Other Voices / Spring Issue by briwink

SPRING 2017

WRITER’S BLOCK:

WHITE CITY, BLACK HEART:

The science behind the phenomena

Your literary guide to Athens

LIT’S BIGGEST DRINKERS: Where does Hemmingway rank?

contributors:

MEET THE TEAM

Daria Lapina

Lifestyle Editor Turn to page 24 to read Daria’s take on literature’s portrayal of Russia. “My favourite book is Just a Girl, Standing in Front of a Boy by Lucy-Anne Holmes.”

Chloe Moss

Isabella Laws

Editor Read about Chloe’s enduring fascination with famous letters on page 56. “My favourite book is Absalom, Absalom by William Faulkner.”

Sub Editor and Features Editor Isabella is exploring the science behind writer’s block on page 52. “My favourite book is The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh.”

Islam Solitek

Assistant Entertainment Editor Islam is taking a look at the relationship between literature and video games on page 63. “My favourite book is The Color Purple by Alice Walker.”

Bri Wink

Art Director On page 60, Bri explores the all too familiar literary trope of the ‘mad’ female poet. “My favourite book is The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.”

Khyati Rajvanshi

Entertainment Editor On page 44, Khyati lists the best book to film adaptations in 2017. “My favourite book is Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K Rowling.”

Marc Farràs Piera

Assistant Art Director In “White City, Black Heart” on page 20, Marc is giving a literary guide to contemporary Athens. “My favourite book is The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa.”

editor’s letter

n honour of our inaugural issue, it seems a good place to start would be to explain our ethos. Other Voices seeks to explore life and culture through a literary gaze. The written word can inform and elevate our everyday experiences, in particular how we experience other forms of culture. We want to encourage readers to indulge in the same escapism that they would with a novel. That same sense of fantasy can be brought to life and applied to the world of travel, fashion, film and music. The name Other Voices is inspired by the Truman Capote novel Other Voices, Other Rooms, a coming of age story which muses on ideas of ‘otherness’ and finding a sense of belonging. With this in mind, we were drawn to the idea of other – finding new voices and alternative ways of looking at topics commonly covered. It seemed fitting that we would use Capote’s words as guide, given his position as a formidable figure in both literature and society. For our first issue our writers have drawn on their own favourite aspects of literature to create a highly personal debut issue. From travel guides, to playlists, to intimate portraits of literary-inspired tattoos, this issue will draw from literature both old and new to inform and inspire our readers.

Chloe Moss editor-in-chief

Turn to page 20 to discover Athens 4

contents:

WHATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S INSIDE? New In Meet the team 7 New in 8-9

Voices

Daniel Wray 12-13 Clive Boutle 14 Rachel Abbot 15 The Glass Child 17

Escapism

White city, black heart 20-23 Russian cities 24-25 Bloomsbury bookshops 26 Are travel guides helpful? 28

Literary Style Our wishlist 30-31 Satorial pages 33 Inspired by literature 34 Literary tattoos 36-39

Beyond the Page

Spring playlist 42 6 books music lovers must read 43 Top 5 book-to-film adaptations 44-45 4 books that should be made into a video game 46-47 Review: My Brilliant Friend 48

In depth

The science behind writerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s block 52-55 Letters of note 56-57 Is a paperless society a myth? 58-59 Woman gone mad: Sylvia Plath 60-61 The influence of literature in video games 63-64 Literary cocktails 66

new in: REVIEWS

when breath becomes air

the girl before

BY PAUL KALANITHI

BY JP DELANEY

There are few authors who can write in a way that connects with all their readers. Kalanithi proves himself to be one of them in this heart-wrenching memoir. After ten years of intense training to become a neurosurgeon, with the end and the life always dreamed of finally in sight, everything changes. At age 36 he is diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. The neurosurgeon is forced to become a patient and face the world of uncertainty, over which as a surgeon he had previously felt a certain amount of power. Joining the ranks of Oliver Sacks and Lewis Thomas, Kalanithi uses insights from his medical career to attempt to grapple with his identity, asking himself what makes life meaningful in a world where he can no longer operate? How do you best live life when you’re running out of time? These questions are urgent, and must be answered quickly. Facing his situation with a rare courage and philosophical outlook, Kalanithi writes: “The secret is to know that the deck is stacked, that you will lose, that your hands will slip, and yet struggle to win for your patients. You can’t ever reach perfection, but you believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving.” With this positive attitude, the reader stands with Kalanithi as he faces the abyss and the inevitable ending which awaits us all. A harsh reminder of this is his wife’s epilogue – written because he ran out of time to finish the novel. This book should be read with a warning: it will likely cause tears. I discovered this the hard way; I was given concerned looks by fellow commuters as I finished the book on my morning journey. Please read, but arm yourself with some tissues beforehand. IL

Gripping, chilling and attention grabbing. Three words that describe this masterpiece by JP Delaney. The plot revolves around a woman called Jane who finds an intriguing rental opportunity. She gets the chance to live in a beautiful ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect. The only condition is that she has to abide by a long list of peculiar rules. After moving in, she discovers that the previous tenant died mysteriously in the apartment. Filled with twists and turns, the author then takes you on a journey of both women in that apartment. Every chapter is easy to read and contains shocking revelations that grip the reader intensely. The book entails thematic presence of psychological horror, technology warfare, and how simple rules can change someone’s life. Lust, madness and kinky sex are common themes in all three commercial books with the word ‘Girl’ in them (Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and The Girl Before). This could put off the readers who are looking for something new to read. The plot could get a bit redundant due to unnecessary descriptions of certain incidents. The book is a juicy treat for psychological thriller fans and will surely make you lose a couple of hours sleep everyday. Following in the footsteps of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, this book is being adapted into a film by Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard. The Girl Before definitely deserves a whooping five star rating because it has all the elements needed to make a perfect solution of a psychological thriller. KR

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi The Bodley Head/Vintage 256 pages

The Girl Before by JP Delaney Quercus 416 pages

new in: REVIEWS

assassin’s creed: heresy

a broken mirror

BY CHRISTIE GOLDEN

BY MERCÈ RODOREDA

The Assassin’s Creed video game franchise is centred on the fictional conflict between the Templars and the Assassins, where both factions, although both seeking to achieve peace, have secretly opposed each other for millennia. Christie Golden’s new tie-in novel, Assassins Creed: Heresy takes a refreshing break from the same formula that fans are used to observing in the series, allowing readers to delve into the life of a Templar and his pursuit of knowledge that will benefit his Templar Order. Set in both present day London and 15th century France, the story follows protagonist Simon Hathway. Simon is a member of the inner sanctum of the Templar Order and an employee of Abstergo industries, and he uses a machine known as the Animus to relive the life of his Templar ancestor, Gabriel Laxart, and reclaim historical facts about powerful artefacts from the past. Simon volunteers to use the Animus as Gabriel, a comrade of Joan of Arc. In the process of taking on his new persona he discovers deep Templar secrets that could lead to conspiracies and corruption in the present day. Despite an alternative storyline from the original series, the book fails to provide clarity about the historical characters and non-fictional characters in the book, making it difficult to distinguish between what is true and what is imaginary. However, the blend of fiction and historical battles in 15th century France are impressively detailed, making this novel entry to the series an interesting read for science fiction fans and ‘followers of the creed.’ IS

It might not be as celebrated as The Time Of The Doves (1962), but A Broken Mirror (1974) is Mercè Rodoreda’s most ambitious and accomplished work, and it is widely considered the Catalan counterpart of One Hundred Years of Solitude. The novel portrays three generations of an aristocratic family from upper Barcelona during a tumultuous period, right up until the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. Rodoreda writes with both anger and tenderness, in a dry, symbolic prose, crossing stylistic and technical boundaries that no other Catalan writer had explored before. As is common in this writer’s literary universe, this is a story of grief, loneliness and sacrifice. It is a fascinating, intimate portrait of a woman; childhood as paradise lost – all the genuine elements of her corpus reach a new, outstanding dimension. It is a striking kaleidoscope with multiple reflections that sublimates the feelings of loss and death. It is also a powerful story of personal courage and collective defeat. Beyond the literary and stylistic achievements, the novel features a fascinating period of Barcelona’s history, with permanent social conflicts, violence and political uncertainty. The fall of the distinguished family is also the fall of the city and the country. There’s something fascinating about how Rodoreda blurs both worlds and the characters blend into the urban landscape – which in the end reflects a state of mind – an aspect of her writing fans will be familiar with. A Broken Mirror was the first novel published by the Catalan writer soon after her 33-year exile in France and Switzerland. Like many other great works of literature, this is a story about time. MF

