A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess This cult classic novella is narrated by protagonist Alex, 15-years-old at the beginning of the story, and a violent psychopath. The story opens with Alex and his friends committing acts of ‘ultra-violence’ (a term Burgess coined) – stealing, assaulting, raping random strangers – and it isn’t until after thisContinue reading “Book review”
Monthly Archives: Aug 2020
Three of my favourite short stories
I came across a blog post recently that suggested a ‘gratitude’ approach to reading. So, here are 3 books I’m grateful for: ‘Death on the Nile’, by Agatha Christie I am grateful for this book because, first of all, I have always loved going on epic journeys, so I love reading about them too – myContinue reading “Three of my favourite short stories”
Book review
‘Educated’ by Tara Westover An Extract from the opening is available here. This is the beautiful and shocking memoir of a woman who grew up in a difficult family situation, but escaped (in every sense of the word) through education. She lost a lot in the process, but gained a tremendous amount as well, althoughContinue reading “Book review”
A short story I recently read
‘Girls, At Play’, by Celeste Ng Read it here in about half an hour. Trigger warning: makes reference to teenage girls and sexual activity. Thinking about how the story opens, and how readers are engaged… The first paragraph uses an unemotional and factual tone to describe something shocking – a sexualised game, played by childrenContinue reading “A short story I recently read”
Book review
‘A Year in Provence’, by Peter Mayle The setting of this creative nonfiction book, Provence, in the south of France, conjures up feelings of nostalgia for me, as I spent many sun-soaked, soporific, childhood holidays in the region. This is enhanced by the fact it was written and published so long ago – in 1989,Continue reading “Book review”
Mina Ma 