You Should Be Reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
With the New Year having ushered in 2021, Noah Gassas promotes Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations as the perfect book to begin the year and better yourself.
Category Archives: Literature
Review: The Flip Side by James Bailey
The Flip Side by debut author James Bailey is a wonderfully crafted romantic comedy, following the hilarious and tragically unfortunate Josh as he slogs through life. When all goes wrong, he turns to a single 50p coin to decide his fate, because how could his
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Tragic Autobiographer
The quote “how different it all is from what you’d planned” from Fitzgerald’s final, unfinished novel seems an apt way to summarise the author’s tumultuous life. Scarred by the class boundaries he was barred from crossing and only granted a brief refuge of success and happiness before yet more tragedy, one of the greatest authors of the 20th century lived amongst the very demons he wrote about.
William Doyle: The Oxford History of the French Revolution
The French Revolution is often posed as a key moment in the creation of the modern world but, to many, it is little more than a few disparate snapshots: Marie Antoinette and cake, the storming of the Bastille, some enthusiastic usage of guillotines and Napoleon
Phillip K. Dick: A Man Before His Time
From his theories about AI to reenvisioned history, Phillip K. Dick was one of the most constantly inventive and complex writers of his time. For many, however, his ideas were too bold and experimental to be considered seriously by America’s elite novelists; like the setting of so many of his stories, Phillip K. Dick was before his time.
Harriet Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Some novels reflect the time in which they are written whilst others contribute to shaping it. Stowe’s novel, the second best-selling of the 1800s following the Bible, does both. The aim of Stowe’s novel is self-evident and phrased by her sister-in-law as ‘mak[ing] this whole
Howard Zinn: A People’s History of the United States
The US Constitution, ratified in 1788, begins ‘We the People’, but Howard Zinn’s ‘A People’s History of the United States’ attempts to prove that America as a nation never has been about the people and never will be unless the middle classes are awoken from
Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange
Anthony Burgess’ novel ‘A Clockwork Orange’ wrestles with the question of what makes us human. More precisely, it asks whether free will is an essential human quality. Burgess poses this question through the vessel of Alex, an extremely violent juvenile who is ultimately deprived of
“Spring” back into reading: The post-winter reading list
Now that spring is beginning to show its face, Joel discusses what books you can read to complement the move into the new season.
Bottom of the bookshelf: Fifty Shades of Grey
Joel looks at E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey and discusses why its failures actually work to become its strengths.
