Such is the relentless commercialisation of Christmas as a winter festival that the tinsel and all other orgiastic necessities have been appearing for sale since September. By this measure we’re bounding close to the day of Christ’s Mass. ‘Tis the season in which neither Amazon’s little helpers nor their billions of gratified gift recipients have […]
A History of the Bible by John Barton Read More »
Margaret Atwood (http://margaretatwood.ca/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Atwood) has been much in the news for her latest book ‘The Testaments’, the joint winner of The Man Booker Prize 2019. If you are new to this top rank author, I’d recommend Atwood at the height of her powers in her 1996 novel ‘Alias Grace’. There’s nothing like the spectacle of female
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood Read More »
Turbulent times stimulate vivid imaginations. With two egotistical buffoons (Trump and Johnson) proving every minute that they are catastrophically unfit for high office, tensions in the Middle East rising, Russia rattling its sabre, the Chinese building up massive armed forces, Islamic terrorists at large, Jerusalem re-established as the Capital of Israel, the environment trashed by
Living at the End of the World by Marina Benjamin Read More »
American novelist Dan Mallory (a.k.a. A. J. Finn) (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/feb/15/unreliable-narrators-questions-the-truth-leo-benedictus) has a complex relationship with the truth according to recent reports. This notoriety has not prevented his 2018 thriller ‘The Woman in the Window’ becoming a bestseller. Thrillers have the capacity to absorb our attention, allowing us to forget, temporarily, the grim details of everyday life.
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn Read More »
It’s been hot in Scotland over these past days in July of 2019. ( https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jul/24/uk-records-hottest-day-of-year-and-could-hit-new-high-of-39c ) High temperatures of this sort in The Upper Ward induce a febrile and mordacious mood. So we can say our weather’s been nothing to do with with climate change or global warming. Nothing to do with human activity. Nothing
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells Read More »
Nell Freudenberger (https://nellfreudenberger.net/about/) is a young novelist from New York, living in Brooklyn. Her fiction has been receiving much praise recently. You may wish to see if the Lanark cognoscenti think it’s justified. Her 2019 novel Lost and Wanted is a thoughtful and entertaining tale about friendship, and the forces which both bind and
Lost and Wanted by Nell Freudenberger Read More »
Robert Macfarlane (https://www.english.cam.ac.uk/people/Robert.Macfarlane/ ) and (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Macfarlane_(writer)) has won more literary prizes than he can shake a stick at. His central theme is the relationship, and mutual shaping forces, between humans and the natural world. Notable works are Mountains of the Mind (2003), The Wild Places (2007), The Old Ways (2012), Landmarks (2015) and The Lost Words (2017). Underland is
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Josephine Cox (http://www.josephinecox.com/) has a lot to smile about. Having sold over 15 million copies of her heartwarming fiction, this saga author has made a fortune and brought joy to countless readers.(https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/fameandfortune/5131523/Josephine-Cox-fameand-fortune.html) Many believe the acme of her artistic achievement to have been Jessica’s Girl (1993), a novel of such staggeringly formulaic conformity as
Jessica’s Girl by Josephine Cox Read More »
There has been a long standing tension within religious outlooks over the centuries. This is between embracing the world and denying it. Ascetics within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam consider the world corrupted and tainted with sin, that it is literally and spiritually filthy. It makes perfect sense on this account to detach oneself, live in
A Decent Life by Todd May Read More »