Assassin’s Creed: Heresey by Christie Golden Penguin 432 pages

A Broken Mirror by Mercè Rodoreda Daunt Books Publishing 286 pages

voices

traditional bookbinder: D A N I E L W R AY WORDS AND IMAGES: ISABELLA LAWS

aniel Wray greets me in his workshop at Shepherd’s Bookbinders which is located just off Pimlico. Scattered around him are books which upon inspection reveal themselves to be around two hundred years old. The interview begins with a tour around his workshop. Upstairs, the book conservationists work on restoring old and damaged papers. There is also an area where titles and cover designs are drawn by hand, using stamps and rollers to transfer gold onto the leather. Bookbinders have come to the profession by one of two ways: they either worked as apprentices, or if they are younger, they have formal qualifications in book conservations. Daniel specialises in book restoration, so mostly works in the downstairs workshop with a team of three others. On some days, he is required to go and meet clients and provide them with an assessment of the amount of work required and a price quotation. It’s pricey – an A3 size book he shows me in a traditional ornate style would have cost about £1,200. But, that’s the cost of hand workmanship and expensive materials. The bookbinding industry has shrunk considerably in the last twenty years. In London there are now only two shopfront bookbinders left. The rise of individual craftsmen or family owned companies has been the result of increasing costs, and of reducing demand. This has the potential to comprimise restoration quality. So, who chooses to restore books by this old-fashioned method? Some of the books that I am shown on my visit are from local councils, and are used to record births and deaths. Others come from abroad and are collectors items. A copy of Alice in Wonderland with a beautiful golden design of Alice and the rabbit on the front cover is a family treasure. “We’ve had rockstars who wanted photo albums before,” says Daniel, “we even stick the photos in for them.” But, not all the work is as mundane as curating photo albums. One of the projects Daniel is currently working on has a plain 10

leather cover but the owner wanted something more ornate. Daniel researched styles of French origin that were historically accurate for the book, then proposed a design, which was accepted. He will shortly use ornate stamps and tools to transfer the gold design onto the new leather cover. Each project is unique, and they can take varying amounts of time. “Some projects will take a day, others can take several days with multiple people working on them” he says. Clients have as much involvement in the process as they desire. Some are happy for the experts to take control, and trust their judgment. However, others are dogmatic in their vision, which can sometimes compromise stylistic outcome, says Daniel. In a world of a rapid technological evolution, bookbinding methods have remained constant. While the majority of mass produced books go through a factory press – those who come into Daniel’s hands are restored with the same methods that have been used for generations. We meet a colleague who is restoring a 16th century atlas. He describes the difficulty in working to both preserve the pages and provide a book that can be bound, and then sold on. This conflict is not a new one as there has been tension between the two schools of thought for many years. Conservation: to preserve without alteration or beautification, and restoration: beautification without historical sensitivity. Owners often insisted of having pages recut with each restoration, in order to have smooth-edged pages. This meant that books have shrunk over time. In some instances, the trimming has gone so far as to cut off notes the margins, illustrations or even the body of the text. But, this tension has reduced somewhat over time. Today’s clients are more willing to follow the advice of bookbinders, and maintain a book’s authenticity while also providing it a new lease of life. “These details are biographical,” Daniel tells me, “they tell the book’s story over time.” The work of a bookbinder is simple: to transform a book from decayed pages of text, into a gift for the rest of the world can hold and consume once more.

publishing against the tide: CLIVE BOUTLE WORDS AND IMAGE: MARC FARRÀS

Sometimes literature has anonymous heroes, but few men have raised the voice of minority languages so proudly as Clive Boutle. Clive Boutle is a man of principle. A huge black and red Marxist poster dominates the living room of his house in North London. Memories of the Spanish Civil War are scattered all over the place: Paul Preston essays, folklore figures and even militia propaganda to read in the toilet. Dressed in dark blue, wearing round glasses, a deep voice and loud laugh, Mr Boutle is the enthusiastic founder and editor of Francis Boutle Publishers, specialised in minority languages poetry. He might be the only man in Britain who has read –and published– Georgian, Cornish, Frisian, and Occitan authors. 18 years ago Clive was a second-hand bookseller in Islington. But he had always wanted to concentrate on publishing, and when a Cornish poetry manuscript came into his hands, he saw the opportunity. Since taking on that first project, he has been swimming against the tide both personally and professionally. “When you work with minority languages literature, there are problems of quality and with finding translators. Funding is a challenge, I pay for most books with my own money hoping to get it back”, he confesses. However, sometimes it works. “I’ve just published a book by a Sami poet from Lapland. I did 500 copies of his poetry a year ago and I got about 20 left. There are plenty of poets writing in English who’d be happy to sell a hundred copies.” Following his passion for Spanish politics Boutle is particularly fascinated by Catalan literature. He has already released two anthologies by two major, combative poetesses; Montserrat Abelló and Maria Mercè Marçal. Whilst the former’s book, Fifty Love Poems, shines a light on the various faces of love from motherhood to eroticism, the latter’s, The Body’s Reason, is “an amalgam of political and personal reactions to illness and death. The physical struggle is really engaging.” As many other Catalan artists, both writers shared a genuine and deep admiration for Sylvia Plath, “the wounded goddess, so necessary in these days”, as defined by Boutle. Abelló precisely translated her complete works achieving wide recognition. 12

Boutle recognises that publishing endangered languages literature is his most relevant contribution as an editor. Although he initially found the work was hard, he has now discovered his place within a small but committed community of readers. “When I started, nobody was interested. I feel less on the edge now. I do feel a political responsibility. Over the years, I’ve become aware of the wide European varieties and identities, as well as the necessity to give people self-government”, he proudly states. Unfortunately he does not have to travel far to find raw material to work with. In Britain there are up to ten endangered languages, from Welsh and Scottish Gaelic to Manx and Jèrriais, but there are only a few brave men and women fighting for them. Boutle believes that the rapid spread of the English language and its powerful cultural world has put a lot of pressure on them. “Literature written in English from America, Australia, South-Africa and England is huge and comfortable for a British audience. It takes a pioneer who wants to go out of that, someone who really wants to find out something new.” When asked about whether Britons are aware of the vast cultural and language heritage they hold, Boutle gives a categorically negative answer. However, he finds it hard to identify who is to blame. “In the 19th century, Welsh people could be beaten for speaking their native language in the playground at school. There was prosecution and punitive discouragement, but that did not destroy the language. Now, although they have a local government, services and television programmes, the language is in danger. Britain’s aggressive foreign policy can’t afford to have people distracted with minority languages. You need one nation, Great Britain! So you could probably blame our adventures.” However, all is not entirely lost. Small and wealthy regions like the Isle of Mann have succeeded in giving their language, which was considered extinct 50 years ago, a second life through introducing it in nursery and primary schools. According to Boutle, this has been possible “because people have a strong sense of identity, whereas perhaps in the Channel Islands it has vanished, because nobody under 50 speaks it. Education is everything.”

Image: Rachel Abbott

queen of psychological thrillers: R AC H E L A B B OT T WORDS: KHYATI RAJVANSHI

Everyone has a hidden writer in them. A passionate story teller who is waiting to tell a tale or two. Rachel Abbott found her perfect tale the night she saw a news report about a female murderer, and in that moment an exquisite bestselling writer was born – the queen of psychological thriller.

What set of circumstances would be so bad that a woman has no choice but to murder a man? That was the basis of Rachel’s first novel Only the Innocent. Now a retired business woman in her late-fifties, Rachel embraced the world of telling tales and became a self-published writer. Why? Because the idea of spending months or maybe years hunting for an agent who would then have to hunt for a publisher just seemed too much. “I wrote to a few agents, but in the end when I saw how easy it was to self-publish, it seemed like the obvious solution.” Having sold over two million books on Amazon, Rachel reached the heights in a short span of time. Her loyal fan base has grown since her first novel and as evidence, in 2015, she was named the 14th bestselling author on Amazon’s Kindle UK. But is the marketing process easy when you’re self-publishing? Rachel revealed her secret to a successful marketing campaign. Her marketing strategy formula changes with every new book but the basic elements are the same. “The first thing to consider is how to make people aware that the book exists”, she revealed. The key here is to explore every possible way to getting the book cover in front of readers. The next element is interest. Gaining the reader’s interest is essential, whether it’s through snippets of the book, or a link to the prologue online, or through a video trailer. Then comes the desire – “what is going to make them feel they have to buy my book rather than somebody else’s? Maybe it’s the blurb, or the reviews.”

