Litlove

LATEST ARTICLES ( 399 )

• Life; An Alternative

  

  I once read a case study about a child who, when she learned that her parents were splitting up and they would have to move house, took one of the ornate... Read more

  Posted on 28 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Song of Achilles

  

  For the larger part of the Orange-Prize-winning Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, I wondered whether I was reading the same book as everyone else. I’d seen... Read more

  Posted on 25 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• To Overshare Or Not To Overshare?

  

  Kathryn Harrison had a succès de scandale in the late 90s with her memoir The Kiss, in which she recounted the four years of incestuous relationship she had wit... Read more

  Posted on 23 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Bluets

  

  1. ‘Suppose I were to begin by saying that I had fallen in love with a colour,’ Maggie Nelson writes in the first of 240 numbered paragraphs. ‘Suppose I were... Read more

  Posted on 21 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Few Trailers

  

  Just a reminder that the first creative non-fiction book I’ll be reading – hopefully with some of you – will be Bluets by Maggie Nelson this coming Sunday,... Read more

  Posted on 18 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• In Praise of ‘Difficult’ Novels

  

  What makes a novel difficult? Well, just about anything that doesn’t conform to the conventional unfolding of plot and character. And yet the whole point of... Read more

  Posted on 17 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Slap, European Style

  

  I haven’t read Christos Tsiolkas’s controversial novel, The Slap, although I can see I will have to now. But I think the catalyst for the narrative is a slap... Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• When Is A Cliché Not A Cliché?

  I seem to be running a one-woman vendetta against the so-called ‘rules’ of writing, which strike me ever more like literary use-by dates, or a way of making... Read more

  Posted on 12 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Portrait of Adultery

  

  When I heard about Wendy Plump’s memoir of her marriage – one scarred by affairs on both sides – I confess I was very curious to read it. Read more

  Posted on 10 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Severe

  

  Well, this is a book that will divide its audience! When I was first offered a copy of Severe for review and saw the cover with its high heels and whips and wad... Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Warning: I Am Upset

  Well, college has done it again. I went in on Wednesday, thinking to have a look at my room and to figure out how best to pack it up, only to be met by one of... Read more

  Posted on 05 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Words of Wisdom

  

  n. Wis-dom: 1. The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.I have always been interested in what may be called ‘wisdom’, that... Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• An Editor’s Life

  

  People who buy books, not counting useful how-to-do-it books, are of two kinds. There are those who buy because they love books and what they can get from... Read more

  Posted on 31 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Some News

  1. I’m so sick of my yahoo email account being hacked that I’ve decided to shut it down. It’s been the email attached to this blog, so please note that if you... Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Modern Love

  

  ‘People would never fall in love if they hadn’t heard love talked about,’ said François de la Rochefoucauld, which is a good reminder why love stories are an... Read more

  Posted on 27 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• On Being Stalked

  

  In the autumn of 2003, James Lasdun ran a fiction workshop at an American college where he met a talented Iranian-American student whom he calls ‘Nasreen’. Read more

  Posted on 25 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• 10 Books That Make You Look Cool

  

  This came in as a search engine query a week or so ago, and it made me laugh. And then I liked it as an idea and began to wonder what the properties of a... Read more

  Posted on 23 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• On The Make In Belle-Epoque Paris

  

  One of the best fiction books I’ve read so far this year came as a complete surprise, as they so often do. You may recall that several weeks ago, I reviewed... Read more

  Posted on 20 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Among Others

  

  Although there are genres I read notably less of than others, I’d never say never; often it takes just one well-written book to hit the spot and a whole world o... Read more

  Posted on 19 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Birthday Books

  

  Many apologies for being so quiet this week; a combination of writing deadlines and what seems to be the usual family crises have kept me away from the... Read more

  Posted on 17 March 2013 BOOKS, CULTURE