Michael Duffy profiles some great writers of the last few centuries in a series of interviews that never happened based on things the authors actually said!
12 September 2023
13 September 2023
4 September 2023
1 September 2023
28 August 2023
13 August 2023
8 August 2023
6 August 2023
4 August 2023
2 August 2023
1 August 2023
18 July 2023
4 July 2023
26 June 2023
27 June 2023
21 June 2023
19 June 2023
30 May 2023
It is 1873. Mrs Eliza Touchet is the Scottish housekeeper - and cousin by marriage - of a once famous novelist, now in decline, William Ainsworth, with whom she has lived for thirty years. Mrs Touchet is a woman of many interests - literature, justice, abolitionism, class, her cousin, his wives, this life and the next. But she is also sceptical. She suspects her cousin of having no talent; his successful friend, Mr Charles Dickens, of being a bully and a moralist; and England of being a land of facades, in which nothing is quite what it seems.
Andrew Bogle meanwhile grew up enslaved on the Hope Plantation, Jamaica. He knows every lump of sugar comes at a human cost. That the rich deceive the poor. And that people are more easily manipulated than they realise. When Bogle finds himself in London, star witness in a celebrated case of imposture, he knows his future depends on telling the right story.
The 'Tichborne Trial' captivates Mrs Touchet and all of England. Is Sir Roger Tichborne really who he says he is? Or is he a fraud? Mrs Touchet is a woman of the world. Mr Bogle is no fool. But in a world of hypocrisy and self-deception, deciding what is real proves a complicated task...
Reading Progress
Newly arrived in London, journalist Charles Venables has been invited by his friend Viola to stay – at least temporarily – at a residential hotel in Kensington. But there is something amiss at the genteel Garden Hotel. The prices are far too low. The residents are jittery and upset. On arriving, Charles overhears a threatening discussion between the proprietors Mr & Mrs Budge that suggests they are blackmailing some tenants. When the bedridden Mrs Budge disappears into thin air, it is clear that more than one inhabitant of the hotel has something to hide.
Is it Egyptian medical student Eppiloki who believes Charles is working undercover? The elderly Miss Geranium who receives messages from the prophet Ezekial, the fanatical Reverend Septimus Blood, or the cat-loving Miss Mumby? Soon, a set of gruesome discoveries point to murder, and Charles must work with Detective Inspector Bray of Scotland Yard to prevent the killer from acting again.
Reading Progress
The Booker Prize winner for 2022 is The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Jarunatilaka. Shehan Karunatilka is the second Sri Lankan author to win the Booker Prize. Michael Ondaatje was the first with The English Patient in 1992.
‘Any one of the six shortlisted books would have been a worthy winner. What the judges particularly admired and enjoyed in The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was the ambition of its scope, and the hilarious audacity of its narrative techniques. This is a metaphysical thriller, an afterlife noir that dissolves the boundaries not just of different genres, but of life and death, body and spirit, east and west. It is an entirely serious philosophical romp that takes the reader to ’the world’s dark heart’ — the murderous horrors of civil war Sri Lanka. And once there, the reader also discovers the tenderness and beauty, the love and loyalty, and the pursuit of an ideal that justify every human life.’
The 2022 Shortlist for the Booker Prize also included:
- Glory, NoViolet Bulawayo (Zimbabwean)
- The Trees, Percival Everett (American)
- Treacle Walker, Alan Garner (British)
- Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan (Irish)
- Oh William!, Elizabeth Strout (American)
The International Booker Prize winner for 2023 is Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov. It is the first book originally written in Bulgarian to win the International Booker Prize.
‘Our winner, Time Shelter, is a brilliant novel, full of irony and melancholy. It is a profound work that deals with a very contemporary question: What happens to us when our memories disappear? Georgi Gospodinov succeeds marvellously in dealing with both individual and collective destinies and it is this complex balance between the intimate and the universal that convinced and touched us.’
The 2023 Shortlist for the International Booker Prize also included:
- Still Born by Guadalupe Nettel, translated by Rosalind from Spanish
- Standing Heavy by GauZ', translated by Frank Wynne from French
- The Gospel According to the New World by Maryse Condé, translated by Richard Philcox from French
- Whale by Cheon Myeong-kwan, translated by Chi-Young Kim from Korean
- Boulder by Eva Baltasar, translated by Julia Sanches from Catalan
View the list of all Booker Prize Winners and those we have so far reviewed by clicking here.
