The author David Lodge, who died aged 89 earlier this year, is a particular favourite of mine. Not only did he write engagingly and wittily, but he covered topics that resonate with life and experience (mine, anyway), starting with his glorious campus comedy novels.

I mention Lodge because one of his later books addressed the issue of deafness, an affliction from which he personally suffered for a good while before seeking medical attention. As the GoodReads review reveals, Deaf Sentence is “a witty, original and absorbing account of one man’s effort to come to terms with deafness, ageing and mortality, and the comedy and tragedy of human lives” – an experience I am all too familiar with. Continue reading →