Literature Archives

Naming the Unnameable: Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens and the Defence of Free Speech

We should be wary therefore what persecution we raise against the living labours of public men, how we spill that seasoned life of man, preserved and stored up in books;…

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9 min

The Trick of Evocative Science Writing: “Books Do Furnish a Life” by Richard Dawkins

In his previous essay collection, Science in the Soul, Richard Dawkins ponders why a scientist has never received the Nobel Prize in Literature—the only possible exception, Henri Bergson, was “more…

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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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6 min

Culture & Media

The Delight of Sentience: “Inside Story: A Novel” by Martin Amis

Martin Amis opens and closes Inside Story by addressing the reader directly. From the beginning, then, we are confidantes of the author and the implied promise of the book’s title is fulfilled—this…

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13 min

Culture & Media

Own the Filth: Writing Into the Ethical Compromises of Fiction

Novelists these days face difficult working conditions, even the few who land seven-figure deals. Witness this year’s fiercest skirmish on the literary frontline of the culture wars: the clash over…

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7 min

Culture & Media

The Unbeliever Knows His Qur’an Best

Photo by Masjid Pogung Dalangan The Koran! well, come put me to the test Lovely old book in hideous error drest Believe me, I can quote the Koran too, The…

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5 min

Culture & Media

“Lying Bastard” by Clint Margrave. Book Review.

Grim, uncouth, and hilarious: these are the adjectives I’d use to describe Lying Bastard, the upcoming debut novel of prolific poet and polemicist Clint Margrave. The story follows the mindscape…

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13 min

Culture & Media

Dostoevsky’s Campaign Against Rationalism and Progress

Fyodor Dostoevsky was defeated by history. A man who viciously attacked and satirized the ideologies of rationalism and communism and defended traditional religious and family structures, Dostoevsky died just decades…

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5 min

Culture & Media

Being Human Is A Quest: A Review of Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte

Inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Salman Rushdie’s Booker Prize-nominated novel Quichotte (pronounced in the French way, key-SHOT) is a work of postmodern picaresque with a metafictional narrative…

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19 min

Culture & Media

Politics vs. Aesthetics: Why Great Art Cannot Conform to Our Political Views

Percy Bysshe Shelley proclaimed poets “the unacknowledged legislators of the world.” Today, that distinction belongs to Twitter mobs. Dispensing mob justice in brief and brutal 280-character decrees, these sneering Solons…

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8 min

Culture & Media

Why We Need Fantasy Literature

J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings has sold around 150 million copies worldwide, which makes it one of the bestselling fiction novels of all time. Some even…

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11 min

Culture & Media

The Ugly Truth About Not Seeing Beauty

To look at a thing is very different from seeing a thing. One does not see anything until one sees its beauty. Then, and then only, does it come into…

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7 min

Culture & Media

Literature, Authenticity and Race

As Cathy Young observes in a recent essay, the media has not given J. D. Salinger a warm welcome into his centennial year. Two days before the celebrated author’s birthday, the Washington…

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8 min

Areo Magazine

Excuse Me, You Appear to Have a Broken Moral Compass

Helen Dale will be speaking at the Battle of Ideas on “Cultural Appropriation in Literature: Whose voice is it anyway?” on Sunday 14th October Sunday 7 October was the 1-year…

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4 min

Culture & Media

Why You Should Read (More) Poetry

“Poetry,” wrote a jaded WH Auden, “Makes nothing happen.” The creative energy that had bloomed amid the ashes of the First World War had been snuffed out by the horrors…

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Literature

Naming the Unnameable: Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens and the Defence of Free Speech

The Trick of Evocative Science Writing: “Books Do Furnish a Life” by Richard Dawkins

The Novel Virus: In Defense of Fiction

The Delight of Sentience: “Inside Story: A Novel” by Martin Amis

Own the Filth: Writing Into the Ethical Compromises of Fiction

The Unbeliever Knows His Qur’an Best

“Lying Bastard” by Clint Margrave. Book Review.

Dostoevsky’s Campaign Against Rationalism and Progress

Being Human Is A Quest: A Review of Salman Rushdie’s Quichotte

Politics vs. Aesthetics: Why Great Art Cannot Conform to Our Political Views

Why We Need Fantasy Literature

The Ugly Truth About Not Seeing Beauty

Literature, Authenticity and Race

Excuse Me, You Appear to Have a Broken Moral Compass

Why You Should Read (More) Poetry

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