Category: The Scribe’s Scribblings

[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 […]

Hello readers, I recently travelled to Verona, and would like to take some time here to agree with Shakespeare’s assessment that it is 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 whole) for the first time truly had on me. The first thing that knocked me for […]

Hello readers, I must admit, I did not once choose a module on Shakespeare whilst at university. I believe that this is likely because of the less-than-ideal way that our English education system handles our Bard (frankly, I have often thought that the only thing it does is instil a deep impatience for his plays). I studied Macbeth almost to the point of murdering it myself, poured over the minutiae […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]