Elif Shafak I have read four of Elif’s books and, for me, There are Rivers in the Sky is the finest so far. Previously, it was The Island of Missing Trees, a tale told around a divided Cyprus as observed by a fig tree. Yes, you read that right. Elif writes with passion in all her books, exploring subjects that matter deeply to her—cultural, political and for silenced people,…
“Blimey Sue where on earth are you leading us?” My flatmate Angela and I were well off the beaten track, as always. You didn’t truly get to know a place until you left the tourist tat behind. We’d chosen Tallinn for a weekend away, not because it was a bucket list item, but because a budget airline had put it on the map. I did, however, have a small…
Yes, I thought a photo of the front cover would grab your attention. A Curious History of Sex by Dr. Kate Lister is an interesting and witty journey through the, well, history of sex. Not the whole history of course, as Kate says that would be a mighty tome indeed. It is a book about how cultural attitudes have changed over the centuries towards various aspects of sex and…
3rd June 2003 It’s gone. I’ve had to start a new one. Where is it? Jesus Christ, what am I gonna do? Turned everything upside down, emptied out my cupboards, cleared everything out and it’s gone. Where’s it gone? Where can it have gone, it never, ever, ever leaves this room. * 5th June Mum won’t look me in the eye. Am I imagining it? She talks to the…
Lanny is one of the most original books I have ever read, up there with Milkman by Anna Burns — winner of the Booker in 2018 — although as stories go they are chalk and cheese. Milkman tells the story of ‘middle-sister’, a woman who lives in an unnamed city, although clearly Belfast during the troubles. She’s currently going out with ‘maybe-boyfriend’, but life for her is never that…
Artefact 127-A-6-HP from the very brief human period. Background: Transcripts of a salvaged audio log, found with the orbital craft ‘New Eden’ which had crashed 2.1 million years ago. It was discovered by the Olandy people at the bottom of the Creasis Sea (what would have been the Sahara desert region of Northern Africa). It’s thought, from analysis of the engine drive, that the craft had been sabotaged. Entries…
A film review: Aniara (2018) Aniara, based on the 1956 epic poem by Swedish Nobel laureate Harry Martinson, is a thought provoking, clever and well produced Swedish science fiction film and winner of numerous independent film awards. And unique. According to Cinema Paradiso, who stock over 80,000 films, there are no other Swedish science fiction films. Set, I believe, in the not too distant future, the Earth is a…
A film review: An American Pickle (2020) An American Pickle is a quirky and witty film starring Seth Rogan. Herschel Greenbaum is an Eastern European Jew who has been accidentally pickled in a large wooden tub for 100 years and then ‘wakes up’ in present day Brooklyn. I did say ‘quirky’. In Brooklyn he’s introduced to his only surviving relative, his great-grandson Ben Greenbaum, also played by Seth Rogan,…
I don’t know what it is about her. It’s like there’s a corner of my mind in which she’s taken up permanent residence. Every song I hear reminds me of her; everything I read reminds me of her; even cleaning my teeth reminds me of her. I pick up my phone and text her, just so I can get a reply. I so want this weekend to work, but…
A film review: Proxima (2019) Despite being billed as Eva Green’s best screen role Proxima is an unsatisfying and didactic film that attempts to illustrate the conflict between career and family. A commonplace issue for many people, men and women; however, in this case, we’re not talking 9-5, five days a week. Eva plays an astronaut vying to spend a year on the international space station. She’s Sarah Loreau,…
