Category Literature
For What is a Fatwā ?
The Bible & Literature module I’m currently taking has thrown up some real gems. Firstly there was the amazingly bleak The Road which we compared with The Book of Job. Last week it was the epic Ben Hur alongside the Gospels on silent film, and now I’m reading Salman Rushdie’s infamous The Satanic Verses. I knew that there was a […]
The Bible and Literature
I’m currently taking a module called ‘The Bible and Literature’ which involves taking a look at the textuality of the Bible itself, as well as how it manifests itself throughout literature. It’s so interesting to actually read the Bible, because there’s so much we assume we know about it already which is often different in […]
The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Bleak, harrowing and depressing. I think these would be the three words I’d used to describe this book. It’s no bundle of laughs, that’s for sure. The book describes the journey of a father and son in a dystopian world, where humanity has been all but wiped out, along with pretty much the rest of […]
What I’ve Learnt From My Work Experience at Penguin
I was lucky enough to do a two week work experience placement at Penguin books in London and I had such a wonderful time. I was in the editorial department of one of their publishing sections called Viking and although I naturally had to do some menial admin tasks, I also got to see the […]
Review Book #1 : The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
“I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once.” Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, […]
7 Books I’m Going to Read This Year*
*If it kills me The problem with studying English Lit is that at the end of the day, I don’t really fancy reading more books and more often than not I just settle down with some guilty TV – Gossip Girl anyone? But I’m determined this year to read some more out of my course, […]
Becoming Jane: the Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful
I’ve seen Becoming Jane a couple of times and while I always enjoy it, there are still a couple of things which annoy me about it. Consequently, here’s the good (links to her books), the bad (Anne Hathaway’s accent) and the beautiful (James McAvoy). Firstly, I think my main quibble with the film, is that […]
Why we all love Austen
I haven’t done a literary blog post in a while so I thought I’d take the time to dedicate one to the goddess of all authors: Jane Austen. She’s been an inspiration to so many, and her books are just perfection. Obviously we all love her, but here’s why: 1. Mr Darcy et al The […]
Mirror, Sylvia Plath
I discovered this poem at A Level and absolutely adore it. I don’t know why, but reading it makes me feel empty, almost like I wrote it myself and emptied my consciousness onto the page in doing so. Maybe it’s because, as Terry Eagleton says, literature should contain universal truth and Sylvia Plath does it perfectly […]
Looking for Alaska, John Green
Now, if there’s one thing that irritates me, it’s film trailers which give the whole film away. I mean, why would I pay £8 to see a two hour film when within two minutes I know the entire surmise and plot of it, and for free too. So when I picked up this book, which […]
Bethany Wren 