The final element is action required to buy the book. She makes sure that the link to her book on Amazon is available on every tweet, Facebook post, email. Coming from a time when all children’s books were in hardback, Rachel loved reading Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. Keeping that paper tradition up, she now makes sure she always has paperback versions created of her eBooks. She gets them professionally printed in batches of upto 5000 at a time. “I hope that anything that I publish going forward will be in both eBook and paperback, as my books are now. I want them to be equivalent standard to any book found in a bookshop.” The new generation is immersed in technology and are reading books on tablet screens instead of paper. Is that bad news for the paperbacks lovers? “The young people that I know tend to use iPads or their phones, whereas possibly the slightly more mature generation will use a Kindle or a physical book”, she said. She aims to keep making paperback copies of her eBooks even though she thinks that in general a top seller eBook sells more books per day than in paperback format. As a newly throned queen, Rachel Abbott is a strong believer of self-publishing. Her message to potential or current authors is “If you believe you can do the necessary marketing, self-publishing on ebook is worth considering. If it’s your worst nightmare, you should try to pursue a traditional route with paperback AND ebook.” Her latest book The Sixth Window released on 21st February 2017 has already reached the 13th position on Amazon’s Bestsellers in Kindle Store (UK). As an inspiration to many writers, Rachel stands as an idol in the world of psychological thrillers. With her ambitious marketing skills and gifted storytelling techniques, she has proved that it is never too late for anyone to write. Creativity is everlasting, evergreen and empowering.

Image: Charlotte Eriksson

the glass child:

CHARLOTTE ERIKSSON WORDS: BRI WINK

At 18, Charlotte Eriksson moved from Sweden to London to follow her dreams of being a songwriter and poet. After a year of being unable to afford rent she packed her bags, grabbed her guitar, and hit the road. Eventually she found a following online under the pseudonym ‘The Glass Child’, which catapulted her to internet fame. With three albums, three books of poetry, and her own record label, Charlotte’s star is only getting brighter. “I have lost and loved and won and cried myself to the person I am today.” Reading Charlotte’s poetry feels like driving around lost at midnight. There’s a yearning for adventure mixed with a tinge of fear, the heartache of losing someone, and a stubbornness to keep going. At the root of it all is her desire to experience everything. She’s always on the move, seeking out new people and places to call home. “I will never lose the love for the arriving, but I’m born to leave,” she writes in her first book, Empty Roads & Broken Bottles; In search for The Great Perhaps. I ask her about that line in particular. What does it feel like to keep packing up, to find freedom in moving on? “I almost feel like my identity lies in that line,” she responds. “I’m not a rooted person. I love new beginnings, I love feeling free and unattached to people or places. I’m never as happy as when I arrive in new cities with no plans, just the necessary belongings and empty streets.” In another poem, she describes herself as “not a Sunday morning inside four walls” kind of person; rather, she sees herself as a “hurricane setting fires to the forests when no one is alive or awake”. From what I can tell, it’s an accurate description for a woman who spent a year sleeping on concrete outside train stations and crashing on friend’s couches, playing her music for anyone and everyone who would listen. She never had dreams of being an author, a poet, or even a

songwriter, though she can’t remember a time when she didn’t write. “I was always writing diaries and journals, small prose pieces and even short stories when I was a kid,” Charlotte explains, noting that by 15 she had started composing her own music and writing longer prose-style essays. Yet it was her move to London when she found the escape she needed in writing. “It became my way of making sense of what was going on, where I was going, and where I wanted to go,” she narrates. Charlotte describes her year of homelessness as the turning point; it’s when she decided to put pen to paper and start writing her story down. “I thought, it would be such a shame to not share this with people.” Empty Roads & Broken Bottles was published during that year on the road. It was also when her online presence took off, writing under the alias The Glass Child throughout her travels. Her tales of growing up, finding herself, and moving on resonated deeply with people online. They started messaging her, saying they could relate to her experiences and wanted to know more. It was on Tumblr, a site which she still uses today, where she truly found her audience. “I owe everything to social media, really, and especially Tumblr,” she tells me. “It’s been the only reason for me to reach out with my art, and that’s where I built my following.” It’s been almost four years since Charlotte’s transformative year travelling. She’s published two more books (Another Vagabond Lost To Love and You’re Doing Just Fine) along with three full-length albums. Now, she lives in Germany where she continues to make music, write, and tour. In what little spare time she has she teaches yoga and reads. She’s always reading; she believes that everything she’s learned has come from books. Charles Bukowski, Jack Gilbert, and Katherine Mansfield are among her favourites, and their work often inspires her own writing. “I just stumble over a line that triggers something in my head and suddenly I find my fingers just flying over the keyboard writing something.” She’s currently working on her fourth book and fourth album. “I still don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way, and I’m giving my life to this journey,” she writes on her Tumblr page. “It might not always be easy, but it will always be beautiful.”

escapsim

15 5

White city, black heart: MARKARIS’ ATHENS WORDS AND IMAGES: MARC FARRÀS

Whenever a great society has fallen, there have always been chroniclers to capture the time. This is also the case with the catharsis of the hellenic capital

he decline of contemporary Greece could not be understood without Petros Markaris and his emblematic detective Kostas Haritos. Born in 1937 on New Year’s Day in Istanbul to an Armenian-Greek family, he studied in Vienna and Stuttgart before settling down in Athens in 1964 as part of the exodus of the Greek community from Turkey. His international life is paramount when it comes to understand his importance as the writer who has best portrayed the current Greek crisis. Markaris has a solid German academic background, formed by the country that led the Greece bailout, an intervention that was perceived by most Greeks as a humiliation. On the other hand, as member of the Armenian minority, he was not given citizenship until the end of the Greek military junta in 1974. Although the first Haritos volume, Late-Night News, was published in 1995, when Greece was still in Cloud Cuckoo Land, it was not until the first volume of The Crisis Trilogy, Expiring Loans, in 2008, that the series was universally acclaimed. Not only did the public celebrate his artistic value but also the most accurate, bravest and original narrative chronicle of the Greek collapse. Hell and heaven As Dante wrote before descending deep into Hades, “Abandon all hope, you who enter here’”. Forget about the myths, the touristy postcards and the idyllic southern calm. Those who have a vision of marbled and bronzed Athens will not recognise the city where Haritos lives and works. There are of course the ruins and the classic icons, but just as an inevitable background. The physical scenario is completely different. Markaris’ Athens is a wounded, wandering animal. The streets are covered with dirt, dust and rubbish. The archaeological sites are as crowded as they are abandoned. Starving dogs and barefoot children patrol the streets. Still, Athens is alive. There is no such open, bright sky in the Mediterranean. The smell of grilled lamb in every corner and fresh flowers on balconies bring a bit of hope to

the population. In the evening, men and women take the terraces and the sacred Acropolis to watch the sunset in silence. They have not surrendered yet. Everything starts at Syntagma Square, the beating heart of the modern city, where Haritos usually loses his mind trying to get in and out of the police headquarters driving his old Spanish car. Syntagma is the political and social core of Athens, starting with the neoclassical salmon-façade Parliament in the east and the luxurious hotels in the north edge. Every single demonstration led by the Greek people to protest against the Troika bailout has taken place in Syntagma since the outbreak of the crisis. For years, the Athenians have gathered there to show their anger against the cuts, claiming for basic social services. Every Haritos’ episode since 2008 had its embryo in those violent evenings of excitement and hatred. Right behind the hysteria of the Parliament, the National Garden is a fantasy for the senses. Surrounded by the highest palm trees and hundreds of both Mediterranean and exotic plants and flowers, it provides the citizens with an unexpected oasis far from the madding crowd. In 1939, the American writer Henry Miller spend nine months travelling around Greece and was fascinated by the beauty and the peace of this urban paradise: “It remains in my memory like no other park I have known. It is the quintessence of a park, the thing one feels sometimes in looking at a canvas or dreaming of a place one would like to be in and never finds.” Men and Gods Heading east, the Panathenaic Stadium is the testimony of how important sport was in ancient times. This colossal, pure-white sports temple –the world’s only white marble stadium – holds hundreds of memories of more than two thousand years of competition. However, sport is not always related to triumph and glory. The 2004 Olympic Games were the swan song for Athens.

