THEN AGAIN: A MEMOIR BY DIANE KEATON
Literature |Ladi-da-lala Then Again: a Memoir by Diane Keaton Does this picture not just make you smile? It certainly does for me, as it is Keaton’s role as Annie in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall which made me truly fall in love with the actress. It was the adventurous, fun, ditsy easy going Annie in fantastic clothing, rapidly chewing gum that made me follow her around in the movies. Keaton herself is a rather private person, many aspects of Annie are drawn straight from her life but she is not Annie Hall; she is well known for her quirky roles’
Fairly Honourable Defeat by Iris Murdoch
Literature | If I say jump…ask how high A Fairly HonourableDefeat by Iris Murdoch A Fairly Honourable Defeat, published in 1970 was Murdoch’s 13thnovel. Murdoch, philosophical in nature once more delves into a litany of philosophical enquiry and whilst doing so; she draws upon the classical plot device of a Shakespearean tragicomedy or black comedy if you will with such gusto that you are left spinning in the air with your fingers gripping the pages. Many gasps left my lips as I veered haphazardly through the pages in a state of astonishment; fear, sickness and amusement. If you are
CHARLES DICKENS: A LIFE BY CLAIRE TOMALIN
Literature |The Invisible Man Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin Dickens, Charles Dickens, the names rings in ones ear. It’s the familiarity of it, as though one has the name carved into the mind, it musters up a sense of knowing, something one can’t quite pinpoint- maybe a feeling that belongs to a long lost uncle. Even if you have not read Dickens, it’s terribly likely you will do at some point in your life, most certainly if you plan to study English Literature. People recite Oliver Twist, “Please, sir, I want some more” because they’ve seen a thousand
VIRGINIA WOOLF BY ALEXANDR HARRIS
Literature Virginia Woolf by Alexandra Harris There is an entire shelf in my bookcase dedicated to Virginia Woolf; her novels, her diaries and biographies so it is hardly surprising that I became intrigued by a new biography. What new light can possibly be shed upon one of the most scrutinised literary figures? Do I not know all that needs to be known? Such questions fluttered haphazardly in my head before I even cracked the book’s spine. It’s also terribly important to take heed when approaching a biography; one must question the writer’s motive, background and avoid a sensationalist account at
THE TIGER’S WIFE BY TÉA OBREHT
Literature │A Folklore Tapestry The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht Téa Obreht’s The Tiger’s Wife published this year was the winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction. Usually more accustomed to the art of short story writing, Obreht found herself tackling the novel form and to her surprise, this lucrative choice was a mighty, and pardon the pun- roaring success. Obreht who was born in the former Yugoslavia found herself living in Cyprus during the time of war, then Egypt and finally in America where she established herself as a writer of short stories and now, a novelist. The Tiger’s
The Hours by Michael Cunningham
Literature │The Double Baked Novel The Hours by Michael Cunningham By Zehra Cranmer “Am I writing The Hours from deep emotion? Of course the mad part tries me so much… The design is certainly original and interests me hugely.” These separate entries taken from Virginia Woolf’s diary, written in 1923, depict her thoughts on her writing process of The Hours which she later renamed Mrs Dalloway published in 1925. Cunningham in 1999 took more than the concept of Mrs Dalloway and the life of Virginia Woolf and reworked it into a novel The Hours. Why did it take a Woolf
The Devil’s Music by Jane Rusbridge
Literature │ The Real Houdini The Devil’s Music by Jane Rusbridge A split, a disconnection and a fracture pull apart the lives of a family. Lies, secrets and memory pull the reader along through the rapid currents of this beautifully written novel. Written in the less ventured second person narrative, the story is narrated by Andrew and his mother, yet it would be wiser to point out that it has in fact been narrated by four people; a young Andrew and young mother as well as Andrew as a man and his mother who is nameless until the very end,
Drowning Rose by Marika Cobbold
Literature Drowning Rose by Marika Cobbold By Zehra Cranmer There is no feeling like the one you get when you discover a new writer, not that Cobbold is a new writer, in fact she is the author of a number of books which have done well in their own right, however, if one hasn’t read a Cobbold yet, then Drowning Rose may be the place to start. Drowning Rose is essentially a mystery, even a thriller if you will, yet it still surpasses these genres as Eliza Cummings; the novel’s protagonist receives a call from the past, one that she
To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface by Olivia Laing
Literature │ A River of GhostsTo the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface by Olivia Laing By Zehra Cranmer “I am haunted by water,” Laing proclaims. She doesn’t seem to be at ease unless she is near water; she has to be able to hear it at least. To the River is Laing’s journey along the river Ouse, a place that she has been drawn to as though it had been charged with a magnetic power, one which she finds unable to refuse. In Laing’s first book, the reader is taken through the history of this river which is famously
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Literature │ Life is a metaphor, but what does that mean?Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami (published in “Avrupa”) We know that life is multilayered. When we believe we’ve just lifted a layer, dealt with it and understood it, we only expose the next. But what do we do with the next layer? Will that new tissue, new exposed specimen just be the beginning of many more to come after that? But most importantly, will everything make sense at the end of it all? Murakami’s fusion of magical realism and metaphysical questioning sends the reader falling from a dizzying
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