![]() However, The Moon and Sixpence is a little more daring in its structure than we might expect. One of the attractions of Maugham for me is his position as a sort of literary guilty pleasure: his books are comforting in their conformity to traditional literary form, a sort of dilute – or at least less bleak – essence of Graham Greene. ![]() The author blurb on these new Vintage Classics editions of his works tell us that “with the publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence, reputation as a novelist was established.” The only other thing I knew about it was that it was inspired by the life of Paul Gauguin, and that the story as described on the back cover seems reminiscent of Philip Larkin’s ‘Poetry of Departures’ (“ He chucked up everything / And just cleared off“), a theme which Maugham would return in his last major novel, The Razor’s Edge. Having read and enjoyed a couple of Somerset Maugham’s less celebrated novels, I thought it was time to turn to the more famous ones. ![]()
0 Comments
![]() ![]() Thousands of people travelled to the country, encouraged by posters from travel agents like Thomas Cook who urged people to see the country for themselves. With Hitler's grabbing of power in 1933 the regime was keen to promote itself was positively as possible around the globe and expanded its promotional work enormously. ![]() It is with only a slight amount of tongue in cheek that she can write in an opening line to one of the final chapters that the "year 1939 was not a good one for Germany's tourist trade" because for much of the 1930s the opposite was true. It's a phrase that repeatedly came to mind as I read Julia Boyd's highly interesting and critically lauded book that looks at Hitler's Germany through the eyes of visitors in the 1930s. It is a cliche to say it but "hindsight is a wonderful thing". ![]() ![]() Recently returned to England from abroad, he intends to shun both marriage and society-just as his callous father shunned Simon throughout his painful childhood. ![]() She is simply too deuced honest for that, too unwilling to play the romantic games that captivate gentlemen.Īmiability is not a characteristic shared by Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. Everyone likes Daphne for her kindness and wit. The fourth of eight siblings in her close-knit family, she has formed friendships with the most eligible young men in London. A young, marriageable lady should be amiable…but not too amiable.ĭaphne Bridgerton has always failed at the latter. ![]() A proper duke should be imperious and aloof. From their earliest days, children of aristocrats learn how to address an earl and curtsey before a prince-while other dictates of the ton are unspoken yet universally understood. In the ballrooms and drawing rooms of Regency London, rules abound. Look for Queen Charlotte, the new Bridgerton story by Julia Quinn and Shonda Rhimes, inspired by the Netflix series.įrom #1 New York Times bestselling author Julia Quinn comes the story of Daphne Bridgerton, in the first of her beloved Regency-set novels featuring the charming, powerful Bridgerton family, now a series created by Shondaland for Netflix. ![]() ![]() She lived in a low-income suburb but went to Launceston Grammar. We’re the same age – 48 – but never met back then. It’s the kind of eatery – coffee roastery, slick design, Instagram-worthy breakfasts – that didn’t exist in the insular Launceston we knew as teenagers. We discuss this over lunch at Tatler Lane, a restaurant close to her Launceston electorate office, in the state’s north. It’s the Monday following the April Aston byelection and debate is running hot: what does the seat’s loss mean for the conservative side of politics? Archer believes she knows exactly what it means and spells it out in the morning papers: “I think the party needs to stop ideological dog-whistling and return to centrist Liberal values.” And there, alongside her quote, are the words now unshakeably paired with her name: “outspoken Tasmanian MP”. I meet Bridget Archer just after the federal Liberal MP lobbed another mini-grenade at her own party. ![]() This story is part of the May 27 Edition of Good Weekend. ![]() ![]() ![]() From an evolutionary standpoint, shouldn’t we prefer truth to fiction? Why Question in the psychology of fiction is why people like fictional stories atĪll. My scientist and writer selves work together when I sit down to write a new Take the FIXER blog tour as an opportunity to give readers a look into the way Stories from a scientific standpoint changes the way I write. And the answer is that everything I learn about the power of Whether or not my work looking at the psychology of stories affects the way I Professor studying the science of books, movies, and television shows is Questions I get a lot as a writer who has a double life as a psychology Today over on Fiction Freak, I’m discussing the theory that fiction = gossip about people who aren’t real. ![]() ![]() Science of Fiction, Part Two: Fiction and GossipĪs part of the FIXER blog tour, I’m doing a series of posts on the science of fiction. