2017

  » During the era of the Raj, India was the leading poppy grower. It was sold worldwide as a treatment for hysteria in women and hyperactivity in children. Only China refused to have anything to do with it because it was addictive, but two opium wars taught them how to take it.

• LIFE

  Wealth of interviews

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 08/02/2016

  » Interviewing was one of my functions back in the day. Rather than the top I focused on those lower on the totem-pole, accepting the common belief that everybody has a story to tell. The column appeared weekly. We didn't meet over a drink or during a meal. (I had no expense account.)

• LIFE

  Far-fetched plot

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 02/12/2016

  » Three decades ago a Baltimore, Maryland, insurance man Tom Clancy entered the literary world with The Hunt For Red October. Acclaimed critically and popularly, he never looked back. Never in the military, his interest and research in the weapons of war elevated him to the rank of military analyst.

• LIFE

  The war went on

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 18/07/2016

  » One of the annoying things about wars is that they don't all end when they are supposed to. After Yorktown, the American Revolution dragged on for two years. The Battle of New Orleans in 1815 was fought after the War of 1812 was officially over.

• LIFE

  Historical hot spot

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 02/05/2016

  » This planet is comprised of hundreds of countries, few of which university graduates can name or their professors find on the map. Asked why, they'll say because they aren't important. Maybe they popped up in history, but then sank back into obscurity. Every continent has them. Poor buggers.

• LIFE

  It's elementary

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 29/06/2015

  » It began in the US with Edgar Alan Poe in the mid-19th century and picked up in the UK by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Crime fiction caught on and has since spread to the rest of the world. In the 21st century every country, nearly every city, features at least one literary sleuth.

• LIFE

  A great battle

  Life, Bernard Trink, Published on 14/07/2014

  » All through World War II I’d watched the likes of John Wayne and Gary Cooper taking on the Germans and the Japanese. But the combination of William Shakespeare and Laurence Olivier battling medieval France left an even stronger impression. Rah-Rah was the order of the day during WWII, yet the English king’s rousing pap talk to his troops in Henry V was patriotism personified. And they went on to win the field at Agincourt.

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