Shock horror: I don’t think you can review this book by simply saying “I loved it / I hated it” and yes, there are certainly things that are more wrong with it than right about it: like anything that stands the test of time as well as this classic 1954 novel, it’s far more complicated than all that. A small novel that has now achieved legendary status, I find myself wondering how the book would do if it was submitted Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the truth: although there are many truly great male writers in the world, many of them write very similarly to each other. Even some of the best writers in the world can be accused of being a bit lacking when it comes to being original. With that in mind, here are a few writers who you have probably heard of but might not have read, especially if you’re growing up in the Twilight and Harry Potter era.

These are Read the rest of this entry »

Isn’t it funny how the further away one tries to steer from a cliché, the quicker one seems to arrive at one. Sometimes I think all poetry is a cliché. Whilst reading poetry and getting into the hang of the rhyming scheme, it can seem that each punctuated syllable and closing couplet is the most obvious choice the poet could have made, and once again one is driven into a frustrating cul-de-sac, reading what seems to be another man’s rhyming Read the rest of this entry »

Re-reading a book that you read in your childhood can be an interesting experience. You might be reading it again just because you remember it being a brilliant story, or to see if it makes you feel the same as it did when you were a kid, or because you’ve simply forgotten what happened. I recently read Jostein Gaarder’s Sophie’s World for a second time, for all of these reasons.
Sophie’s World is a children’s book which aims to explore Read the rest of this entry »

Richard Matheson has come up with some truly cracking stories over the long length of his career and many of these have been turned into some excellent films. ‘Duel’, ‘Somewhere in Time’, ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’, ‘Stir of Echoes’ and ‘The Legend of Hell House’ have all helped to put Matheson firmly on the map in terms of Sci-Fi, Horror and Thrillers.

However, his greatest achievement in writing is probably ‘I am Legend’. Written in 1958, it was the first Read the rest of this entry »

July 11^th 2010 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of one of the most remarkable and enduring novels of the 20^th Century: To Kill A Mockingbird. The novel has spawned films, stage adaptations and even the names of indie rock groups but it is the sheer power of Harper Lee’s simple prose that retains the power to shock and illuminate after half a century, still taught in most schools in North America, this novel is truly regarded Read the rest of this entry »

Of the many internet publishing companies, Triond is such a website that allows its members to write on any topic they want, from summer vacations with family to blackberry phones for sale on the highstreet, which are then published on its various sister websites. Triond places advertisements on the content and shares any revenue that is generated with the authors.

The revenue that is generated is paid to the authors by Paypal (or by cheque) promptly every month, with the Read the rest of this entry »

Writer’s block is pretty universal in the writer community. But what happens when you just can’t seem to find the inspiration or drive to write? Well, that can be a very tough ordeal to deal with. Inspiration plays a very strong part in your ability to write, and write well. So what do you do when you’ve tried everything and you still can’t seem to get the inspiration to write back?

First, start with how and why you lost your Read the rest of this entry »

I came to this book primarily as a Morrissey fan who loved everything from the lyrics he penned to his vinyl packaging, but also as a fan of academia and literature. At first I thought I was in for a fantastic read, at last someone else who sees Morrissey in a wider cultural context, who recognizes Moz for being something more than just a pop star, a literary sort of pop star.

I must confess however that the further Read the rest of this entry »

It would seem (to me) that the golden days of Science Fiction are long gone and have been replaced by absurd things like Botox Cheshire ads…

We may have oodles of CGIs in the movies and TV programmes of today, but the actual stories just don’t seem to be very good a lot of the time. Of course, there are always a few exceptions; ‘Solaris’, ‘Sunshine’ and ’28 Days Later’ were all brilliant stories, but most modern Sci-Fi is a Read the rest of this entry »