Literary standards, like everything else, have changed a lot in the past century or so. Writers are not like crystal-gazers. They can fantasize and invent improbable futures, but in the end they can only write in, and of, the world as it is in their own times. And the world of the past is not …
Category: race relations
Am I a Racist?
Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge A Review Once in a while, there is a book that really makes us think - not just about the words, the story, the literary value or even, superficially, about the message. Instead, it makes us search deep down in our own …
Undiscovered Territory
The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle A Review 'Challenger smiled with weary and tolerant contempt, as a kindly man would meet the yapping of a litter of puppies.' 'Beyond was an open glade, and in this were five of the most extraordinary creatures that I had ever seen .... Even the babies were as …
And the Lesson for Today is ….
‘The bitter truth is that the world has simply become too complicated for our hunter-gatherer brains.’ 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari Disillusionment; Work; Liberty; Equality; Community; Civilisation; Nationalism; Religion; Immigration; Terrorism; War; Humility; God; Secularism; Ignorance; Justice; Post-Truth; Science Fiction; Education; Meaning; Meditation: What meaning do the words in this …
The Earth is Weeping
The Epic Story of the Indian Wars for the American West by Peter Cozzens A Review 'Although scalps were most often taken off the dead, scalping in and of itself was not intended to kill. Unless grievously wounded, victims often survived the ordeal ...' It is about two months since I put the finishing touches, …
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown A Review 'The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.' [attributed to General Philip Sheridan 1868] I began this book with high expectations and a lot of questions. Most of my expectations were realised, yet some of the …
Matoaka's Last Journey
'Tis enough that the child liveth.' Rebecca's Tale (Part Three) Wahunsenacawh did not attend his daughter’s wedding. Instead, he sent a brother-in-law and two nephews ‘to see the manner of the mariage and to doe in that behalfe what they were requested'. According to some accounts, he also sent Mataoka a pearl necklace as a …
'… for the good of this plantation'
'... Pokahuntas. To whom my hartie and best thoughts are ...' Rebecca's Tale (Part Two) Heacham is a holiday resort in the county of Norfolk. Situated on the shores of the Wash, it is the English centre of lavender farming and distilling, and boasts 100 acres under cultivation. The village was of sufficient importance in …
The Ghost Kings
by Henry Rider Haggard For my final look (for now) at the works of Rider Haggard, I have chosen, quite by accident, a novel that appeals to me on two levels - literary and personal. Set in South Africa, The Ghost Kings has as its main protagonist a young woman, Rachel Dove, daughter of an …
Bookheathen Interview – M.M. Holaday
I'm pleased to welcome to by blog M.M. Holaday, author of The Open Road, to be published this week by Five Star, a division of Cengage Learning. M.M.Holaday (Nan to her friends) is a former reference and rare book librarian, and The Open Road is her debut work of fiction. The Open Road is a …
Bookheathen Scribblings 