The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Kiljan Laxness My rating: 5 of 5 stars What a beautiful and complex book. It takes in themes of nationhood, the role of parents and grand parents, heroes and the complexities attached to being a creative person. The book works in a funny, meandering way where we learn a lot about the people of Iceland in the form of … Continue reading REVIEW: The Fish Can Sing – Halldór Laxness
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman My rating: 5 of 5 stars A universal and beautifully real novel which runs along so easily and wonderfully. Narrated by Elio, the younger of the two, you feel his fears, the thrill of his growing obsession with Oliver and, at moments, his fantasies made real. The novel has a few differences to the film (which is … Continue reading REVIEW: Call Me By Your Name – Andre Aciman
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen My rating: 5 of 5 stars I love Austen. Her wit and wry humour is something I have enjoyed immensely for a number of years. Knowing her other novels well, this one does have a slightly different atmosphere and tone at moments. For the first half of the book, it feels very much like a standard Austen, a witty comedy … Continue reading REVIEW: Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
Dee Dee na nah nah nah naaaah! I have long been a lover of a Scandinavian bop with a melancholic streak. Searching back in my history, Saturday Night may have been one of the first that I truly loved. It’s not just the catchy beats and the repetitive lyrics, it was the simplistic (but oddly iconic) video and the incredibly involved and energetic dance routine … Continue reading Poet On Pop: Saturday Night by Whigfield
“I am naked as a tablecloth, my nerves humming” I walk up and down Tottenham Court Road finding lunch options slim. I discover when I arrive at a usually dependable last resort lunch spot that the whole shop has been gutted, emptied, even the sign taken off the outside. Peering inside, I press my face to the glass like a nosy child. … Continue reading Lunch Poems by Frank O’Hara: 1. Music
In the rain, I swoop down on my paraglider, line myself up directly above the giant ogre, then I plummet downwards, thrusting the sword into the ogre’s ugly head. This woke him up. After battling for a few minutes, shooting arrows into his one big eye, he dies and leaves me a cache of very good weapons (also some toenails), which I collect. Walking … Continue reading Yes, I am still wild for Breath of the Wild
Successful poems, like successful pop songs have a strong central conceit or metaphor, this is like a central gravitational point which as the piece orbits sometimes closely like Mercury around the sun, sometimes distant like Pluto. The song or poem is a journey of exploring this central point up close or at an obscure distance. In this post I will be casting my poet’s eye over Lady … Continue reading A Poet on Pop! Lady Gaga
