Literature
The great books Spectator writers and others hate
Find out which books PD James, Sam Leith, Susan Hill, Mark Amory, Barry Humphries and many more hate, then tell us about yours in the comments section. Craig Brown Which… Continue reading
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Sean O’ Brien: Poetry is political, all writing is political
Sean O’ Brien was born in London in 1952. Shortly afterwards, he moved to Hull, where he grew up, thus firmly cementing an allegiance to the North of England: a… Continue reading
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Mo Yan’s malignant apology for ‘necessary’ censorship
The Chinese writer Mo Yan collected the Nobel Prize for Literature last night. In his acceptance lecture, he reiterated his view that a degree of censorship is ‘necessary’ in the… Continue reading
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Suzanne Collins, J.K. Rowling and the albatross of success
Suzanne Collins, author of The Hunger Games, has announced that her next book will be a picture book. Rather than writing a follow-up dystopian adventure for her teenage readers, she… Continue reading
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In defence of Giles Coren
Giles Coren’s piece in the latest issue of the Spectator has caused a stir in the world of graphic novels (‘comic books’ to the uninitiated). He notes that two excellent… Continue reading
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Mike Newell’s Great Expectations will leave you with great questions
You cannot have failed to learn that a new film adaptation of Great Expectations has been released today. Publicity for the film is ubiquitous: posters of Ralph Fiennes as Magwitch… Continue reading
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There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. - Spectator Blogs
My thanks to Bella Caledonia for republishing Robert Louis Stevenson’s splendid essay An Apology for Idlers on this the 162nd anniversary of that fine man’s birth. It is the grandest… Continue reading
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Puffing Pamela: Book hype, 18th-century style
There are quite a few candidates competing for the title of the first novel in English literature. You can make a strong case for Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, or… Continue reading
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Review – Hawthorn and Child, by Keith Ridgeway
‘The body is a multitude of ways of coming apart’ writes Keith Ridgeway in his most recent novel Hawthorn & Child. He describes these ways. It can be beaten, broken… Continue reading
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Thornton Wilder’s theatrics in The Cabala
I was on a date once in Atlanta, Georgia. We decided on the theatre and there was only one show playing, The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder. After… Continue reading
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The Jimmy Savile scandal and Alexander Solzhenitsyn
‘The line dividing good from evil cuts through the heart of every human being… This line is not static within us; it sways to and fro over the years. Even… Continue reading
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Back to the start – Train Dreams, by Denis Johnson
Train Dreams, the Pulitzer nominated novella by playwright, poet and U.S National Book Award winning novelist Denis Johnson, is the life story of Robert Grainer, a man who ‘had one… Continue reading
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To take or not to take a pseudonym
Literary pseudonyms have been on my mind lately, for a couple of reasons. The first is Salman Rushdie’s revelation that he chose ‘Joseph Anton’ as his cover name when in… Continue reading
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Hilary Mantel’s Bring up the Bodies wins the Booker Prize
Hilary Mantel’s Bring Up the Bodies has won the Booker Prize, which seems right because it is the most accomplished book on the list – challenging but fundamentally readable thanks to the… Continue reading
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Your guide to the Booker Prize
Assorted literary grandees will squeeze into their tuxes this evening to compete for the Booker Prize. Of the debut novelists, one previous winner and a brace of old-timers, who stands the… Continue reading
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The shock value of John Wilmot, earl of Rochester
‘The Maidenhead’ Have you not in a chimney seen A sullen faggot wet and green, How coyly it receives the heat, And at both ends does fume and sweat? So… Continue reading
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Ian McEwan’s novel questions
Brevity does not imply levity. That, at least, is the view of Ian McEwan. The national treasure was speaking at the Cheltenham Literary Festival over the weekend when he crowned… Continue reading
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The Nobel Prize’s EU joke prompts questions about the nation state
The award of the Nobel Prize to the European Union is a tremendous joke; and like all great jokes it has brought people together. Commentators of left and right are… Continue reading
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The politics of the Nobel Prize for literature
The Nobel committee have delivered their verdict on the literature prize: Mo Yan is new laureate. Over at the books blog, I explain why this is an important decision politically.… Continue reading
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Mo Yan wins the Nobel Prize for Literature
The new Nobel laureate is Mo Yan, a Chinese writer. He is the first Chinese citizen to win the prize, and doubtless will become the first of many as China’s… Continue reading
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