A short story collection that captivates from the very start, Subjunctive Moods is a spectacular triumph and brilliant example of how setting can really bring a story to life. Menon is no stranger to multi-cultural experiences, and this shines through in her short prose. Each story is crafted to the utmost quality, and we feel
What is it exactly that makes a good character? Everyone seems to have an opinion. Plot is not the point, didn’t you know? It’s character. Or, if you want to be pernickety like Hemmingway, you could say ‘that when writing a novel, the writer should create living people, people not characters.’ Ah people, well that
Ray Bradbury’s classic envisages a dystopian future in which the job of firemen is to seek out books and burn them. In this edition, introduced by Michael Moorcock, Sam Weber’s astonishing illustrations perfectly capture the novel’s haunting atmosphere. IT WAS A PLEASURE TO BURN. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see
It is a truth universally acknowledged that bad writing is at its worst when it encounters sex. So entertaining is it that sex can be written so badly, an award is handed out annually to honour the worst sex scenes. Sex, in writing, is perhaps best left in the empty spaces and insinuations, or,
Edward George, the taciturn, morose, elderly man from the flat above, who had only been invited to the dinner-party to forestall any complaints he might make about the noise, and who, as was clear from his reluctance to join in the general conversation about the topics of the moment, namely, political corruption, rising property prices,
Libraries Rock! Back in 2010, right at the start of the post-recession austerity regime, you may remember that an egregious pro-cuts demonstration descended on Westminster. Now, of course, this is a democracy and everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if they think austerity is great. That’s what I thought, anyway, as I watched on
