A house in Northern Massachusetts, with its vast and domineering landscape, is the prime mover of Daniel Mason’s ecological fiction North Woods. From this yellow home, constructed prior to the American War of Independence, the natural world unfolds and transforms the lives of its inhabitants. A Puritan couple, a passionate apple farmer and his life-bonded… Continue reading The Second Coming, again and again and again in North Woods
TikTok, as an app, and the hobby of reading books have a somewhat complicated affair. They are opposites in many ways, an age-old tradition of stories being told through the written word versus short, easily-consumable and readily available pieces of media with little deeper meaning. TikTok has had an adverse effect on the younger generations’… Continue reading “As Seen on TikTok” – The Epidemic of ‘BookTok’ Literature
Modernism emerged as a cultural force in a world still recovering from the effects of World War 1 and an increasingly industrialised world. Many writers, poets, painters and other creatives sought to reflect a civilization in moral decay, fragmented in its identity. Many of these invoked older traditions in order to subvert and revise them,… Continue reading Making it New: William Carlos Williams
From Nazi Germany to the Pinochet regime in Chile, the burning of books has been a potent symbol of authoritarian control, cultural repression, and the systematic elimination of dissent. While the act of burning books might seem extreme, it is a deliberate and strategic move by fascist regimes to consolidate power and eliminate any threats… Continue reading Why fascists burn books: a history of censorship and control
In an age where literature often feels confined to the pages of books and the walls of academia, London Literary Tours emerges as a vibrant antidote. Led by passionate guides Mike Carter and Cindy Lawford, this unique venture invites literary enthusiasts to explore the city through the eyes of its greatest writers, weaving together their… Continue reading London Literary Tours: embark on an unforgettable journey through the city’s literary soul
Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, is an 1818 novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. Set in the late 18th century, it follows scientist Victor Frankenstein’s creation of life and the terrible events that are precipitated by his abandonment of his creation. It is a Gothic novel in that it combines supernatural elements with horror, death and… Continue reading Frankenstein — how Mary Shelley’s sci-fi classic offers lessons for us today about the dangers of playing god
The United States has become a nation divided over important issues in K-12 education, including which books students should be able to read in public school. Efforts to ban books from school curricula, remove books from libraries and keep lists of books that some find inappropriate for students are increasing as Americans become more polarized in their views. These… Continue reading Is book banning in the US unconstitutional?
When OceanGate, the deep-sea exploration enterprise, created a promotional video for its ill-fated US$250,000-per-head trip to see the wreck of the Titanic, it told prospective passengers to “Get ready for what Jules Verne could only imagine – a 12,500-foot journey to the bottom of the sea.” Those behind the video hoped viewers would recognize the… Continue reading Classic literature still offers rich lessons about life in the deep blue sea
Imagine a world where we knew the name of Homer, but the poetry of The Odyssey was lost to us. That was the world of the early Italian Renaissance during the second half of the 15th century. Many people knew the names of some early poets of Italian literature – those who were active during the 13th… Continue reading How a lost manuscript revealed the first poets of Italian literature
Knife is Salman Rushdie’s account of how he narrowly survived an attempt on his life in August 2022, in which he lost his right eye and partial use of his left hand. The attack ironically came when Rushdie was delivering a lecture on “the creation in America of safe spaces for writers from elsewhere”, at… Continue reading In Knife, Salman Rushdie confronts a world where liberal principles like free speech are old-fashioned