They left a trace of corruption and nepotism that Markaris explores and follows in his latest novels, specially focused on the real estate speculation and the elite athletes doping scandals. After the magnificent Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Arch of Hadrian, the old quarter of the Plaka separates the holy citadel of the Acropolis from the rest of the city. The Erechtheion and its divine Caryatides, the Theatre of Dionysus, the Byzantine buildings and the eternal Parthenon are slightly featured in Haritos investigations. Markaris does not look at the past with romanticism, self-satisfaction or nostalgia but with distant irony. Contemporary Greece is actually too far from the golden ages. The grandparents shaped the western world and now their grandchildren are jobless. The former wrote tragedies, the latter’s lives is a tragedy. Still, there are some connections that link both worlds. One of the serial killers of the series poisons his victims with hemlock, the means used by Socrates to kill himself. Pleasure and guilt Haritos’s wife, the cheerful and bitter Adriani, is the perfect counterpart to the melancholic and sceptical detective. Although she barely leaves the family flat, she is the living portrait of the legendary pride and stubbornness of the city. Guardian of the household, she dignifies the austerity with which the Greek middle-class has been forced to struggle after the bailout. Heiress of an old feminine tradition of silence and submission, she represents two of the greatest Greek contributions to the world: words and food. And no other part of the city protects this spirit as accurately and passionately as the Plaka. This bustling and delightful maze of narrow streets, cream and orange chalk-battered buildings with green-wooden windows and sparkling-blue doors keeps the best secrets of the city. Everything in the Plaka is part of a universe of its own. In the small terraces of creaky floor taverns, wild grape vines filter the burning sunlight. Artisans, craftsman and sandal-makers place their ateliers in the middle of the streets. Cherries, apples, ceramics, silk and leather. A perfect crossroad of the East and the West. Surrounded by fig trees, rose bushes and violas, Adriani walks the Plaka streets looking for the ingredients of her ancestors’

recipes. Rice-stuffed peppers with lemon juice; feta cheese with sun-dried tomatoes, oregano and Kalamata olives; aubergine cake with beef, tomato, pepper and béchamel. Honey pastries, syrup cake and creamy yogurt. A whole country on a plate. Food is one of the few available oasis left for the Greek people. Although prices have skyrocketed while jobs have been cut and salaries have significantly decreased, Athenians continue to go to the markets. As if they were carrying out an old ritual, they buy, sell, deal and cheat. Through his novels, Markaris portraits the devastating effects of the crisis on the grocery shops and traditional commerce of the city. Some of these abandoned properties are a shelter for war refugees or illegal migrants. Other empty stores have been occupied for criminals, extortionists and the local mafia. Haritos explores the underworld of Athens with a mixed combination of fear, disappointment and anger. He might solve the murder jigsaw he is involved in, but still he is aware that much more than a humble police officer will be needed to give Athens back its splendour and decency. Land and sea Although Haritos does not have the connection with nature that other fictional colleagues like Montalbano or Wallander have with Sicilian coves or Swedish steppes, respectively, he also needs to escape from work and family tensions. He drives his old Spanish car around the Attica thinking about the last murder or the next mortgage payment. In the end, he is a Greek and he needs the sea, just like a swordfish or a seagull. The Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounio, 40 miles south of the capital watching the Cyclades, has captivated Greeks and travellers since it was erected more than 2,500 years ago. From the historian Herodotus to the poet Lord Byron and the philosopher Heidegger, every single visitor has felt the invisible force of the mighty forces that shaped ancient Greece and therefore, our present days. There is something dangerous about ignoring the past. The West has forgotten its origins, and that can only lead to decline. Petros Markaris knows that, and his Kostas Haritos series is his way of warning us that humiliation and oblivion are the last step before the end of civilization.

Russian cities:

THE CLASSIC ATTITUDE

If you would like to feel Russia’s unique historic atmosphere and see how Moscow looked a century ago – just read a Fyodor Dostoevsky novel WORDS: DARIA LAPINA

The expression that the devil is in the detail is known all over the world, and writers are particularly aware of it. There are no random facts or occasions that authors mention simply by a chance; there are no little things – everything has its own meaning. The plot twists of a novel are not just stumbled upon by the author, but create a significant effect on the context and the overall impression of the book.

he events in Turgenev’s novels can only take place in a countryside, not in the city; while the plots of Ostrovsky’s novels can only develop in a capital. They would not be the same books. But there are works, such as The Bronze Horseman by Pushkin and Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky, where the scene becomes an independent character, serving its own purpose in the plot development. Consequently, the two capitals have become traditional settings for Russian literature, and today, we try to imagine Griboedov’s or Lermontov’s Moscow, and the St. Petersburg of Pushkin and Dostoevsky, as they are presented in their novels. Each writer uses his own unique and individual tools in description of the cities. Indeed, the impression of the city is very important in Russian literature. St. Petersburg of

Dostoevsky is not the “Imperial City of Peter” as many people imagine and does not represent the embodiment of power and luxury. It is actually quite the opposite – all the reader can see is totally different idea of the city: the stuffiness, crowds, brick buildings, the dust everywhere, the unbearable stench of the taverns full of drinkers. Therefore the city not only becomes a social background, where the events of the novel develop, but also St. Petersburg is a fully-fledged character in Crime and Punishment. It is an evil spirit, destroying humans souls. The city is represented as diverse and contradictory, so it is hard to give it a fair assessment. The idea of Moscow in Russian literature of the 19th century is very significant. On the one hand, it was portrayed as the keeper of the “deep old times” with its patriarchy and commitment to Russian traditions. On the other hand, it was also presented as a province of France, slavishly imitating its morals and customs. Nevertheless, what readers will notice the most is the contradiction of Moscow and St. Petersburg: the old barbarous Moscow to the patriarchy and new brilliant European capital of Russia (St. Petersburg). Moscow in Russian literature is perceived as a warm and hospitable city. It was home to authors such as Karamzin, Herzen,

Image: Mariano Mantel / Flickr

Lermontov, Goncharov, so there is an intimate mood described in each of their works. For Karamzin especially, Moscow is a city that is symbolic of the significant past of Russian history. He admires the city in his novels and turns its romantic charms into the traditional image that we know. The attitude of Russian authors to the presentday capital is ambiguous. For many Russian people, Moscow was closely connected with the concept of “Motherland” – or “Fatherland” – and this word was not an empty sound in the days of Griboyedov and Pushkin. People used to treasure the rise in patriotism and the dedication of the Russian people in the defense of Moscow from Napoleon. It was not just a geographical point on the map of the empire – it was the heart of Russia, and the motherland, and to which everyone felt their vital connection. Griboyedov’s point of view in Woe from Wit shows a fundamentally different perception of Moscow, free of any poetry and any admiration. Griboyedov’s Moscow is the home of Famusov (one of the main characters in Woe from Wit) and people like him. This city is bureaucratic; family ties society, where nobody who is not a son of a high official, will be able to achieve anything. Griboyedov’s Moscow is vulgar, empty, soulless, frozen once and for all. The whole existence here is reduced to dinner parties, that “people will not be able to digest even in three days”, and to the same lavish funerals. Another image of the Russian city is presented by Leo Tolstoy in his novel War and Peace. The plot focuses on Moscow and how it became a center of crucial events for Russia as a symbol of people’s inspiration for resistance to invasion. Events in this city played a huge role in the lives of many heroes of the book. On the contrary to the relatively warm and patriotic

Moscow, St. Petersburg is a cold and official city, which has no relation to the life of ordinary people’s life. Life here is artificial. The residents of the city are people of the upper classes and care only about their own prosperity and benefits. There is an interesting contrast outlined by Leo Tolstoy between the imperial St. Petersburg and Moscow. This contrast is vividly emphasised in both descriptions of the pre-war time and in the military actions. This contrast is especially maximized in the culmination of the plot: even during the Battle of Borodino and while Moscow is burning down in horrible fires, St. Petersburg continues the casual life with royal attitude that includes balls, salons, gossips. And it is not actually considered as the contrast of cities, it is rather the antithesis of the social values of the capital and the people’s spirit. Most of the time, in 19th century Russian literature, both capitals of the modern world are presented this way. Authors feel that Moscow is the city of emotions, sorrow and happiness, that the place that is more down to earth, communicating with ordinary people. In contrast, St. Petersburg is a cold city of loneliness and endless rains, where people used to think and act only for their own benefits. However, it is impossible to roughly define those description as bad or good. The image of cities in the literature is diverse and cannot be identified with only one word. Novels strive to uncover all the angles, seeking for a true form and not focusing on only one feature of the city. As a consequence, the action becomes an independent character and evolves on its own, and sometimes can even influence the development of the plot. This ability of the authors to show this kind of diversity is what can truly be called art.

