Harry Mount, Author at Catholic Herald

Harry Mount

There’s no better time than Christmas to learn New Testament Greek

December 21, 2017

The closer you are to the original text, the closer you are to the original meaning

There’s no better time than Christmas to learn New Testament Greek

December 21, 2017

Have yourself a merry little Christmas. And an ancient, classical one, too, while you’re at it. That’s the wise message sent out by the Pope this winter. First, he recommended that the young should learn more Latin. Students, he said, should “know how to treasure the very rich heritage of the Latin tradition to educate

The best retelling of the Greek myths since Graves

November 23, 2017

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry, Penguin, 466pp, £20 It’s not clear who said Stephen Fry was “a stupid person’s idea of a clever person”. It’s a brilliant line – it just isn’t true of Fry. Fry’s deep understanding of the Greek myths – and his readable retelling of them – could only

Harry Mount: Westminster’s open secret

November 02, 2017

The reaction to the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the story of lecherous MPs reminds me of Casablanca. In a terrific scene, Humphrey Bogart asks why Claude Rains’s Captain Renault is closing down Rick’s Café. Captain Renault says, “I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” At this point, a croupier hands

The eagle that survived Reformation and war

October 05, 2017

In “Church Going”, the greatest poem about church-crawling ever written, Philip Larkin completely nailed architecture addicts like me. Wondering who would be the last to visit churches if Christianity ever died in Britain, he asks whether it be “one of the crew that tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were? Some ruin-bibber, randy for

Harry Mount: The most tortured soul I ever met

August 31, 2017

Can you ever forgive a murderer? Or – even harder – can a murderer ever forgive himself? That’s the dilemma you were faced with when you met Sean O’Callaghan, the repentant IRA killer who drowned last week while on holiday in Jamaica, aged 62. By his own admission, O’Callaghan’s hands were drenched in blood. In

Harry Mount: You’re all so vain

July 13, 2017

Over the past five years, I’ve noticed an exponential boom in showing off. Everyone’s at it. One friend tells me, every time I meet him, “You know what? I’m extremely good at my work.” Having returned to an editing job, after a decade as a freelance journalist, I’m also struck by the new obligation to

Harry Mount: The delightful oddness of Gibraltar

April 06, 2017

No, we won’t go to war with Spain over Gibraltar, whatever Michael Howard says. Spain can’t afford it – and only 187 of the Rock’s 30,000 inhabitants voted for Spanish union in 2002. Still, now that Gibraltar’s in the headlines, I would recommend a trip there. I’m amazed how few British people go. I only

The delightful oddness of Gibraltar

April 06, 2017

Two and a half square miles of peculiarity await visitors to the British Overseas Territory

Harry Mount: The recipe for genius – keeping busy

February 09, 2017

One of David Hockney’s favourite quotations is from Tchaikovsky – “Inspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy.” The quote certainly applies to Hockney, whose vast, new show opens at Tate Britain this week. The exhibition covers all the phases of his career: his portraits, swimming pools and Yorkshire landscapes. Work just

The British Isles seen through X-ray specs

October 20, 2016

The Making of the British Landscape by Nicholas Crane, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £20 For the first time in over a century, visitors can now see Stonehenge in its Stone Age, grassland setting. In 2013, the road beside the stones, the A344, was ripped out, as were the neighbouring car park and visitor facilities. Only now

Harry Mount: Selective schools can be brutal

August 18, 2016

The biggest objection to the return of grammar schools is how ruthlessly selective the old 11-plus exams were. By their very nature, exams are ruthless and selective – that’s what they’re there for. And the main reason private schools do so much better than state schools is because they take ruthless selection to sadistic levels.

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