"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
~ Douglas Adams
"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
~ Dr. Suess
"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."
~ Anton Chekhov
As the world watches the growth of the Occupy movement and its often attendant V-masked protestors, it is a good time to look at and discuss the V for Vendetta graphic novel, and whether it is still relevant nearly thirty years after its publication. (There’s a fascinating article here in which David Lloyd discusses the […]
There can be no doubt that writing a Sherlock Holmes novel, as endorsed by the Conan Doyle estate, must be accompanied by the kind of pressure and expectations that only first term American presidents must be familiar with. Not only is it a series with over a hundred years of uninterrupted popularity, but it also […]
Where to start when discussing the most played character in English literature? For now (and to stop this blog post from turning into the thesis it could so easily be), I’d like to share my undying love of the last two reinventions of Sherlock Holmes on the big screen and the latest novel as endorsed […]
In a parallel argument to the ‘No Gays Please’ attitude to most YA texts, this week the Guardian discussed the whitewashing of book covers in order to prevent the cover harming the book sales. But Larbalestier believes the issues of “whitewashing” of covers, ghettoising of books by people of colour, and low expectations for these books are industry-wide. […]
The graphic novel has long been a favourite form of mine for its ability to transcend the seperate capabilities of print and images by combining them. And contrary to popular belief, graphic novels often deftly handle material as serious as fasicm, the Holocaust and the Cold War. It has been twenty-five years since the ground-breaking […]
The movie adaptation of Kathryn Stockett‘s The Help is currently on circuit in South Africa, and the book has enjoyed months on the New York Times bestseller list. While the movie deals with racism in 1960s America (which isn’t all that long ago), it might have an interesting angle for South Africans. After all, Eve of […]
One of the greatest authors of our time celebrates his eightieth birthday today. John le Carre, real name David Cornwell, has brought us many literary treasures over the years and has been compared to some of the greatest authors in history. Check out this comment from his author profile by The Guardian: His great predecessors […]
On this day ,18 October, in 1944 Forever Amber by Kathleen Windsor was published for the first time. In this digital age where all our fantasies can be brought to life by the click of a button, it is interesting to look back and see that humans have always been delighted by the forbidden and […]