“The city becomes a fully-fledged character”

Image: Persephone Books//Facebook

your guide to:

BLOOMSBURY’S BEST BOOKSHOPS WORDS: CHLOE MOSS

It’s safe to say that no area of London is more synonymous with an author than Bloomsbury. The W1 district was the hub for the famous Bloomsbury Group, the intellectual collective made up of the likes of E.M. Forster, Clive Bell and, of course, modernist icon Virginia Woolf. Not only did Bloomsbury serve as the location for Woolf ’s writing, but the area is also often immortalised in her works with references to some of its most recognisable landmarks. She immortalised the British Museum in A Room of One’s Own with her vivid description of “the vast dome…the huge, bald forehead which is so splendidly encircled by a band of famous names”. The best way to explore Woolf ’s old stomping ground is through its bookshops. Despite developments in the area seeing an influx of hairdressers and coffee shops, the independent bookshop still reigns supreme in an area beloved for its literary history. If you find yourself in Bloomsbury with your tattered copy of Orlando to hand, these are the five bookshops you cannot miss.

aesthetics which, aren’t we all really, all of their books are published with grey covers. The idea behind this is that wherever you encounter a Persephone book, it will appear beautiful. Just like the writing itself. 59 Lamb’s Conduit St, London, WC1N 3NB

Persephone Books

Taking its name from another of London’s celebrated figures, Jarndyce references Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. The antiquarian booksellers had to look further back in London’s literary history than Woolf to find a name that represented their unique selling point Open since 1969, Jarndyce Booksellers is the leading booksellers in 18th and 19th English

A bookshop championing forgotten female authors seems the best way to start a celebration of Woolf ’s Bloomsbury. The bookshop’s name even harks back to a long-suffering female figure from Greek mythology: Persephone, consigned to the underworld after her abduction by and marriage to Hades. If you’re one for

Skoob This writer’s personal favourite, Skoob Books lies beneath the contemporary concrete mass of the Brunswick Centre. The shop floor itself houses around 65,000 titles, with another 45,000 in a basement below waiting to restock the shelves. A warehouse in Oxford is home to a further one million titles. Unsurprising, then, that it lays claim to the possibly largest privatelyowned second hand book collection in the world. The affordable prices and the shop’s proximity to several university campuses makes it a haven for cash-strapped students clutching reading lists. You’ll go seeking one book and leave with several. 66, Brunswick Centre, London, WC1N 1AE Jarndyce Booksellers

literature. What better place to call home than Bloomsbury, a historic hub for English writers? The bookshop is nestled opposite the British Museum at the historic number 46 Great Russell Street, where a blue plaque marks this building as the home of illustrator Randolph Caldecott. 46 Great Russell St, London, WC1B 3PA London Review Bookshop Yet another gem in the heart of Bloomsbury, the London Review Bookshop was launched by the London Review of Books. It acts as a hub for literature lovers to come, browse and have a coffee in the in-shop cafe., and it is situated in amongst Bloomsbury’s beloved landmarks. It boasts over 20,000 titles covering a diverse range of authors, themes and genres from every far corner of the vast literary world. 14-16 Bury Pl, London, WC1A 2JL Judd Books Another second hand bookshop with a huge variety of genres. The difference here is that Judd Books, being situated so close to different university campuses and halls, specialises in academic literature. Ideal for nearby students, both in terms of finding bargains and ditching the copies they no longer need at the end of the year. With over 50,000 titles spread across the two storey shop, Judd Books is quite the treasure trove for literary enthusiasts. 82 Marchmont St, London, WC1N 1AG

Image: Annie Spratt/Unsplash

are travel guidebooks helpful? WORDS: KHYATI RAJVANSHI

In our digital age, there is no shortage of travel advice. But does the influx of voices online spell the end of travel guidebooks?

s a person with a serious case of the travel bug, my approach to travel has changed over the years. I used to love collecting guidebooks from different cities and adding them to my personal collection of souvenirs. It was a small but steady habit that I had learnt from my mother. But more recently everything has changed. I cannot remember the last time I even picked up a travel guidebook before going to a new place. Now, all you need to do is Google the name of the city and get unlimited tourist information in a blink of an eye.

The internet generation

Extra, Extra!

Another reason why the internet outshines travel guides is the fact that you can look at reviews by people on suggestions made by agencies and travel bloggers with their own independent opinions. This feature is seen lacking in print travel guidebooks as they are crafted by travel organisations and have their own agenda. They fail to showcase any negative opinion of view on any of the destinations. This can no doubt turn off young travellers today. Online reviews can be edited and changed instantly, whereas printed publications need to be reprinted.

As a kid I used to love collecting little souvenirs or pamphlets that came along with travel guidebooks. Hotel lobbies were filled with extra pamplets of the events that are going around in town. This trend still exists but fails to impress the younger generation. Simple reason being – the existence of the internet. Information about all the events are on their fingertips and souvenirs are only to be bought at souvenir shops. Travel pamphlets in my opinion are an outdated and unresourceful in this era.

Once upon a time

Where’s the money?

What seems like decades ago, travel guidebooks were an essential part of any planned journey. You couldn’t board an airplane without seeing a copy of a Rough Guide or Lonely Planet book. Today, one could only imagine it being useful if there was no cell reception or no free WiFi. When growing up in the era of a dial up connection basically any print material was like collecting gold. Now you can simply view videos on YouTube or read articles on where to go and where to avoid. The internet has opened up a whole new world to travel destinations.

Another minor yet impactful factor that has resulted in the popularity of internet travel guides is money. Hardly anyone is willing to spend even £5 on a map or travel guidebook whilst travelling. The reason being, almost everyone has a smartphone and can easily access maps which help them navigate their way through the seven seas. One can easily look for points of interest on Google Maps and find a nearby restaurant in case hunger strikes and they are lost. Although this is convenient, one may have to pay roaming charges on their phone whilst travelling abroad.

Hail Millennials! Call it the generation gap or the invention of the internet, but travel guidebooks are certainly not as helpful anymore and sadly wasting the lives of thousands of trees. One can easily throw away a printout but collecting guidebooks can store endless memories forever. It is also hard to derive pleasure from reading from a phone screen compared to physical papers. While some people may still prefer to stick to the tradition of getting a guidebook and carrying it with them to a remote island, the millennial members of the tourist crowd would rather streamline their packing with the aid of their mobile phone.

Image: Unsplash

sartorial pages:

THE BEST FASHION BOOKS TO ADD STYLE TO YOUR COFFEE TABLE WORDS: CHLOE MOSS

literary style

The Cape Reimagined – Burberry Following their recent Spring/Summer ‘17 show, which saw the famous Burberry cape reimagined in an array of modern designs, the luxury powerhouse is releasing a huge book to celebrate one of their most recognisable pieces. The book is launching in conjunction with their new made to order couture cape collection. It features images of their atelier designs as well as an insight into the inspiration and design process. Ready for pre-order now. Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion – Grace Coddington Hair doesn’t come more iconic than the fiery locks of Grace Coddington. This is a celebration of the illustrious career of the legendary fashion stylist. It charts the first 30 years she spent at Vogue UK and US, and so provides insight not only into Grace’s work as a stylist, but also into style throughout the ages. Alongside the beautiful photographs and illustrations you will find a foreword by Vogue US Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, as well as contributions from famous designers and collaborators. The 408-page book was originally published in 2002 and was re-released in 2016. The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited – Chanel Perhaps the ultimate tome for every fashion-lover’s coffee table, The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited was released alongside the exhibition of the same name. The exhibition toured

the world, visiting the Saatchi Gallery in London, and was comprised of a vast collection of images by Karl Lagerfeld, of famous figures modelling different Chanel jackets through the ages. Icons like Alexa Chung and Kanye West model a huge array of black jackets. The huge book houses every image from the exhibition, so if you missed a chance to visit this is the perfect opportunity to keep a piece of the brand’s history forever. Love Style Life – Garance Doré Having risen from blogger to fashion favourite amongst editors and photographers alike, Garance Doré released this guide to, well, pretty much everything. The pages contain advice about love, style and life, as the name suggests, with Garance injecting her own personal experiences into every piece of advice she bestows. Those who are familiar with Garance’s writing will recognise her signature style rooted in humorous observations and an honest portrayal of her experiences in fashion, and every page is accompanied with beautiful images. The cover itself is in the now much-coveted ‘Millennial pink’, and you can’t go wrong with a touch of 2017’s must-have colour to brighten a room. Where’s Karl? A Fashion Forward Parody – Stacey Caldwell and Ajiri A. Aki Something fun to provide your table with a little nostalgia. Where’s Wally has been given a makeover, with designer Karl Lagerfeld at the helm. As the head of Chanel, Fendi and his own eponymous label, Karl is a busy man always on the go. With every turn of the page you’ll be taken with him, whether it’s trying to spot Karl in New York, Dubai or Paris. The fifteen different scenes are all colourful illustrations which will keep you distracted for longer than you think, and will prove a real crowd-pleaser.

