As a student of literature, I usually prepare for lectures and seminars by reading novels. Printed novels. Last week was different. We talked about Hypertexts and Interactive Fiction (IF), which arose between the 1960s and the 1980s. The majority of Hypertexts start with a short introduction and then leave you to choose what happens next. … Continue reading 3) Free the readers!
2) The “Male Gaze”
In 1954, Paramount Pictures released Alfred Hitchcock's mystery thriller Rear Window, which was based on Cornell Woolrich's short story "It Had to Be Murder". The plot is about a man looking out the window and suspecting his neighbour to be a murderer. The brilliance of the short story, which hides the identity of our protagonist … Continue reading 2) The “Male Gaze”
1) Reshaping our reading culture
Last year I was researching the development of our reading habits when I came across the article "Why We Don't Read, Revisited" by Caleb Crain, published in The New Yorker in 2018. I was reminded of it when I read the first chapter of Adam Hammond's Literature in the Digital Age. Hammond explores Nicholas Carr's … Continue reading 1) Reshaping our reading culture
Introducing a new category: Literature and Media
It is the 5th of February 2020. Exactly two weeks ago I came back to university after the Christmas break. A new year and a new term. One of the modules of my spring term is called "Literature and Media", and it looks promising. We are going to discuss the relationship between different forms of … Continue reading Introducing a new category: Literature and Media
“To all the boys I’ve loved before”: The trilogy
Here we are. The trilogy that changed the reputation of Netflix movies. Honestly, I don't know anybody who didn't enjoy the film adaptation of the first novel To all the boys I've loved before when it came out in 2018. When I saw the movie, I rewatched it, rewatched it again, and then I decided … Continue reading “To all the boys I’ve loved before”: The trilogy
My Year 2019 in Books
As a devoted and diligent Goodreads-User, I participated in the 2019 Reading Challenge. I was very happy when I saw that I read 44 books out of 40, which was my primary goal. Unfortunately, I was not able to write as many reviews and blog posts as planned, but one of my resolutions for 2020 … Continue reading My Year 2019 in Books
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
The Roadtrip of your life Have you ever written a Haiku in Yosemite Park with a complete stranger? Have you ever heard about highway 50 in Nevada, also known as the loneliest road in America? Have you ever had frozen mustard on the golf course of a country club in Kansas late at night? Have … Continue reading Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Atonement by Ian McEwan
Her words reverberate in his head. Her words keep him going. They remind him why he has to survive. He has to come back, and live the life he deserves to live. With her. Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement begins five years earlier, on a summer day in 1935 at the Tallis’ family estate in the … Continue reading Atonement by Ian McEwan
Mr. Darcy on Tinder
“My good opinion, once lost, is lost forever” states Mr. Darcy in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Austen’s novel tells the story of the five Bennet sisters, and their approaches to the concepts of marriage and love in early nineteenth-century England. As the main character Elizabeth Bennet meets Mr. Darcy, she is ill-disposed by his … Continue reading Mr. Darcy on Tinder
Our own pilgrimage
The pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer want to pay their respect to Saint Thomas Becket, who was killed on the order of king Henry II, by visiting his tomb. “Whoever best acquits himself, and tells/ The most amusing and instructive tale, / Shall have a dinner, paid for by us all” are … Continue reading Our own pilgrimage
reading classics 