Substack diary no.170: Monday, 1st. June 2026

A very calm and quiet morning but it is dark, dark enough to require one or two lights on. I would say we are in for some ‘proper Dartmoor weather’ as some of us say, but I suspect there are few Devonians that use this phrase nowadays. The sky is battleship grey over the town and, from where I sit, the tors of Dartmoor are hidden by denser and darker cloud. It is likely to be raining well before lunchtime.

Having recently finished reading Ian McEwan’s What We Can Know I find myself once again staring at the books on the shelves in front of me, too many of which I have not read. What to read next? I must finish Meditations by Marcus Aurelius but my eyes keep drifting back to Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose. I might try that one next.

As I see it I immediately think of the 1986 film starring Sean Connery which I enjoyed watching many times back in the 90’s. I would like to own it on disc but it is not available, which seems odd. It is not even on any of the streaming services I have access to. I have the 2019 television series on blu-ray, which is very good. I wonder how they compare to the book? Well, I shall have to read it to find out!

The Name of the Rose is not the only film I like that is not available nowadays. Last night I watched a 4K HDR disc of the 1997 Norwegian film Insomnia, which made me want to re-watch the US version from 2002 with Al Pacino playing the Stellan Skarsgard role and Robin Williams excellent as the sinister murderer. Unusually, the US version is better – but is not available anywhere on disc (or to buy at Apple). It is as if it has disappeared altogether.

A lot of films disappear without trace, but the two I have highlighted here are very good. It seems odd that neither is available to buy, either on disc or on Apple TV. Disc quality is better of course but streaming, especially with Apple TV, is almost as good.