SPRING WISHLIST:

9 things you need to buy this season BY CHLOE MOSS, DARIA LAPINA, BRI WINK

1. cuddle up Spend your spring curled up with this handmade Bella Freud pillow.

Bella Freud, Ginsberg is God cushion, £160

mood lighting ‘Insolite’ means unusual, and this candle will make you rethink floral scents as you know them. Diptyque Candle Insolite, Liberty of London exclusive, £48

3. a farewell to straps Add a literary twist to your accessories and make your handbag the talk of the party – Olympia le Tan’s handmade book clutches will do the trick. Olympia le Tan Hemingway clutch, £2,438

have a cuppa Tea or not to tea: that is the question. Enjoy your next cup with the Bard with this hand-drawn mug featuring everyone’s favourite playwright. Emma Bridgewater Shakespeare mug, £12.95

jot it down 5.

Keep all your ideas safe and your calendar in check with the help of this beautiful leather diary from cult stationery brand KIKKI.K KIKKI.K A5 leather compendium, £48

bon voyage It’s time to plan your next weekend break, and these city guides from Luxe will get you inspired. Luxe City Guides Europe Gift Box, £35

7. scent of spring Freshen up your scent in time for spring with this floral delight from master perfumer Jo Malone. Jo Malone London Peony and Blush Suede Cologne, 100ml, £88

a great escape If you’re escaping to the sunshine, even your luggage needs accessorising. Add a touch of colour to your bags with this fun tag. Smythson Panama Luggage Tag, £75, other colours available

9. send some love These dainty notecards are ideal for celebrating birthdays, saying thank you or just to let someone know you’re thinking of them. StudioSarah ‘Just a Little Note’ notecards, £35

Image: Unsplash

sartorial pages:

THE BEST FASHION BOOKS TO ADD STYLE TO YOUR COFFEE TABLE WORDS: CHLOE MOSS

The space for style statements at home doesn’t simply need to be confined to your wardrobe. Showcase your key inspirations, icons and sartorial words of wisdom throughout your house in the form of some weighty books with words and images by and about the biggest names of the industry. Here are five of the best books to kick-start your collection and add colour to your shelves. The Cape Reimagined – Burberry Following their recent Spring/Summer ‘17 show, which saw the famous Burberry cape reimagined in an array of modern designs, the luxury powerhouse is releasing a huge book to celebrate one of their most recognisable pieces. The book is launching in conjunction with their new made to order couture cape collection. It features images of their atelier designs as well as an insight into the inspiration and design process. Ready for pre-order now. Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion – Grace Coddington Hair doesn’t come more iconic than the fiery locks of Grace Coddington. This is a celebration of the illustrious career of the legendary fashion stylist. It charts the first 30 years she spent at Vogue UK and US, and so provides insight not only into Grace’s work as a stylist, but also into style throughout the ages. Alongside the beautiful photographs and illustrations you will find a foreword by Vogue US Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, as well as contributions from famous designers and collaborators. The 408-page book was originally published in 2002 and was re-released in 2016. The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited – Chanel Perhaps the ultimate tome for every fashion-lover’s coffee table, The Little Black Jacket: Chanel’s Classic Revisited was released alongside the exhibition of the same name. The exhibition toured

IMAGE: PEXELS

inspired by literature

Authors bring their most famous characters to life, creating fashion icons that stand the test of time WORDS: DARIA LAPINA

How many of you imagined yourselves as a musketeer or a princess during childhood? We wore tiaras, fairytale outfits and dressed like Robin Hood. Fashion and style attributes are essential for the game. This idea is typical not only for children, but also for a huge part of the fashion industry.

t is hard to imagine life without the classic movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, even today in 2017. Of course, most of us got acquainted with Holly Golightly through the famous film adaptation of 1961. However it all started with a novella by Truman Capote, published in 1958. The plot focuses on the young girl from the countryside, who tries to make her life work in New York by being “the authentic American geisha”. This apparently was the way to go, and 30 years later appeared in the famous movie Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts, which also has a special place in the hearts of many. But going back to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of Holly? It is her unique sense of style that has become an inspiration not only for trend-followers around the world, but also among the designers. What exactly makes Holly’s style so exceptional? Is it elbowlength black gloves? The sunglasses that covered most of her face? Pearls? Or maybe that special blue and silky sleep eye cover? I would say all of it. All those little details make her look complete. Holly is elegant and simple. Even her surname – Golightly – basically screams minimalism. Go light, go minimalistic. And, well, this girl is broke, she is not rich at all, but she gives an impression of looking as if she has a lot of money. And Holly manages it perfectly with little black dress and her up-do. And the audience is fascinated by her ability of combining small touches to create her seemingly effortless look. Let’s now turn to another fiction character with an interesting sense of style, a male influencer: Dorian Gray, the protagonist in The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. First published in 1890, this is a marvelous philosophical novel about a man with severe form of narcissism. What is interesting is that the author does not satirise this feature of the character, but simply observes how far the hero will go to preserve his beauty and youth. Dorian does his best to do that, with an incomparable sense of style. He is notable among

London’s aristocrats as a trendsetter, wearing the most fashionable pieces. He has become a judge of taste in people’s eyes. Young men imitate his style and manners and women flatter him with their attention. Also, with Dorian’s aloof behavior and attitude towards luxury life in the West End of London, with opera and theatre visits and so on – he becomes an iconic gentleman. The plot takes place towards the end of Victorian era, which immediately refer us to black suits, long coats, white shirts with frill. All those features serve as an inspiration for many modern designers. An example of this is Burberry, the iconic brand that represents classic English heritage and their traditions. Enough of the past for now. Let us see what the future will bring. When you think of future, you might imagine huge political, social and economic changes. The trilogy The Hunger Games is a significant contributor to the picture in my head. Not only some global, post-apocalyptic changes, but the fashion as well. According to the author Suzanne Collins the trends of fashion in future will be highly connected with maximalism. The more you have, the more you show. That is why the citizens of Panem in the book are so intemperate and effusive in their choices of clothes. Effie Trinket is the typical Panem resident and is a pure fashionista. She is famous for her brave outfits, enormous false eyelashes, wild hair color and other bold fashion choices. She definitely knows how to make a fashion statement. In future, the minimalistic rules are no longer relevant. There is no such thing as “invest in your outerwear” or “do not wear more than three blocks of colours”. As Effie states – invest in everything at once. People like to feel that they are part of something more, maybe that they belong to another world, that might be even more beautiful that the one they already live in. This is why we borrow our mothers’ pearl necklaces, put on some long black gloves and walk back and forward in front of Tiffany & Co windows. Because it is more than just a book, more than just a character – it gives us an inspiration for a lifestyle we truly desire. And in order to emulate that lifestyle, people tend to pick up fashion trends. As a French phrase says: “change la coiffure – change la vie”, which translates as “change your hair – change your life”. Or shoes, or jacket – whatever makes you feel exceptional.

“Unreal City, Under the brown fog of a winter dawn, A crowd flowed over London Bridge, so many, I had not thought death had undone so many.” – The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot

take a look:

LITERARY TATTOOS … What is the motivation behind a tattoo? The reasons can be endless, whether it’s a reminder of a person, a place or a moment. Often, you might turn to your favourite works of literature for inspiration – a treasured line, illustration, or even a simple page reference. The words of a book, poem or play can have a profound effect and get under the skin of the reader, to the extent that they want it etched on their body as a constant reminder. Here, we explore a collection of beautiful literary inspired tattoos with intimate portraits of their owners.

WORDS & IMAGES: CHLOE MOSS

“I have no way, therefore want no eyes I stumbled when I saw” – King Lear by William Shakespeare

“Be patient and tough, Someday this pain will be useful to you.” – Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You by Peter Cameron

my cousin rachel daphne du maurier Published in 1951, My Cousin Rachel is a novel by British author Daphne du Maurier largely set on a big estate in Cornwall. This classic mystery romance novel has had several adaptations in the past. The first film called My Cousin Rachel starring Richard Burton and Olivia de Havilland was made in 1952. This was followed by a BBC four-part television adaptation broadcasted in 1983. The upcoming American-British film, will be directed by Roger Michell and will be starring Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin and Iain Glen.The story focuses on a young protagonist Philip Ashley who falls in love with his cousin Rachel. Orphaned at an early age, PhIlip moves in with his older cousin Ambrose. Ambrose looks after him and the grand home to which he is the heir to. Their cozy world breaks apart when she sets off to Florence. He soon hears the news of Ambrose passing away. Stricken with grief, he meets Rachel, his other cousin who arrives to England soon after. Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious Rachel like a moth to the flame.

