I was in Stratford for two days to see a couple of plays and visit a dear writer friend. First the plays:

The Breathing Hole by Colleen Murphy, commissioned by The Stratford Festival, is a world premiere this summer in the Studio Theatre. Only in Stratford can a new play like this be presented - with a cast of 23 - twice that, really, because they all double. (The one single, young one is compensated for by two triples.) The production values are dazzling, especially the two huge polar bear puppets, ingeniously designed. (Think War Horse.) And you can't fault the story, an epic ranging in time from May, 1534 to December, 2033.

Well, here comes the Curates's Egg: the first act is terrific, fascinating and scary, with the very real threats of death by starvation, cold, cannibalism - or polar bears. There is even some humour in it (rare for Murphy) in the interaction between the indigenous people and the stiff-necked English explorers. Although lavishly staged and skipping forward in time, with all new characters (doubles) except the poor old bear, the worse for wear, the second act is not so good. It's a heavy-duty message play and we, at least my companion and I, felt beaten over the heads with it, several times.

We experienced the second Curate's Egg the next day with a very good production of Timon of Athens, starring Joe Zeigler. The play is not a bundle of laughs but the first act is lively and interesting as it presents all the fawning, opportunistic, sycophantic characters who will renege on their debts and friendship with trusting, generous Timon. In modern dress, with computers and cell phones and spread sheets, the play presents a story as old as time and just as current. But the second act is heavy-duty and hits us over the head.

Are you all old enough to remember what a curate's egg is? It's good in parts. I learned it from a friend from Liverpool and my companion knew it, too, also from a Liverpudlian. I looked it up to see if it originated in Liverpool but its provenance was broader than that. I'll let you google it; there's a Punch cartoon involved that I can't reproduce and I have other things to write about. I'm behind as it is.

I finished Black Eagle and Grey Falcon, all 1150 pages, not counting the index or bibliography. I had to read it at the breakfast table because I couldn't hold the book in my hands. It's a wonderful book and West is a wonderful writer, arguably the finest woman writer of the 20th century. There's a lot to absorb and I'm still absorbing it. It is ostensibly first and foremost an analysis of the history of Yugoslavia, and the Balkans. It is also a fascinating travel piece with stunning descriptions of people, art, food, scenery, and arrangements (food, wine, comfort, transportation et al.) West also offers insights into relationships with people and between people she encounters. I have a a pretty good vocabulary but as you know, I have been looking up Wests' words since I began to read her book, some for assurance but most for information and knowledge. I have a few more:

catamount| (also catamountain) noun N. Amer.a puma.• archaic any medium-sized or large wild cat. ORIGIN late Middle English (as catamountain): from the phrase cat of the mountain.

cloaca noun Zoology a common cavity at the end of the digestive tract for the release of both excretory and genital products in vertebrates (except most mammals) and certain invertebrates. 2 archaic a sewer .DERIVATIVES cloacal adjective [That's what I was looking up again - I couldn't retain it.] ORIGIN late 16th cent. (in the sense ‘sewer’): from Latin, related to cluere ‘cleanse’. The first sense dates from the mid 19th cent.

cambium mass noun Botany: a cellular plant tissue from which phloem, xylem, or cork grows by division, resulting (in woody plants) in secondary thickening. DERIVATIVES cambial adjective ORIGIN late 16th cent. (denoting one of the alimentary humours once supposed to nourish the body): from medieval Latin, ‘change, exchange’. [Doubt I'll ever use this.]

tontine noun: an annuity shared by subscribers to a loan or common fund, the shares increasing as subscribers die until the last survivor enjoys the whole income.• a scheme for life assurance in which the beneficiaries are those who survive and maintain a policy to the end of a given period. ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: from French, named after Lorenzo Tonti (1630–95), a Neapolitan banker who started such a scheme to raise government loans in France ( c.1653). [This not West; this is from Old Age: A Beginner's Guide ( 2016) by Michael Kinsley. Like the Boomer's aphorism about competitive longevity: " last one with all the toys/money? wins." I'll get to tho book soon.]

serotinous - Not in the online dictionary but I noted that it described a kind of pine cone.

praxiological - Also not there.

I'm not worried and I'm sure you're not either.

I found a review of BlackEagle online: "Rebecca West's vast, complex book Black Lamb and Grey Falcon is more than a timeless guide to Yugoslavia - it is a portrait of the author's soul and of Europe on the brink of war. Geoff Dyer explores one of the neglected masterpieces of 20th-century travel writing." You can check that out if you're interested. I also intend to re-read the introduction to my edition of the book by Christopher Hitchens. I recommend that, too, if you decide not to read the entire book. It depends how much time you have.