Peter Hoskin celebrates The Spectator’s rich literary tradition and welcomes bibliophiles across the world to a new online home
The Spectator offices at 22 Old Queen Street are a bibliophile’s paradise. Books are, quite simply, everywhere: in bookcases; on top of filing cabinets; on the floor; and in the recesses where fireplaces should be. The piles grow daily, as publishers send books by the dozen to our literary editor, Mark Amory, and his deputy, Clare Asquith. Until at some point — usually when we fear a terrible literary avalanche — there’s A Great Clear Out, and the process starts all over again.
Of course, the books aren’t there for show. A selection are forwarded to our team of critics, who then write the book reviews which grace the pages of The Spectator each week. Their work forms part of a rich tradition. Previous reviewers have included Kingsley Amis, L.P. Hartley, Peter Ackroyd and the great Auberon Waugh. And while some of the reviews may raise eyebrows (e.g., our original take on George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four: ‘Compounded of novel, satire and thriller, and unsatisfactory as all three. . .’), they are always highly readable and, above all, thought-provoking. Firm but unfair, as The Spectator’s unofficial motto goes.
Now we enter a new era. In association with Barclays Wealth, The Spectator has launched an online book club. The idea is to combine everything which makes the magazine such a beacon on the literary landscape with all the digital razzmatazz of Web 2.0, and, in doing so, to create a natural home for booklovers across the globe. What’s more, membership is free, and all are welcome.
What can you expect to find there? First, the online review archive, which contains a copy of every Spectator book review from the past five years.
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