Tag: literature

I wish for that ‘extent of subtleties’ Virginia Woolf discerned in Vita Sackville-West’s ‘Passenger to Teheran’: ‘the sly, brooding thinking, evading Vita. The whole book is full of nooks and crannies, the very intimate things one says in print’.

March 16, 2026

I wish for that ‘extent of subtleties’ Virginia Woolf discerned in Vita Sackville-West’s Passenger to Teheran: ‘the sly, brooding thinking, evading Vita. The whole book is full of nooks and crannies, the very intimate things one says in print’. [1] You glance at the photograph of Vita Sackville-West, taken on her own camera en route … More I wish for that ‘extent of subtleties’ Virginia Woolf discerned in Vita Sackville-West’s ‘Passenger to Teheran’: ‘the sly, brooding thinking, evading Vita. The whole book is full of nooks and crannies, the very intimate things one says in print’.

This blog is about a debut novel that, in my view, examines deliberate and / or necessary complications of what we mean by ‘being clear’, especially in the pursuit of physical satisfaction to selves full of yearning. You may guess this concerns an art that takes aspiring men and boys mainly as its subject matter, the debut novel being ‘Jean’ by Madeleine Dunnigan.

February 25, 2026

This blog is about a debut novel that, in my view, examines deliberate and / or necessary complications of what we mean by ‘being clear’, especially in the pursuit of physical satisfaction to selves full of yearning. You may guess this concerns an art that takes aspiring men and boys mainly as its subject matter, … More This blog is about a debut novel that, in my view, examines deliberate and / or necessary complications of what we mean by ‘being clear’, especially in the pursuit of physical satisfaction to selves full of yearning. You may guess this concerns an art that takes aspiring men and boys mainly as its subject matter, the debut novel being ‘Jean’ by Madeleine Dunnigan.

The fallacy of wanting to be, or imagining yourself being, for a restricted time, ‘someone else’ reveals why the silliest decision you will ever make is to ‘be yourself’.

February 21, 2026

The internet is full of quasi-psychology that is, whilst sometimes pretending to be folklore, about ‘being yourself, with a plethora of websites offering tips about how to be yourself. These tips rarely extend beyond recommended changes of behaviour or attitude to ‘self’, although they often include that time hallowed impossible injunction to ‘know yourself’. This … More The fallacy of wanting to be, or imagining yourself being, for a restricted time, ‘someone else’ reveals why the silliest decision you will ever make is to ‘be yourself’.

A week of Hamlets: [2] From some perspectives ‘Hamlet’ is a play about taking responsibility for your country.

February 13, 2026

A week of Hamlets: [2] From some perspectives ‘Hamlet’ is a play about taking responsibility for your country. Part 1 of this blog can be found at this link. Yesterday Geoff and I saw, after its first launch, the streamed version of the National Theatre’s most recent Hamlet from the Lyttleton Theatre. The choice of … More A week of Hamlets: [2] From some perspectives ‘Hamlet’ is a play about taking responsibility for your country.

Losing interest in ‘the double’ in the interests of the polymorphous. Do some themes in psycho-pathological fiction get overworked?: Using as a test case Graeme Macrae Burnet’s 2025 novel ‘Benbecula’.

February 6, 2026

Losing interest in ‘the double’ in the interests of the polymorphous. Do some themes in psycho-pathological fiction get overworked: Using as a test case Graeme Macrae Burnet’s 2025 novel Benbecula, Edinburgh, Polygon. I used to be fascinated by duality – that a thing we thought of as one thing was, in fact, two things: even … More Losing interest in ‘the double’ in the interests of the polymorphous. Do some themes in psycho-pathological fiction get overworked?: Using as a test case Graeme Macrae Burnet’s 2025 novel ‘Benbecula’.

Deconstructing a life that seems to circle around complaints by a creative woman about ‘family’: Is that the function of biography about a ‘knife woman’? This is another blog on the challenging art of the biographer with reference to Marie-Laure Bernadac [trans Lauren Elkin] (2026) ‘Knife-Woman: The Life of Louise Bourgeois’.

