For readers and thinkers on whom nothing is lost
For readers and thinkers on whom nothing is lost
[Serious spoilers for Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle ahead] Hello readers, The state of today’s world may often seem dire— indeed, it sometimes does not give much cause for hope. But it is hard to imagine a more dismal, despondent, and demoralising society to live in, one that makes our present situation appear like Utopia, than that which would have come to pass if the Second World […]
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Hello readers, I recently travelled to Verona, and though I would be loathe to ever make this a permanent travel blog, I would like to take some time here to agree with Shakespeare’s assessment that it is, in the least, indeed fair. And yet, I feel that one needs slightly more than a single word to describe just what an impact visiting Verona (and in my particular case, Italy as a […]
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Hello readers, I must admit, I have quite the shameful gap in knowledge when it comes to the writings and workings of William Shakespeare. It is impossible, of course, to emerge from the English education system without at least some knowledge of his plays, as bloated with the Bard as our curriculums are; thus, I studied Macbeth almost to the point of murdering it myself, and also spent a fascinating time […]
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Hello readers, I have recently seen a certain video online, of a certain actor on a certain talk show asking another actor whether anyone actually enjoys heavy metal. As a huge fan of that genre of music myself, it first had my hackles raised, then my mind thinking about what it is about such a cacophonous style of sound that is so appealing to so many people. I intend to speak […]
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Hello readers, I’m afraid that I am not approaching this week’s scribbling in the usual spirit of passionate inquiry, but instead with a feeling of indignation. It appears that not even this country’s most revered and storied jewel of nature is held sacred, for in a chilling turn of events surely Blakean in its hellishness, certain repugnant organisations deem it appropriate (or even worse— whisper it— profitable) to dump large amounts […]
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Hello readers, For the past few months, I have been slowly and steadily making my way through Cervantes’ sixteenth-century burlesque of all things chivalrous, Don Quixote. It is a hefty work, with the Penguin Classics edition clocking in at just under one thousand pages, and so I have been consuming it in small, easily digestible mouthfuls, leaving much time to chew in between each bite. Fortunately, the form of this satire […]
Read moreHello readers, In last week’s scribbling, I wrote about the necessity for the novelist to boldly present their work as a rival to real experience, and the notion that truth, at least in the reader’s mind, can be found in well-crafted characters as much as it can (and perhaps more so) in real people. It is this latter point that has attracted some attention, in how it perhaps threatens to dehumanise, […]
Read moreHello readers, A few weeks ago, I posted to this website an essay entitled ‘Henry James’ Solution to the Novel Problem’. Its main ambition was to consider the arguments put forth by Henry James in his essay ‘The Art of Fiction’ in a broader literary historical context, and to consider how, in the process of rebutting Walter Besant’s attempts to impose a constitution onto the process of novel writing, James also […]
Read moreHello readers, I would like to welcome you to the first post on my new blog page, ‘The Scribe’s Scribblings’. Slightly unfortunately, and mostly by coincidence, I am unable to boast that this is the most important thing to happen to the UK on this particular Saturday, and yet I like to think that I’ll be able to conjure some fanfare without being overshadowed by the historic crowning of a nation’s […]
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