Books

Why does everyone like East of Eden so much?

A beautiful book, written in a determinedly readable style, is bound to become popular, not to mention the endless power of nostalgia.

Seasonal reads: On childhood hobbies, growing up, and guilt

Reconnecting with reading is something many people tend to do on a summer holiday,...

Diverse voices: ‘Inshallah, Madonna, Inshallah’ by Miljenko Jergović 

‘When he created Earth and these lands upon it, when he divided people into...

YA Thrills: Escapism and disguise

An issue that has been encountered by authors since the dawn of time, perhaps one that feels too obvious to even state, is that some readers will not enjoy their books.

“A woman sitting alone, doing nothing”

Tilly Nevin reviews Mary Ruefle’s stunning and startling new collection 'My Private Property'

A rhetorical revolution on Trump?

Ethan Croft explores the academic discussion of Donald Trump's election and administration

Interview: A.C. Grayling

John Maier in conversation with A.C. Grayling about New Atheism, analytic philosophy, and the EU

Tiny words: on the art of small talk

Ellie Duncan ruminates on the place of everyday interaction in literary writing

‘Deeper than the Abyss’: Resisting the Holocaust

Sam Sussman reviews Peter Hayes' new book, 'Why? Explaining the Holocaust'

Representing sex in young adult fiction

Cherwell Books focuses on the importance of consent and honesty

Imagination and immediacy in travel writing

Ellie Duncan interviews Neil McQuillian, Senior Editor at Rough Guides

Between the World and Ta-Nehisi Coates

Altair Brandon-Salmon on an autobiographical look at American racism

Reinvention: a love affair with language

Tilly Nevin reviews approaches to the interplay of language and creativity

Writing the uncanny and the lyrical

Tilly Nevin reviews Gillian Cross and Daisy Johnson in conversation

Society divided: Dickens and revolution

Ethan Croft considers the politics of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities

The life and death of the millennial author

Daniel Curtis considers the implications of social media for literary legacies

Dostoyevsky and the crime of orthodoxy

Daniel Villar reflects on how Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s religious beliefs influenced his literature as the anniversary of his death approaches on 9 February

Review: The Leopard

Altair Brandon-Salmon revisits the classic Italian 20th century novel

Harry Potter and the Procrastinators’ Tome

Izzy Smith is reminded of the comforting power of the books of our childhood

Author of the week: Halldór Laxness

Ellie Duncan takes a look at one of Iceland's greatest writers

Review: ‘White Trash’ by Nancy Isenberg

Daniel Villar finds this survey of white working class America wanting

Author of the week: Paul Beatty

A look at the winner of the 2016 Man Booker Prize

Writing winter from Shakespeare to Selvon

Ellie Duncan surveys the representation of winter in literature through the ages

The richness of the materiality of books

Altair Brandon-Salmon discusses the importance of books as aesthetic objects

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