Fiction Archives

Nev March: History and Mystery

In this episode of our Two for Tea podcast, editor-in-chief Iona Italia talks to novelist Nev March about her latest book, Peril at the Exposition, an intricately plotted and lushly descriptive historical…

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11 min

When Fiction Is Truer Than Fact: Hunter S. Thompson’s Gonzo Journalism

Just over fifty years ago, in 1971, Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was published and instantly became a countercultural classic. However, people have always struggled to…

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2 min

The Innovations of Jane Austen: A Conversation with John Mullan

01/12/2022
John Mullan and Iona Italia

In this episode of our Two for Tea podcast, I talk to Professor John Mullan about the subtlety and genius of Jane Austen: one of most popular and perhaps the most…

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4 min

Arts

Art and the Search for Immortality

In the 1982 film Blade Runner, a group of synthetic humans called replicants abandon their various posts off world and make an illegal return to Earth. Their motives become clear…

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12 min

What’s Possessed Us? “The Story Paradox” by Jonathan Gottschall

Many movies feature characters with dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder. But when researchers combed through all the psychiatric records from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries for…

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7 min

Ancient Archetypes and Modern Superheroes

Nothing is said that has not been said before.—Terence, Eunuchus. We live in an age of superheroes. In every one of the past five years, with the exception of 2020…

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11 min

One Book to Rule Them All: The Enduring Popularity of The Lord of the Rings

A commercial for Amazon’s forthcoming TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, aired during this year’s Super Bowl, racked up a record 257 million views online…

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1 min

Interview with Nev March, Author of “Murder in Old Bombay”

21/01/2022
Iona Italia and Nev March

In the latest episode of Areo‘s Two for Tea podcast, editor-in-chief Iona Italia interviews novelist Nev March about her ambitious historical novel, which explores issues of race, class and imperialism in…

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8 min

Arts

Santa, Superman and Notre Dame: On the Reinvention of Culture

So, it turns out that Santa Claus is gay. Or at least he is according to Norway’s postal service, Posten, which recently released a Christmas advertisement showing him enjoying some…

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7 min

Why We Should Treat the Bible as Literature, Not Scripture

In the 17 May 2021 episode of his podcast, Jordan Peterson talks to Stephen Fry about how atheists view the moral value of mythology. (Fry, a well-known atheist, is also…

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9 min

Updike’s Panther: Rabbit Redux at Fifty

“Say what you see.” That was Roy Walker’s advice to contestants on the UK quiz show Catchphrase. We are attracted to other people’s observations—it is one of the reasons we…

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9 min

Culture & Media

Dostoevsky’s Critique of the Modern World

Dostoevsky is considered one of the greatest novelists of all time—a reputation that is well earned. Most writers would be content to write one masterpiece; two would be an exceptional…

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4 min

Culture & Media

The Novel Virus: In Defense of Fiction

As 2020 draws to a close, there is a pre-echo of normalcy in the air, the possibility of a return to a glorious summer even as we head into what…

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7 min

Culture & Media

Brave New Literary World

I recently saw a tweet by writer Thomas Chatterton Williams that said, “We are going to need very brave novelists again.” My first reaction was that he’s right. My second…

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9 min

“Troubled Blood” by J. K. Rowling

J. K. Rowling’s fifth Cormoran Strike novel, Troubled Blood, is a brilliantly successful literary work. It engages the reader on intellectual, emotional and aesthetic levels. It is a long novel—927…

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7 min

Culture & Media

Beloved Child of the House

All parts of the house are repeated many times, any place is another place. There is no one pool, courtyard, drinking trough, manger; the mangers, drinking troughs, courtyards, pools are…

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Fiction

Nev March: History and Mystery

When Fiction Is Truer Than Fact: Hunter S. Thompson’s Gonzo Journalism

The Innovations of Jane Austen: A Conversation with John Mullan

Art and the Search for Immortality

What’s Possessed Us? “The Story Paradox” by Jonathan Gottschall

Ancient Archetypes and Modern Superheroes

One Book to Rule Them All: The Enduring Popularity of The Lord of the Rings

Interview with Nev March, Author of “Murder in Old Bombay”

Santa, Superman and Notre Dame: On the Reinvention of Culture

Why We Should Treat the Bible as Literature, Not Scripture

Updike’s Panther: Rabbit Redux at Fifty

Dostoevsky’s Critique of the Modern World

The Novel Virus: In Defense of Fiction

Brave New Literary World

“Troubled Blood” by J. K. Rowling

Beloved Child of the House

New to Areo

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