Wonders Untold

A blog about life, arts and culture

Of life, arts and culture.

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Len Deighton

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Len Deighton passed away a few days ago, in Guernsey, at the age of 97.

Reading his obituary took me back to my late teens and early 20s, when I first discovered his books. I recall what joy his writing brought me.

I loved his Cold War spy novels. He wrote his characters so beautifully, and his scenes so evocatively.

My first Deighton books? The Game, Set, and Match trilogy. I later discovered the second trilogy – Hook, Line, and Sinker. All six are very captivating books.

As for the third trilogy – Faith, Hope, and Charity – somehow I didn’t get round to reading these books. However, that’s going to change in the coming months.

Deighton was an excellent storyteller. I want to revisit the beauty of his writing, and so I’ve decided to complete his “trilogy of trilogies”.

I’ve read the first two trilogies, so it’s only the third left for me to complete. However, I am filled with nostalgia for the first two trilogies, and I would like to read them again.

Although the books can be read in any order, and each book is complete in itself, here is how I plan to approach this: I will start by re-reading the first two trilogies. Then, after that, I will read the third trilogy (Faith, Hope, and Charity) for the first time.

Tonight I started my re-read of the first trilogy (Game, Set, and Match). I am now reading Berlin Game. Next up, Mexico Set, and then London Match.

These are now being added to my March reading list. I’d even say they’re right at the top of that list.

Truly grateful for the good gifts Len Deighton left us. Looking forward to getting reacquainted with his work.

Notes on focus

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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about focus.

Thanks to modern technology and the way we live, focus has become a scarce commodity. Our attention spans are shot, our focus is fragmented, and we are all the poorer for it.

You see the signs of this everywhere – for one thing, everywhere we look (for example, news reports, books, videos, articles), we are met with poor quality and rushed, superficial content. With divided attention spans, people often no longer have the wherewithal to stay focused on tough and complex issues. (As soon as something feels difficult, we pivot away and reach for the comfort of our smartphones.) And, of course, with AI providing handy shortcuts, we are all living in an era of bite-sized, content-light, knowledge acquisition.

But there are certain rewards for those who choose not to walk this path. For the few who make the intentional choice to safeguard their attention spans, and to harness their focus in productive ways, the rewards are massive.

Thanks to advances in modern technology, there is no shortage of opportunity for those who want to create beautiful things, build successful businesses, and make wonderful art. Take, for example, the opportunities presented by no-code software, or the amazing things that Claude Code enables us to do these days. (Yesterday, I watched a video on how to create a website using natural language prompts in Claude Code; and then how to upload the HTML and CSS files via GitHub into the backend of the hosting provider. Such a thing would have taken hours (if not days!) a mere 15 years ago. I speak from hard experience.)

Thanks to the wonders of AI and other digital marvels, we can do so much these days to add beauty to the world, and even more meaning to our lives. And we can do all these through little more than the smartphone we have in our hands right now.

And yet, these same smartphones can also distract us from these wonderful promises. Through countless social media apps, they can take us down unending and unrewarding paths of banal entertainment. They can sap our inspiration, cut off our drive at its source, and substitute it with an unslakable thirst for even more banality. In this way, we lose our focus, our motivation, and our creative energy.

And so we lose the opportunity to be creative, and the deep satisfaction that comes from contemplating the works of our hands.

I have therefore decided to be intentional about where I put my focus. I am also being intentional about keeping my focus undivided. Given the intense bombardment we face from the online world, it is a Herculean task.

But it is worth it, and I recommend it to everyone.

There are beautiful things yet unmade – poems to be written, music to be made. The world is worth all this, for sure. Who else, but we, can get it done?

Becoming a photographer

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Last year, I decided to learn photography.

It’s going nicely.

I have an awesome camera – the Fujifilm X100VI. It’s a great camera for a beginner. You get the classic photography feel, but in an ultra-modern, state-of-the-art camera.

The one downside that the seller – and all the YouTube reviewers – warned me about, turns out not to bother me at all. I’m referring here to the fixed lens. For now, it’s perfectly fine with me. I’m sure that, over time, as I become more proficient, I’ll want a camera with an interchangeable lens – perhaps something like the Sony A7 IV, or the Canon EOS R6 Mark II.

Right now, having a fixed-lens camera works for me. I don’t have to make any decisions about which lens to use. I have just the one, and that cuts down on unnecessary thinking. (Heaven knows, there’s already more than enough buttons and settings to get to grips with.) A fixed lens camera just makes it easier for me to get on with taking great pictures.

Another thing I like about the Fujifilm X100VI – its compact form. I can take it virtually anywhere. Plus it’s such a beauty – truly a well designed camera.

I’m looking forward to becoming a good photographer, with this lovely camera by my side. Photos may appear here in due course, so stay tuned.

Reading list – March 2026

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Here’s what’s on my (digital) reading table during this month:

  • The way of excellence, by Brad Stulberg. I have this on both kindle and audible. I read Stulberg’s previous book, Groundedness. It was an excellent read. This one is also very good.
  • Entitled – the rise and fall of the House of York, by Andrew Lownie. Very timely read, given recent developments in the British Royal Family.
  • Jump! A new philosophy for conquering procrastination, by Simon May. Came across a good review of this book in the Times Literary Supplement, and that led me to buy it.

I’ve been reading quite slowly this month. However, now that I’ve binned my social media habit, I expect to get through my reading lists quicker than before.

Reading list – September 2025

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Quite a long list, but here goes:

  • Empire of the Elite: Inside Conde Nast, the Media Dynasty That Reshaped America, by Michael M. Grynbaum. I am always interested in the workings of the publishing industry.
  • All the Fun’s in How You Say a Thing, by Michael Steele. I read this book for the first time around 20 years ago. Very happy to see a second edition, also as a kindle version. I had a great time with the book on a recent long flight. It’s not one you read in a hurry, so I will be taking my time with it.
  • Freedom, by Angela Merkel. Here, my love for political memoirs coincides nicely with my curiosity about life behind the Iron Curtain.
  • Cloistered, by Catherine Coldstream. I mentioned this book in an earlier post. It’s still on the reading list. Great book, touchingly beautiful narration.
  • Unleashed, by Boris Johnson. I guess I have to read this one. Doing so with a healthy dose of scepticism.