Inside the Syrian Conflict With Jonathan Littell
Homs is one of those places that, like Aleppo and Kandahar and Mosul, has become a byword for suffering. For years it appeared on…
German Literature Month: The Weight of Things by Marianne Fritz
German Literature Month happens every November, and usually I remember about it some time in December. This year, though, I’m taking part…
October Reading Roundup
It’s been a busy couple of months for me, driving across Europe and along the Black Sea coast of Turkey, and now…
The Good Life Elsewhere: A Dark Moldovan Comedy of Migration
To describe The Good Life Elsewhere by Moldovan writer Vladimir Lorchenkov as a comedy is slightly misleading. It’s certainly shot through with black humour and…
Read to Your Children. They’ll Thank You for It
It’s International Literacy Day today, and I’d like to talk about fostering a love of reading. Recent research by Egmont shows that…
August Reading Roundup
How was your reading month? I had a good one, recovering from my slump in July and making some great discoveries. Here they are:…
What Would Radical Happiness Look Like?
How can you be happy when others are suffering? It’s a question that’s bothered me throughout my life. Part of the problem,…
July Reading Roundup
I’ve been overwhelmed with work and travel lately and have got out of the habit of blogging. But I’m going to return…
Cultural Time Zones and the Global City
What is a cultural time zone? Think of tennis, says Melissa Tandiwe Myambo in a fascinating essay in New Left Review. On…