Italian literature – the early years
Having just done Sicilian literature, I thought that this might be a good time to turn to Italian literature as whole, not least because it is cold, wet and miserable…
Sicilian literature
I have just come back from a week in Sicily, in the shadow of Mount Etna (see photo at left) so this seemed like a good time to have a…
Books I haven’t read Part 2
In my last post, I talked about the books I hadn't read either because it was difficult to get hold of them or because they were not available in a…
Books I haven’t read Part 1
One of the many joys of the Internet is the ability to find out about all the many books that you have not read and, in many cases, will never…
Nobel and Man Booker prizes – 100% failure
My predictions for the Man Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize were, as predicted, wrong. I said I always got them wrong and I did. I must admit that I…
Agony and Antagony
Don't you hate those cute titles for blog posts like the one I have just used? I certainly do. I read most blogs through my News Reader, which gives the…
Bloggers detrimental to literature
Peter Stothard, editor of the TLS and Chairman of this year's Man Booker prize committee has said bloggers are detrimental to literature. John Self responds to Stothard much better than…
Book prizes – the ultimate statement
This article by Shalom Auslander has to be the funniest take on book prizes I have seen. His story - Harley was our dog. She is dead now. I want…
Man Booker prize 2012
For the first (and probably last) time ever, I have managed to read all the books on Man Booker shortlist and, amazingly, read them before the winner is announced. I…
Jewish literature and the Soviet Union
If you ask most people who was the greatest criminal of the twentieth century, nine times out of ten Adolf Hitler would top the list and with very good reason.…