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() When Luke sees Cowboy, one of the Mexicans, later murder Hank and toss his body into the river, Cowboy threatens to kill Luke's mother if Luke tells anyone what he saw. Hank arrogantly identifies Luke as a friendly witness who can support his version of the event, and the fearful boy backs up his story, although the adults in his life, including local sheriff Stick Powers, suspect he's too frightened to admit the truth. ![]() But a much more unpleasant experience is seeing Tally's brother, the overly aggressive and mentally unstable Hank Spruill, attack three boys from the notorious Sisco family - one of whom is beaten so severely that he dies from his wounds. Is much obsessed with the beautiful 17-year old Tally Spruill, who on one occasion lets him see her naked, bathing in a creek. They initially consider themselves lucky to hire the Spruills, a family of "hill people," and a few Mexican migrant workers who annually come to the area looking for work.Īside from working long hours under the hot sun in the fields, Luke's life is fairly idyllic. ![]() The story begins to unfold as Luke and his grandfather Eli, also known as Pappy, search for migrant workers to help them with the cotton picking. ![]() ![]() ![]() It wasn’t the weapon’s governing equations or even the instructor’s left eye, damaged during the attack, from which ghostlight glimmered. The detail that stuck in Cheris’s head wasn’t the part where every door in the besieged city exhaled radiation that baked the inhabitants dead. ![]() Said instructor had once witnessed a winnower in use. ![]() (And don’t forget you can grab Ninefox Gambit right now: Rebellion Store| Amazon US| Amazon UK)Īt Kel Academy, an instructor had explained to Cheris’s class that the threshold winnower was a weapon of last resort, and not just for its notorious connotations. So, without further ado, he’s the first part of Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee. We’re so excited that we’ve decided to give a sneak preview of the opening chapter. Yoon Ha Lee’s debut novel is a dazzling mixture of action, heart and brains, a space opera like no other that will crowbar open your brain and stay lodged there for months after you’ve put it down. We’re incredibly excited about Ninefox Gambit. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() What Sophie needs is an insider at court, a loyal pair of eyes and ears who knows the traps, the conspiracies, and the treacheries that surround her. Sophie’s destiny at court is to marry the Empress’s nephew, but she has other, loftier, more dangerous ambitions, and she proves to be more guileful than she first appears. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great. ![]() Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be educated in skills from lock picking to lovemaking, learning above all else to listen-and to wait for opportunity. Nimble-witted and attentive, she’s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world’s most eminent court. The Winter Palace tells the epic story of Catherine the Great’s improbable rise to power-as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYįrom award-winning author Eva Stachniak comes this passionate novel that illuminates, as only fiction can, the early life of one of history’s boldest women. ![]() ![]() Non traditional nuclear/ heteronormative families, relationships and people populate this story with disarming naturalness. This was less confusing than the anti-woke mob might presume when reading. Lee himself identifies an a trans man/ queer (choosing “him/ he”) and his protagonist here is a gender neutral “them/they”. Is it Steampunk, SciFi- Fantasy, Alternative History, Parody…? Or none/ all?Īmerican-Korean author Lee is not just transgressive in genre blending, but in the themes and characters of his story here. Lots of norm transgressions, in the best possible way. The genre is new to me, a giant leap really. ![]() ![]() ![]() So I was already well sold on Phoenix Extravagant (2021) by American writer Yoon Ha Lee ( Wikipedia interview) for this month’s book choice, only then to be even further persuaded by the following excellent, quick review by a fellow club member (posted with permission): But, expanding my literary horizons was of the main reasons I started this book club, as was supporting more LGBTQ representation in Korean and Korean-American fiction. A medley of steampunk, fantasy, and magic realism? And featuring multiple animal characters? Frankly, none of those I like at all, let alone when all put together. ![]() ![]() ![]() Strange is both the Sorcerer Supreme and a brilliant neurosurgeon. If Daredevil knows geniuses like Hank Pym who help him out, why wouldn’t he bring Foggy to Avengers Mansion for treatment rather than a hospital? In fact, in a world with people like Reed Richards, Hank McCoy and Tony Stark running around, how does cancer even still exist? Hell, Dr. ![]() ![]() I had a moment where I questioned that a bit because it seemed to bring up a problem inherent to comic books. This is set off nicely by the personal stuff of Foggy’s life threatening cancer. The bad guy who rises out of that feels like a true threat threat capable of not only killing Daredevil, but of also driving him into a near panic at the threat looming over him. It was an especially nice touch to have someone doing brutal experiments on people to try and recreate the accident that blinded Matt and gave him his power. It seems like Mark Waid had sneakily been laying the groundwork for the revenge plot for a while now, and he did a solid job of making the whole elaborate scheme believable. ![]() Put the two of them together and you get something pretty great. If it had been just about Foggy getting cancer and how Matt tries to be there for his best friend, it could have been damn good. If this collection had been just about the revelation of a plot by a hidden enemy to destroy Daredevil, it could have good. ![]() |