January 30, 2026

Deconstructing a life that seems to circle around complaints by a creative woman about ‘family’: Is that the function of biography about a ‘knife woman’? This is another blog on the challenging art of the biographer with reference to Marie-Laure Bernadac [trans Lauren Elkin] (2026) ‘Knife-Woman: The Life of Louise Bourgeois’. New Haven & London, … More Deconstructing a life that seems to circle around complaints by a creative woman about ‘family’: Is that the function of biography about a ‘knife woman’? This is another blog on the challenging art of the biographer with reference to Marie-Laure Bernadac [trans Lauren Elkin] (2026) ‘Knife-Woman: The Life of Louise Bourgeois’.

From making myself feel better by expressing my suffering to finding a means of redress for a grievance.

January 21, 2026

In reading this question, the contemporary and most frequent use of the word ‘complaint’ will be uppermost, which is mainly related to an expression of grievance or satisfaction leading to seeking a means of redress from the person or institution providing those goods or services which are found faulty or dangerous. It is part of … More From making myself feel better by expressing my suffering to finding a means of redress for a grievance.

Despite the literary establishment, biography can be done differently. Reflections on James Campbell (1991) ‘Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin’.

January 6, 2026

The white literary establishment once considered itself to be colour-blind, dealing equally with all writing free of categories such as ‘Black writing’, as distinguished from ‘White writing’, neither of which this establishment considered valid categorisations of the written literary text. For a literary biographer however it may be possible to tell the story of black … More Despite the literary establishment, biography can be done differently. Reflections on James Campbell (1991) ‘Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin’.

‘If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.’ Hamlet defines the time to designate ‘playtime’.

January 2, 2026

An man ready to play It always amazes how often one can turn to Shakespeare’s Hamlet for assistance in interpreting a WordPress prompt question. Play is a word used as a verb and a related noun and is used so in this question, with the links well established between noun and verb for Hamlet too … More ‘If it be now, ’tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come. The readiness is all.’ Hamlet defines the time to designate ‘playtime’.

It was this blog, of course! It is on Peter Jefferies & Gregory Jusdanis ‘Alexandrian Sphinx: The Hidden Life of Constantine Cavafy’.

December 20, 2025

It was this blog, of course! How to write on a life, whose archival raw material is ‘marked by two conspicuous gaps – the relative absence of material regarding Constantine’s erotic life and his views of Muslim Egyptians’.[1] This is a blog on Peter Jefferies & Gregory Jusdanis Alexandrian Sphinx: The Hidden Life of Constantine … More It was this blog, of course! It is on Peter Jefferies & Gregory Jusdanis ‘Alexandrian Sphinx: The Hidden Life of Constantine Cavafy’.

The fever of seeking recognition is at least one of the characteristics in the origin of the social, or aristocratic, vampire in literary myth. We could all do less fame-seeking! A case study based on John William Polidori’s life and writing, OR …

December 5, 2025

The fever of seeking recognition is at least one of the characteristics in the origin of the social, or aristocratic, vampire in literary myth. We could all do fame-seeking! A case study based on John William Polidori’s life and writing, [OR], ‘He watched him; and the very impossibility of forming an idea of the character … More The fever of seeking recognition is at least one of the characteristics in the origin of the social, or aristocratic, vampire in literary myth. We could all do less fame-seeking! A case study based on John William Polidori’s life and writing, OR …

“Boo only comes out at night”, so says Jem Finch in the 1962 film of ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’. What does it take to make ‘darkness visible’. This is a blog preparing me to see the touring production of the play by Aaron Sorkin at the Lowry Theatre on 22nd January 2026.

November 25, 2025

Thrown to the pit of Hell, Satan in Paradise Lost looks around him: At once as far as Angels kenn he viewsThe dismal Situation waste and wilde,A Dungeon horrible, on all sides roundAs one great Furnace flam’d, yet from those flamesNo light, but rather darkness visibleServ’d onely to discover sights of woe,Regions of sorrow, doleful … More “Boo only comes out at night”, so says Jem Finch in the 1962 film of ‘To Kill A Mocking Bird’. What does it take to make ‘darkness visible’. This is a blog preparing me to see the touring production of the play by Aaron Sorkin at the Lowry Theatre on 22nd January 2026.