Call Me By Your Name – Andr├® Aciman Words by Geethika Ayilliath In our final year of high school, my best friend and I read Call Me By Your Name together. I had heard of it first and recommended it to her. Soon, we were immersed in an idyllic summer in small-town Italy, surrounded by soft sounds of whirring insects, the oceanÔÇÖs crashing waves and … Continue reading United In Literature
Words By Molly Chambers A novel I find particularly interesting and hooking in the way that it explores unions and political pressures is Animal Farm by George Orwell. The intriguing nature of the novel stems from the setting of a farm and a collection of animals to communicate a story structured around changing levels of dictatorship and democracy, in hopes of a better environment for … Continue reading Working Towards A Better Future: Union in Literature
By Anushka Kar Romance as a genre provides many individuals ÔÇô the majority of them being women ÔÇô as some sort of fantasy standard of their ideal partner, because, well, reality doesnÔÇÖt always provide this. Within romance comes many different tropes between two lovers, and the one I want to delve into for the sake of February and its all-encompassing ValentineÔÇÖs sentiment, is the friends … Continue reading The Friends to Lovers Trope
by Catarina Vicente In online book communities, it is usual for creators, in their quest to reach wider audiences and become more popular, to replicate certain ideas or trends that more famous creators have done previously. This is fine and well ÔÇô unless itÔÇÖs done on a major scale. Suddenly, the community is consumed by the same few creators, who promote the same few books, … Continue reading Is the Book Community an Echo Chamber?
In this article, contributors discuss their least favorite tropes. Miscommunication I recently finished reading Normal People by Sally Rooney for the first time, yes, I am aware I was a little late to the game on this one. However, I had heard mixed reviews and I finally decided to give it a go myself. I didnÔÇÖt like it. In fact, I found it incredibly frustrating. … Continue reading The Sins of Storytelling
by Katherine Waldock Last month, BridgertonÔÇÖs Netflix adaptation surpassed the record for the most watched TV show season in a week. Among the throngs of excited viewers were a stand out few, who admonished the series for its lack of historical accuracy ÔÇô that admonishment being thinly veiled racism. That reaction irritated me to see, especially given the fact that the same audience is perfectly … Continue reading How Well Do We Represent Historical Periods in Literature?
For this article, Quench Lit asked the Book Club committee to recommend some books! Tennessee Williams‘ “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Edeh Gharibi This was a very difficult choice, but I would say the book I find myself going back to often is A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. I know we all studied it for A-level English, but it stuck with me. The … Continue reading Book Club Recommends
By Ruth Hoey When the first lockdown in the UK was introduced in 2020, it brought with it a renewed spark of interest in physical books. While we remained confined to our homes and barred from bookshops, book sales continued to climb. According to The Guardian, ÔÇ£more than 200m print books were sold in the UKÔÇØ in the year of 2020 when the pandemic first … Continue reading Are Physical Books Making a Comeback?
by George Gourlay Renowned Irish author Sally Rooney has just released her highly anticipated third novel, entitled Beautiful World Where Are You, to much acclaim. It climbed to number one on the Sunday Times Bestsellers upon release, and a review by Brandon Taylor for The New York Times described it as RooneyÔÇÖs ÔÇ£best novel yetÔÇØ. Waterstones has said that the novel was their biggest hardback … Continue reading Sally Rooney Boycotts Israeli Publisher in Solidarity with Palestinian Rights Group
By Leah Hocking Although a rather bold departure from her previous two novels, ÔÇÿBeautiful World, Where Are YouÔÇÖ is still stamped with Sally RooneyÔÇÖs signature minimalist writing style and overarching theme – young adults struggling to make sense of the world. Her third novel features her largest cast of characters yet with four protagonists: Alice, a successful novelist; Felix, a warehouse worker; Eileen, a writer … Continue reading Book Review: Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
By Niamh Newman As someone who studied English Literature through the entirety of secondary school, I find it difficult to write without regularly reading! In my mind, the two are very much intertwined, with many of the most prominent authors of our time taking inspiration from books they have read in order to enhance their own work. Alex MichaelidesÔÇÖ psychological thriller The Silent Patient, my … Continue reading Being a Reader-Writer
By Laura Mae My favourite hate-read needs no introduction. The movies dominated basically every aspect ofsociety in the years that the franchise peaked; not only capturing the hearts of pre-teen girlseverywhere, but provoking strong criticisms from many people. The Twilight saga. I initially read the books in my teenage years and recently revisited them due to the recentrelease of ÔÇÿMidnight SunÔÇÖ. I donÔÇÖt recall what … Continue reading Our Favorite Hate Reads
by Alexa Price It goes without saying that the constant developments of the modern world is changing our reading habits, and that books have proven themselves to be pretty versatile! Today reading is much more accessible and can be done impressively with a simple touch of a button. While the internet gives readers a wider range of reading materials than your local bookshop, one has … Continue reading How is technology changing our reading habits
Following the recent success of NetflixÔÇÖs, The Haunting of Hill House, this spooky season is the perfect time to discover some of Shirley JacksonÔÇÖs scariest works: Rhian Lock on The Lottery (1948) First published in The New Yorker in 1948, The Lottery received more backlash than any piece ever published by the magazine, with many cancelling subscriptions and boycotting Jackson. I first read JacksonÔÇÖs short story in my first year as an English … Continue reading Shirley Jackson’s Scariest
By┬áBethany Griffiths The nights are drawing in and Pumpkin Spiced Lattes are back. It can only mean one thingÔǪ autumn is here at last. And what better way to settle into the autumn season than with a cosy read to accompany you on a rainy Sunday afternoon? After a long week of lectures and traipsing around Cardiff in the rain thereÔÇÖs nothing I like more … Continue reading Rainy Day Reads
It is exciting to see new genres being explored and for festivals to progress -┬á by Maisie Marston Reading ÔÇÖ92 had Nirvana. Reading ÔÇÖ94 had Primal Scream. Greenday and Smashing Pumpkins the next year, then Rage Against the Machine and The Prodigy next. In more recent years, 2016 and 2017 have provided some acts in the way of rock music; Kasabian, Biffy Clyro, the … Continue reading The Changing Face of Reading and Leeds Festival – a For and Against Discussion
by Kiana Stevens Every year since 1961 people have come together at Reading Festival (originally known as the National Jazz Festival) to appreciate music and have a good time. 90,000 people attended Reading Festival this year to enjoy what is now slowly becoming a festival with a large Hip-Hop and R&B presence. As thousands of campers set up their tents for the weekend it is … Continue reading Review: Reading Festival
DC Comics puts out a load of great comics, but it can be really hard to figure out which ones fit your tastes or feature the heroes you care to read about. But donÔÇÖt worry about that, weÔÇÖve got you covered. Check out the following list of our favourite DC books to learn what the stories are about, why theyÔÇÖre worth reading, and where to … Continue reading So You Want To Read a DC Comic …
ÔÇ£Craig Bellamy to turn up, or maybe Tom JonesÔÇØ, was the expectation Jaws held of their first live outing in Wales. The dream-pop four-piece arrived in the Welsh capital supporting fellow Brummie band, The Twang, the latest show in a long list that dates back to the beginning of summer. ÔÇ£Literally every weekend for two months it was either a festival or an all-dayer that … Continue reading Feature: Jaws