Release Date: June 9, 2017

it stephen king Stephen King’s classic 1986 horror novel that makes you want to lock your doors at night is going to hit the theatres this September. Directed by Andres Muschietti, it is going to be the first part of a duology based on the British Fantasy Award winner book. The film tells the tale of seven children known as ‘The Losers Club’, getting terrorized by an eponymous being called ‘IT’. IT exploits the fears and phobias of the main characters in order to disguise itself while hunting its prey.The monster starts attracting children in the form of a clown called Pennywise.The film deviates between past and present to explore how the monster both terrorised and continues to terrorise. The book focuses on King’s recurring themes of childhood trauma, horror of living in a traditional small town and the power of memory. Starring Bill Skarsgard, Finn Wolfhard and Javier Botet, this 1986 horror book is ready to scare the living daylight out of you.

beyond the page

Release Date: September 8, 2017

murder on the orient express agatha christie Scheduled to be released on November 22, 2017, Agatha Christie’s classic novel Murder on the Orient Express is a must-watch for all fans of the beloved mystery stories. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the story is about a mysterious murder on a luxurious train in the middle of Yugoslavia. Proving to be Hercule Poirot’s most astounding case in his detective career, the story is filled with intriguing characters and twisty plots. A fellow American passenger is found dead in his second-class compartment, stabbed a dozen times, with his door locked from inside. The film will be a second adaptation of the book and stars Daisy Ridley, Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Josh Gad

Release Date: November 10, 2017

7 35

spring playlist â&#x20AC;Ś

01. here comes the sun - the beatles 02. all i ever wanted - vance joy 03. alaska - maggie rogers 04. where the skies are blue - the lumineers 05. mr. tambourine man - bob dylan 06. glittering prize (acoustic) - simple minds 07. king of the world - first aid kit 08. towers - bon iver 09. april come she will - simon & garfunkel 10. milk & honey - billie marten 11. wildflowers - tom petty 12. featerstone - the paper kites 13. into the mystic - van morrison 14. the wind - cat stevens 15. ivy & gold - bombay bicycle club 16. honey & i - haim 17. elevate - st. lucia 18. gypsy - fleetwood mac 19. bikes - lucy rose 20. lost in my mind - the head & the heart 21. ends of the earth - lord huron

6 BOOKS MUSIC LOVERS

must read this year WORDS: BRI WINK

gone

white tears

art sex music

by Hari Kunzru

by Cosey Fanni Tutti

by Min Kym

Two twenty-something New Yorkers obsessed with music accidentally uncover a long-lost blues song in this thrilling novel about the history of race, guilt, greed, and revenge. Out now. Knopf.

Throbbing Gristle’s founding member bears all in this stunning autobiography about her four decades breaking barriers as an avant-garde artist in the music industry. 1 May. Faber & Faber.

When Kym’s prized violin gets stolen in a train station cafe, the prodigy must face the isolation of a world without her instrument on her journey back to music in this incredible true story. 6 April. Vikings.

uncommon people

the songs

by David Hepworth

by Charles Elton

roots, radicals and rockers

The legendary music journalist delves into the rise and fall of 40 rockstars from 1955 to 1995, unravelling the myths surrounding their lives and examining the turning points of their careers. 18 May. Bantam Press.

An ageing, reclusive protest singer and his three quirky children are at the center of this darkly humorous and bittersweet novel about fame, family, and the secrets they keep. 1 June. Bloomsbury Publishing.

by Billy Brag The songwriter and activist outlines the history and impact of skiffle, the UK’s first indigenous pop movement, in the first book to examine the phenomenon in depth. 1 June. Faber & Faber.

top 5 book adaptations TO WATCH IN 2017 WORDS: KHYATI RAJVANSHI

the circle dave eggers A timely novel that sums up our obsession with the Internet is about to hit the theatres this April. Starring Emma Watson, Tom Hanks and John Bovega, The Circle revolves around Mae Holland (Watson), who is hired to work in the world’s most powerful internet company The Circle. The story, adapted and directed by James Ponsoldt, captivates the reader with its thrilling plot of a woman’s ambition in a world full of personal emails, social media accounts, privacy, history and social media addiction. The book explores the contemporary internet community by focusing on how a user’s personal email, social media and finances can be linked in one universal operating system, resulting in one online identity. With an excellent cast and compulsively addictive plot, the film has high hopes for box office success. Release Date: April 28, 2017

everything everything nicola yoong Everything, Everything is a highly anticipated film that is going to release on May 19. The film stars Amandla Stenberg, Nick Robinson and Anika Noni Rose and is directed by Stella Meghie. The story follows a quarantined girl who is allergic to everything and falls for the boy next door. This highly rated book written by Nicola Yoon, explores the main character Madeleine’s life trapped in a house because she cannot step out without dying. The only two people she has had contact with throughout her life are her mother and her nurse Carla. Until one day when she sees Olly, her dashing new neighbour who moves in next door. The book is scripted in a beautiful, touching and elegant manner that is meant to trap the reader in the world of two young adults struggling to make most of their lives. Release Date: May 19, 2017

my cousin rachel daphne du maurier Published in 1951, My Cousin Rachel is a novel by British author Daphne du Maurier largely set on a big estate in Cornwall. This classic mystery romance novel has had several adaptations in the past. The first film called My Cousin Rachel starring Richard Burton and Olivia de Havilland was made in 1952. This was followed by a BBC four-part television adaptation broadcasted in 1983. The upcoming American-British film, will be directed by Roger Michell and will be starring Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin and Iain Glen.The story focuses on a young protagonist Philip Ashley who falls in love with his cousin Rachel. Orphaned at an early age, PhIlip moves in with his older cousin Ambrose. Ambrose looks after him and the grand home to which he is the heir to. Their cozy world breaks apart when he sets off to Florence. He soon hears the news of Ambrose passing away. Stricken with grief, he meets Rachel, his cousin’s widow who arrives to England soon after. Despite himself, Philip is drawn to this beautiful, sophisticated, mysterious Rachel like a moth to the flame. Release Date: June 9, 2017

Credit: image taken from Neogaf

4 books that should be

MADE INTO VIDEO GAMES BY ISLAM SOLIMAN

We have all heard the complaints when a movie series based on a novel does not capture the lure of their roots - and, how can they with a time limit of two hours? However, what about the adaptation from books to video games?

he late, great Roger Ebert was famous for saying that “video games can never be art.” That might have been a plausible opinion to hold for someone who was looking at games through the prism of the first Playstation era. Despite making such claims, it is now common for works of literature to be rendered in pixels and boss battles. Of course, that does not mean all forms of literature pirouette easily into games, but gems from Ayn Rand and Cormac McCarthy, are certainly used in video games to explore deeply complicated political ideas about contemporary society. The history of video games is filled with amazing literary titles, but there are other literary or historical tales that haven’t been recreated into a video game.

Below is a list of four books that would make great video games. Are you ready, player one? The Saxon Stories/ The Last Kingdom The Saxon tales written by Bernard Cornell is a historical novel series – about the making of Saxon England in the 9th and 10th century Britain. Bernard continues the story of Uhtred Ragnarson, the son of Saxon Ealdorman Uhtred, Lord of Bebbanburg, and explores his adventures in Britain, during a time when the Danes invaded England. The Last Kingdom’s blend of high political intrigue, violent Vikings, historical battles, and real-life characters would make for an intriguing open-world simulator. Other games like Ubisofts Assassin’s Creed franchise have successfully spawned historical events into the narrative of their games. Rather than using elements of the fantastic to refine historical events from the past, the book-to-game adaptation would allow you to explore the origins of Britain through visions and actions of King Alfred of

Wessex. Even though the book is often compared to other video games like the Witcher series, a video game set in Anglo-Saxon England would offer a richer learning experience for viewers than a fictional video game like the Witcher. Moby Dick Although Hideo Kojimas, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, houses several references to Herman Melville novel Moby Dick, it doesn’t tell the story of Captain Ahab and his monomaniacal desire to slay Moby Dick, the giant whale that maimed him. It is somewhat surprising that Melville famous novel has not been adapted into a full-fledged video game, especially when the theme of revenge intersects with the main plot. One can discuss other themes from the moral philosophy of Melville, but an open-world game, which allows players to scour the sea in search of Moby Dick, would be rather impressive particularly if it is accompanied with stunning visuals of Moby Dick demolishing Ahabs harpoon boat. If anything, the game would allow players to grasp a better understanding of classical literature and the major themes that Melville expresses

