It’s a pity Kamila Shamsie did no research before sailing to Antarctica. She might have learned that Pakistan maintains a scientific presence there and that India, too, is a major polar player, as are China and Korea. While the fascination with heroic dead white men lingers, Asian scientists and tourists are making their presence felt on the “white continent”.
Professor Klaus Dodds
Royal Holloway, University of London
I visited Antarctica in January 2013. The colours of the icebergs and the wildlife came back vividly when I saw the photographs with Kamila Shamsie’s piece, but I was especially amazed by the shot of her so close to a seal, especially as she was holding out her hand to it: our expedition leaders emphasised the need to keep a safe distance and never to approach the wildlife.
April Winstock
Stanmore, Middlesex
It’s the most miserable month of the year, and I am back at work with Christmas borrowings the size of the national debt. Do I really need a travel special in which you send celebrities on luxurious holidays they could well have afforded anyway, and I can’t? You should rename it the Schadenfreude special.
Anna Lister
Papcastle, Cumbria
Hardly a day goes by when I don’t hear of someone who’s just watched a loved one die an unnecessarily prolonged death. Almost invariably, they add, “I don’t want to die like that.” Me, neither. So much for patient choice. The callous barbarity of denying a person the right to chose when they have had enough of suffering/infirmity/indignity seems unconscionable arrogance to me.
Siobhan O’Tierney
Paisley, Scotland
In Marina O’Loughlin’s otherwise positive review of The Riz, her reference to the names of south Indian dishes as “like a lullaby sung by Tinky Winky” is offensive. It’s ironic that, in a review that mocks Ukip’s racism, she likens Malayalee words to juvenilia.
Priya Bryant
London
In Blind Date, the question “Would you introduce him/her to your friends” is often answered along the lines of “I don’t think he/she would survive”. What sort of friends do these people have?
Carole Deery
Gildersome, West Yorkshire
Would Sali Hughes move a few inches across the page and help that poor girl, Emilia Fox. She puts her makeup on in a taxi! Also, would some kind soul teach her to make her own dry martini?
Tricia Mitchell
Morecambe, Lancashire
For weeks now, Stuart Heritage has been commenting on various types of exercise and equipment. Is there any chance of us seeing the new Adonis-type body he must surely have by now?
Ruth Coppard
Sheffield
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