Category: Literature

Perilaus II, by Mark P. Henderson: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, Reading, Review7 Comments

312 pagesUrban/Thrillers A book underpinned by scholarship, this crime thriller-cum-psychological thriller-cum-literary novel works on many levels. But how to review it without even hinting at spoilers?I think it’s safe enough to let potential readers know the ‘author’ of a crime novel is about to commit himself to the method and occasion of the murder at …

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#Words and #PictureOfTheDay: 26/Apr/22

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Literature, Nature, Photography4 Comments

The Bard, William Shakespeare, would have been 458 years old sometime around today; a veritable Methuselah! Of course, our national playwright died on 23rd April 1616. According to tradition, he was born on 23 April 1564, but that’s speculation. We do know, however, he was baptised on 26th of that month. I wonder what he’d …

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Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, opinion, Reading, Review, Romance8 Comments

Fiction Classics/Literary Fiction288 PagesJane Austen’s first published novel ‘Sense and Sensibility’ manages to capture all her humour and dissatisfaction with the age in which she lived. I felt the language was a little more convoluted and, occasionally, more obtuse than in the better known ‘Pride and Prejudice’, making it sometimes hard work to ascertain her …

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The Illustrated Pepys, Edited by Robert Latham: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Literature, opinion, Reading, Review3 Comments

Subtitled, Extracts from the Diary, this is a selection of Pepys’s diary entries over the years from 1660 to 1669, when his eyesight deteriorated to such an extent that he could no longer spend the time needed to write in secret by candlelight. There is a useful introduction by the editor, explaining the way he …

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Short Stories; Do You Read Them?

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, Reading27 Comments

I suppose we should first decide what constitutes a short story. Roughly, because these things tend to be a matter of opinion rather than fact, a short story is a work of fiction with a word count somewhere between 1,000 and 10,000. So, do you read them? It’s clear lots of readers do. I belong …

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Self, by Yann Martel: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, opinion, Reading, Review7 Comments

252 pagesContemporary/Literary Fiction The blurb asks, ‘Fiction or autobiography?’ and sort of replies, ‘both, neither?’. The whole point of this extraordinary created work is to ask, and attempt to answer, some basic questions relating to literature, storytelling, identity, and life itself. It’s an ambitious aim and one I suspect many readers will find difficult, demanding, …

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Time and the Conways, by J.B. Priestley: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, Reading, Review2 Comments

Stage Play script. This exploration of family unity, loyalty and dishonesty is structured through three acts to use time as a clever ingredient of viewing, and attempting to predict, the future. It depicts a typical upper middle-class family of the era, showing the inherent snobbery, their patchy understanding of the world they occupy, and how …

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The Playboy of the Western World, by J. M. Synge: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, opinion, Poetry, Reading, Review5 Comments

First published in 1907, the text of the stage play I read is introduced by a preface from the author. Here, he talks about the language he has used, how and where he encountered it, and why he has employed such colloquial idioms in the work. I can best serve the author’s intent by quoting …

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Grenade Rain Dance, by Calibna J. Kerr (Junk Talk Poet): #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Literature, Poetry, Reading, Review7 Comments

Poetry is such a varied medium that a reader approaches any work with cautious curiosity. What will this piece say, will it be formal, contemporary, or simply chopped prose? The very fact that Calibna prefers his Junk Talk Poet handle may well put off a number of potential readers due to the propensity to pre-judge. …

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The Fisherman and His Soul, by Oscar Wilde: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, Reading, Review4 Comments

I read this short story by the famous playwright in the hope it would prove a better read than his ‘The Birthday of the Infanta’. My hope was based on ‘The Sphinx Without a Secret’ and ‘The Selfish Giant’, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, this moral tale is similar to the ‘Infanta’, in …

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The Birthday of the Infanta, by Oscar Wilde: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, Reading, Review9 Comments

Very definitely a story of its time. It’s intended for children, but I seriously doubt many modern kids would read this. There are moral lessons buried here, but they are largely lost in the unnecessarily detailed descriptions of the riches of the royal family featured. Some of these are effectively lists of luxury items and …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No. 31: The Little Red Writing Book

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Grammar, Literature, Reading, Review, Word Choice

Continuing the description of books on words and language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 31: The Little Red Writing Book Paperback, 160 pages. Published in 2007 by Writer’s Digest Books. This is the edition I own and I can’t recall what I paid for it. You can buy it new …

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Finding the #Write #Words? No. 23: Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Grammar, Literature, Reading, Review, Word Choice2 Comments

Continuing the description of books on words and language listed in the introductory post, which you’ll find here. Book 23: Oxford Dictionary of Current Idiomatic English. subtitled Volume 1: Verbs with Prepositions and Particles: Hardback, 396 pages, including 2 indices. First published in 1975 by Oxford University Press. Mine is the 1984 sixth impression. I …

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Somebody Else’s Troubles, by J.A. English: #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, politics, Reading, Review

389 Pages Literary Fiction. All serious works of fiction should carry at least one underlying message. Some manage this with such subtlety it barely makes a conscious impression on those not seeking it, others blare it out loudly, covering their story with a condescending layer of preaching. Many lie somewhere in between; a reasonable balance …

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Bridport Prize Anthology 2019, by: The Bridport Prize #BookReview.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, Prizes

164 pages Literary/Contemporary Fiction/Poetry Anthologies This anthology contains the prize-winning entries into the 2019 contest run by this prestigious organisation. There are judge’s reports on the entries for Poetry, Short Story and Flash Fiction. The book showcases those pieces of work that won the major prizes or were highly commended. So, there are thirteen poems, …

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