Anais Nin is a name I have been familiar with for years, but an author I knew very little about. I only knew her to be a writer from the early 20th century, whose novels were often very erotic. I had always heard of A Spy in the House of Love and was always intrigued by the… Continue reading A Spy in the House of Love by Anais Nin
Category: Reviews
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
The British Empire existed recently enough for it to still be a bit of an 'issue' in global relations. No one will let us forget all the things that Britain did - most of which were not beneficial to those being colonised. If anything the memories of the Empire have become a reminder that not… Continue reading English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
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The Trial by Franz Kafka (Guest Post)
This is a guest post written by Hannah Gillow Kloster. Franz Kafka’s The Trial is one of those perennial works that everyone has heard of, and "read". Well, I bought the book four years ago (I wrote my name and the year in the copy, thinking to impress my future self by remembering I was "only" 19… Continue reading The Trial by Franz Kafka (Guest Post)
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The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Guest Post)
This is a guest post written by Meg Hayes Fisher. I took a deep breath and listened to the old bray of my heart: I am, I am, I am. Having been a thoroughly invested fan of Sylvia Plath’s poetry since I first came across my mum’s battered copy of Ariel, I was apprehensive about… Continue reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Guest Post)
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The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (Guest Post)
This is a guest post written by Hannah Gillow Kloster. As a huge fan of Jeffrey Eugenides' previous works, I was looking forward to reading his latest major novel, The Marriage Plot. On its blurb, the book purports to be about an English Major writing her thesis on Jane Austen and George Eliot, whilst around… Continue reading The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (Guest Post)
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Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
The dictionary defines 'truth' as several different things, the first of which is 'quality or state of being true', which seems logical enough. However, it also defines 'truth' as 'honesty; sincerity; genuineness'. These are the aspects of truth that apply most to what one may call a human truth - the truth of things as… Continue reading Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? by Jeanette Winterson
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Snowdrops by A. D. Miller
The Man Booker Prize has been increasingly 'controversial' over the years and many claimed that 2011's shortlist contained several texts that did not quite live up to expectations. First time novelists were the most questioned entries, particularly as veteran Alan Hollinghurst was not included in the shortlist. One of these first time novelists was Brit… Continue reading Snowdrops by A. D. Miller
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The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley is a writer that one generally associates with three things - Brave New World and science fiction, along with real life science, like eugenics; drug experimentation, particularly with LSD; and the Eastern spiritualism he practised in California. Huxley came from a distinguished scientific and literary family and was bound to achieve 'great things'. Brave… Continue reading The Devils of Loudun by Aldous Huxley
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The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The New Journalism movement of the 1960s was about reporting the situation exactly as it was by way of the journalist involving themselves in that situation as much as possible. This meant going in and talking to the protestors, spending nights with them in the tents, attending the entire political conference and getting to know the… Continue reading The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
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Perlmann’s Silence by Pascal Mercier
For his first novel, originally published in Germany in 1995 and only now being published in English, Pascal Mercier chose the academic world of linguistics as the background for the story. More specifically he chose a small group of professors meeting for a conference on the Italian east coast, in a seaside town not far… Continue reading Perlmann’s Silence by Pascal Mercier
These Little Words 