book review Archives

Life on Earth: Art as armour in Mandel’s ‘Station Eleven’

The novel demonstrates how speculative fiction is a genre ultimately concerned with the relationship between the environment and the individual, between Earth and humanity.

‘Technologies of capture’: Ben Lerner’s ‘Transcription’ Reviewed

The book opens with the unnamed narrator travelling to interview his academic mentor and 90-year-old intellectual superstar, Thomas, for a magazine.

Rory Stewart’s ‘Middleland: Dispatches from the Borders’ in review

Middleland (2025) is not his masterpiece, but it is as much worth reading as any of his work – erudite, perceptive, and beautifully written.

‘The political is also political’: Ash Sarkar’s ‘Minority Rule’

Universities have often been seen as bastions of radicalism. Forgetting the fact that higher educational institutions, particularly ancient and elite ones in the Anglophone...

Algorithms of individuality: ‘The Consciousness Company’

As Stephen Fry wrote, The Consciousness Company by M.N. Rosen addresses the “enormous ethical, metaphysical and existential waves threatening to engulf us”. It is...

Empireworld: How British Imperialism Shaped the Globe (Sathnam Sanghera, 2024): Review

Without confronting the wrongs of the past, the wrongs of the present will go on unabated.

Wattpad: the new online course in creative writing?

The only issue that sites like Wattpad face is their association with ‘low value’ feminine writing and smut.

Book Recommendations from the Editors’ Desk

Read our book section editors' Michaelmas book recommendations: Rufus Jones on Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon, Ananya Parakh on Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer,...

Frankenstein and Me

"The important ethical issues and imaginative storytelling are more than enough to stimulate your mind in the middle of a dreary academic workload."

My Favourite Childhood Book: Anne of Green Gables

"Anne is such an iconic figure in children’s literature that I’m sure many relate to my enjoyment of her character"

Have A Hot Girl Hilary!

Deborah Ogunnoiki reviews Oloni's sex guide The Big O on how to have a healthy sex life, just in time for 'Hot Girl Hilary'.

Babel, or the Beauty of Multilingualism

Emerald Ace-Acquah reflects on the complexities of language, colonisation, and power, as explored in R. F. Kuang's new novel.

Spare – Is Harry’s book another step in the road to a United Republic?

"It is possible, therefore, to feel intensely sorry for Harry, treated as he has been, without forgiving him for this very public falling out with the nation."

Wings and Words: why you should read Grief Is The Thing With Feathers

Recalling the first time I read Grief, on a thankfully empty train, I’m very glad no one was present to witness what must have been a harrowing and confusing parade of expressions as I progressed. It’s a few hours I will never regret.

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