'A local group claimed the books were satanic and promoting witchcraft, and consequently, set about burning a large cache of the books outside the Christ Community Church.' [a 2001 campaign in Mexico against The Lord of the Rings] In two previous articles, I talked about some of the books I enjoyed as a youngster. I …
Category: Writers
A Story for Boys (and Girls)
World Book Day 2023 - thoughts after the event: Let me begin with a question: Should we boycott, ban or burn great stories because we don't like the authors' opinions, or the opinions and mores of the society in which they lived? Before delving again into the literary world I introduced in my previous article …
A Story for Boys
Thoughts on 'Treasure Island' by RL Stevenson 'His left leg was cut off close to the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird.' I would have been about eight years old, and developing my reading skills, when I read …
The City of Mist
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon trans. by Lucia Graves 'Years later, on his deathbed, old Sempere would explain how at that very instant he thought he saw Andreas Corelli shed a tear which, when it hit Cervantes's tomb, turned to stone. He knew then that on that rock he would embark upon building a sanctuary, a …
Art vs. Morality
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 …
Jane, the Younger
I keep going back to Jane Austen! A couple of weeks ago, I bought a series of lectures from The Teaching Company's Great Courses. By Professor Devoney Looser of the Arizona State University, they explore Jane Austen's life and works, and examine the customs and morality of the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century in which she …
Summer Shorts
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been dabbling in short stories, something I don't often do. The first collection which grabbed my attention was Short Stories from the Strand, published in 1992 by The Folio Society. The Strand Magazine came into being in 1891, a collaboration between the publisher George Newnes, literary editor …
Carry On Dreaming
Tolkien and the Future of Epic Fantasy 'Then what are You, having no Chaos found To make a World, or any such least Ground? But your Creating Fancy, thought it fit To make your World of Nothing, but pure Wit. Your Blazing-World, beyond the Stars mounts higher, Enlightens all with a Cœlestial Fier. [William, 1st …
Forthcoming Reviews
It seems ages since I last wrote on WordPress. I had to take some time off to deal with important domestic matters and - just as important - to have a holiday! I'm back now, and with lots of great books to read and review. Here are some of the novels and non fiction works …
In Wine Is Truth?
Sweeter Than Wine (Post 4) CATHY Yves lays his cigar on an ash tray, picks up his financial newspaper and pretends to read. ‘I can’t help noticing she has nice legs,’ he mumbles behind the newsprint. ‘But it doesn’t qualify her as a daughter-in-law.’ I feel like throwing something at him but have nothing convenient …
Bookheathen Scribblings 