In the long term, we hope to review all the Booker Prize winners.
Progress
Long regarded as one of the pinnacles of Western literature, The Iliad tells the story of the Trojan War in its final days, as Achilles, the supreme Grecian warrior, withdraws from the conflict over a disagreement with Agamemnon.
The ancient Greeks regarded this epic poem as a representation of real history, and in the 19th century the Homer enthusiast and amateur archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann, excavated what is now believed to be the site of the ancient conflict.
For this special reading project I plan to eventually provide summaries of each of the twenty four books of The Iliad, notes on characters and the Greek Gods, a character map and a general discussion at the end.
Click here to visit the main page for this special reading project.
(Please Note: This is an ongoing project and not all pages are complete)
Progress
Marcus Aurelius was the emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 AD. His reign oversaw a period of relative peace in the empire, and he was the last of what was considered five good emperors.
Marcus Aurelius was also a stoic whose notebooks, written for his own benefit, have become a key text to understand stoic philosophy.
For this special reading project I provide the complete text of Marcus Aurelius notebooks, known to modern readers as Meditations, taken from a public domain edition hosted on Project Gutenberg. I hope to provide historical context and notes about the text as I read.
Click here to visit the main page under construction for this special reading project.
(Please Note: This is a planned project which has not yet been commenced)
Progress
The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels, predominantly from the 1920s and 1930s. Well known writers of the Golden Age include Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, Ronald Knox, Anthony Berkeley and G. K. Chesterton.
But these books have roots in earlier works of detective fiction, and there are still mysteries being written today that would fit in with the ‘feel’ of the Golden Age (Anthony Horowitz is an excellent example of a modern day writer of contemporary ‘Golden Age’ mysteries).
For this special reading project I am reading as widely as possible from this era, but especially books by authors suggested by Martin Edwards' study of the period, The Golden Age of Murder.
Click here to visit the main page for this special reading project.
Progress
The Federalist Papers were written in 1787 to 1788 to defend the new American Constitution against its critics. They explained the Constitution and have provided future generations guidance as to how the Founding Fathers intended the Constitution to be interpreted.
The Federalist Papers, written by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and America's fourth president, James Madison, cover issues of America's independence, including the need to ensure against foreign influence, as well as how the new Federal Government would operate. The Federalist Papers also deal with the separation of the powers of each branch of government, as well as government oversight, which includes the power of Congress to impeach. For these reasons, The Federalist Papers are still important documents which have been referred to in debates about the presidency of Donald Trump.
You can now read summaries and commentaries of all 85 Federalist papers here on the Reading Project.
The pictures below represent places we have travelled or enjoy. In each picture there is someone who is reading. The photos represent the portability of books and the idea that they might be enjoyed almost anywhere. Click on the Google Earth Symbol to view where each photograph was taken.
Marina Bay Sands Hotel from Supertree GroveThe Supertree is part of a group in Marina Bay Sands Gardens, with the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Singapore, as backdrop
Harry Hartog Bookstore, PenrithHarry Hartog Bookstore is the newest and largest bookstore in the Penrith region, west of Sydney
Singapore, Flower DomeThe Flower Dome is located in Singapore's Gardens by the Bay
Singapore Botanic Gardens BandstandThe Bandstand in Singapore Botanic Gardens was erected in 1930 and is now often used for wedding photos.
Swan Lake, Singapore Botanical GardensSwan Lake is a small part of Singapore's Botanical Gardens, established in 1859 and honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Old Government House, ParramattaResidence of ten early governors of New South Wales between 1800 and 1847
Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park, SydneyCentred in Hyde Park, this Art Deco fountain features scenes from Greek Mythology
Everglades, Leura, Blue Mountains, AustraliaA former residence, art gallery, cafe and garden which hosts outdoor theatrical performances
Rookwood CemeteryRookwood Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the Southern Hemisphere and was used in the 19th Century as a place of recreation
New Parliament House, CanberraNew Parliament House is built into Capital Hill and was opened in 1988 in time for the Bicentennial Celebrations
Other recommended websites on Neocities!
Our Website Button
Copy the above button if you wish to link to this site
If followers have buttons we add them automatically. Otherwise contact us if you would like your own button displayed on this page
Drop us a message, make a request, ask a question or just say hi!
Follow us on YouTube and Instagram, or use our RSS Feed!
© readingproject.neocities.org