Though initially intrigued but nonetheless unfamiliar with Abdulrazak Gurnah and his work, I sat mesmerised by the Nobel Prize winner for the hour he had been allotted at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The man, with fifty years of writing behind him along with a career in academia, carried with him none of the pretensions […]
For whom was justice served on the 3rd of September, 1952? Not for a soul, Nadifa Mohamed declares in her novel The Fortune Men. Released in 2021, the book focuses on the infamous case surrounding Lily Volpert’s murder in 1952, but in her talk at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Mohamed also reveals its greater […]
The Iranian book market is perishing as US sanctions hit home. Tehran’s nuclear programme has long been contested, and in 2022 the book-lovers of Iran are suffering the cultural consequences of global politics. The “newly” implemented sanctions are a product of Trump’s crackdown in 2018 when the former POTUS made the abrupt decision to leave […]
Reading Haruki Murakami for the first time, I was surprised by the transparency of his writing. With my ungrounded foundation of beliefs surrounding Japanese literary culture, I had imagined the novel to whisk me away on a journey of ambiguous poetic language, alien proverbs and incredible metaphorical depths. Instead, I quickly realised that Murakami’s first […]
The tale of Paul Sheldon crashing his ‘66 Ford Mustang in the mountains of Colorado and getting abducted by an abusive ex-nurse was originally told by Stephen King in 1987’s “Misery.” Written as a love-letter to his obsessive fan base, the novel stretched the limits of suspenseful literature in the completely riveting and fast-paced King […]
To build up excitement before Valentine’s Day, why not make some popcorn, grab your favourite blanket, and enjoy watching the daily life of a mischievous and cute little Labrador retriever? In case you’re wondering, Marley was indeed a real dog and he belonged to John and Jennifer Grogan. Based on a 2005 bestselling book, the […]
Last week, I heard an interview on BBC Radio 5 Live about A’niah Soanes, a nine year old girl who has set up her own book club that aims to teach students about Black history, as well as providing pupils with the opportunity to read fiction books about Black characters. A’niah felt inspired to do […]
Admittedly, biographers do not have an easy job – writing an entire book about one person’s career requires such serious dedication that is unimaginable to most. Often, though, the results are an impressive collection of material and very informative, many lack the appeal of readability, instead being densely packed with information. As such, one might […]