The solitude of Barbara

The French chanteuse Barbara (always Barbara) died in 1997 to immense mourning from her compatriots. Though not especially well-known outside the francophone world, she ranks alongside Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens as one of its great singer-songwriters, her compositions a compelling mix of art-song and cabaret, made melancholy by memories of war and lost love. La Solitude: The Songs of Barbara is a fascinating survey of her work by the singer Jessica Walker, with songs arranged by pianist Joseph Atkins, sung in a mix of French and English. A fine introduction to a highly original voice.

VS Naipaul on Argentina

Arguably, the worst World Cup Final ever (and there have been some stinkers) will be best remembered for its petulant aftermath, which did little for the image of Argentina (though victors Spain emerged burnished). In a controversial essay from 1992, Living with Cruelty, VS Naipaul – never one to flinch from harsh judgement – surveyed the country and its culture with sustained disdain. Ultimately, he drew the lesson that Argentina, fed by the fertility of its vast pampas, had life rather too easy, like a southern hemisphere version of the lotus-eaters. Like many of Naipaul’s insights, it is contentious but thrillingly expressed.

How would Lubitsch do it?

Billy Wilder, no slouch as a film director, had a sign above his desk that read ‘How would Lubitsch do it?’, in reference to his fellow Hollywood exile from Mitteleuropa, Ernst Lubitsch. Orson Welles judged Lubitsch’s talent ‘stupefying’, his eclectic comedies of manners among the peaks of Hollywood’s Golden Age. None demonstrates his talent, style and originality quite like his 1943 classic Heaven Can Wait, which opens with New Yorker Henry Van Cleve reviewing his life in a waiting room to Hades, arguing with Satan that he should not be spared its torments. Gene Tierney is spellbinding as his tragic wife Martha. A supernatural thriller, it has a magic all its own.