Coming this July: SUMMER 2017

The Martian Although the novel does not embody the same literary themes captured in Moby Dick – Andy Weir’s survival thriller, The Martian, would make a fine first-person exploration puzzle game. Its story follows an American astronaut, Mark Watney, as he finds himself stuck on planet Mars and must harness resources on the red planet in order to survive. This conflict of man vs. nature or man against self is described throughout most of the book. The astronaut encounters many setbacks and problems that he must resolve with his own scientific creativity. Similar to the way Heavy Rain prides itself on making impactful choices that change the outcome of the narrative, a game based on Weir’s novel would allow players to make use of resources, forcing players to come up with a scientific solution to any disastrous problems that arise. The Advent of virtual reality technologies also provides innovative companies with new ideas to transform the video game market. Playing a virtual reality game as Mark Watney would make for a highly interactive and immersive experience for literary lovers. Homer’s Odyssey Video games are constantly changing mythologies through their own imaginations, but a digital recreation of Homer’s Odyssey would make an excellent counterpart to Santa Monica’s God of War series. For the uninitiated, the God of War series is an actionadventure game based on Greek Mythology. A book-to-game adaptation that retells the events of how Achilles slayed the Trojan hero Hector outside the gates of Troy and how Paris of Troy abducted Helen from her husband Menelaus, the King of Sparta, would allow players to become more familiar with classical Greek literature. A game based on the Iliad would also allow game developers to include poetry to include poetry to convey certain plot points. Ever since Homer’s Iliad of the Trojan War was recreated for the big screen in 2003, fans of Greek mythology have been asking for a remake of the tale. What better way to fulfil fans expectation with a full-fledged open-world game that allows players to experience naval battles, the love story of ‘Paris and Helen,’ and witness the creation of the Trojan wooden horse that the Greeks used to enter the city of Troy and win the war. It is about time for mythologies and historical novels to be recreated into a video game.

BOO KS FOR THE BEAC H:

The ultimate summer reading list

THE SUMM ER OF LOVE :

Golden gate’s love fest, 50 years on

LEAR NING TO SPEA K:

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Our summer issue

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My brilliant friend... not as brilliant on stage

Elena Ferrante’s novels depicting the intricacies of female friendship have gained a loving readership since their release. Now, the story is being told on stage too

WORDS: ISABELLA LAWS

he book to stage adaptation is a fraught relationship. As every reader holds their own imagined version of the story to be true, an adaptation will inevitably fall short for some audience members. However, there have been some triumphant productions in recent years including The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and Warhorse. The Neapolitan Quartet was my literary highlight of 2016, so it was with excitement that I sat down in the Rose Theatre, Kingston to watch Part I of My Brilliant Friend. Adapted from the first two novels of Elena Ferrante’s four-part tale, the story traces the friendship between Elena Greco and Rafaella Cerullo growing up in post World War II Naples. Their life paths diverge as Elena stays in education past primary school, as Rafaella, more commonly known as Lila, becomes immersed in the often cruel neighbourhood life. Throughout the books the Italian culture, food and mindset dominate the pages. This defines the plot and characters, as we come to see the characters as a product of their environments, limited by their situation in both space and time. The play did not translate this. Character names were mispronounced in English accents, so far from their intended delivery it sounded forced and Anglicised. Similarly, nearly all references to the political state of 1950-60s Italy were removed from the script, stripping the context of the crippling poverty in which the girls grow up. The set was minimalist, depriving the viewer of any sensory perception of Italian food or surroundings. The music choice was

also all English language. The clothes make some attempt to save the lack of identity. The older generation of characters wear traditional garbs, with women donning long black robes and flat capped hats. The use of clothes as puppets during any abusive scene marks them apart from the rest of the play. This emphasizes them in a way that the books don’t, where they are described along with the body of the text. Niamh Cusack and Catherine McCormack are convincing as Elena and Lila respectively. The early scene where they introduce themselves through their dolls sets the complex friendship which directs the story. At times Cusack and McCormack leave the rest of the cast behind, outshining them in the conviction with which they play their roles. Their on stage relationship is both dynamic and forceful. After the intermission, this improves as the cast seem to settle into their roles and interaction with one another. The doubling of characters though necessary within a small cast was sometimes confusing, particularly when actors are swapping between adult and child roles. Ferrante’s storylines remain compelling, and my interest was held throughout, though I am left to wonder if it this is only because I am so attached to the books. Yet even her magical story is not enough from the production falling slightly flat. My Brilliant Friend is running at Rose Theatre Kingston until April 2nd. For information go to: www.rosetheatrekingston.org/book

than a blank page may be interested in discovering whether any treatment is available. Research on writer’s block itself has been limited, but certain traits have been found to be similar to those in other neurological conditions. These have provided indication that writer’s block has a scientific basis and occurs in the frontal lobe of the brain. As such, it could be medically

“There is a physical manifestation of the same mental obstruction to creation that is observed in writer’s block” treated. As well as writer’s block many authors can suffer from writer’s cramp. It is defined as: “a brain disorder of the movements that form words”. Writers experience cramps or spasms of muscles in the hand and forearm which renders them unable to write. These are task specific; they only affect the writer when they are trying to write, but not when they do other fine motor tasks such as cooking or playing an instrument. In writer’s cramp, it seems there is a physical manifestation of the same mental obstruction to creation that is observed in writer’s block. Brain imaging has found that the primary and supplementary motor cortex in the frontal lobe are predominantly affected. Writer’s cramp mostly affects those who engage in “repetitive stereotyped practice” such as authors, but also receptionists and clerks, and like its cousin condition repetitive strain injury (such as tennis or golfer’s elbow), “rest or distraction” can give relief. As writer’s cramp and block have been identified to be similar but not identical, it makes sense that rest and distraction may be effective for some but not all those suffering. Writer’s block has also been found to have some parallels with is depression. Writers are eight to ten times more likely to develop depression that the rest of the

population. Flaherty also highlights that some of the symptoms of writer’s block are very similar to those of depression. This includes loss of energy, imagination and concentration, increased self criticism, and decreased enjoyment of tasks. It is more controversial whether or not the depression should be treated with either antidepressants or cognitive therapy. Many feel that artists require suffering and pain in order to be productive. Others counter that being unable to write is a natural consequence of a life without meaning, and therefore they cannot work while being depressed. Yet, Mike Rose, Professor of English at UCLA, does not reference antidepressants as a method of treatment. The author of Rigid rules, inflexible plans, and the stifling of language: A cognitivist analysis of writer’s block, he thinks that the solution to is more simple. Observing his own cohort of students, he writes: “students who experienced blocking were all operating either with writing rules or with planning strategies that impeded rather than enhanced the composing process.” Throughout his paper he argues that students who became hindered by writer’s block were trying to write to an impossible set of standards, used too rigid planning or were inflexible in their approach. Professor Rose argues that while any emotional element of block is harder to combat, the

in depth

cognitive parts can be addressed. Dennis Cass agrees, writing that fluency, flexibility and originality are all

“Symptoms of writer’s block are very similar to those of depression” that is required to move beyond the red light. In How to Get Unstuck: The Psychology of Writer’s Block, Cass argues that a process of divergent thinking (brainstorming for ideas) followed by convergent thinking (eliminating options, cutting copy) will ensure that authors do not become stuck with either too few or too many choices. Like others, he offers the advice of breaking routine with a walk to overcome ‘mechanized thought’. So while there has been some progress in understanding what causes writer’s block, a lot remains unanswered. It affects individuals differently, and because of this has no single definitive treatment. But, for any struggling authors reading, take hope that there are a variety of options out there for you. We hope you find one and soon put your pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) again soon.

Authors who suffered from writer’s block lend their advice: ◆ Maya Angelou: “What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.’ And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.’” ◆ Mark Twain: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” ◆ J.G. Ballard: “All through my career I’ve written 1,000 words a day - even if I’ve got a hangover. You’ve got to discipline yourself if you’re professional. There’s no other way.” ◆ Margaret Atwood: “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” ◆ Erica Jong: “All writing problems are psychological problems. Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged. If you imagine the world listening, you’ll never write a line. That’s why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.”

the science behind WRITER’S BLOCK

For centuries, authors have complained of the debilitating problem of writer’s block. Is there scientific basis to the phenomena or is it really ‘all in your head’?

WORDS: ISABELLA LAWS ILLUSTRATIONS: MUHAMMAD USAMAH QAISER

e’ve all been there. Sat in front of a blank page or computer screen, willing words to write themselves while we engage in a silent battle in our minds. Why won’t any words come? Why is it so much harder to write on some days when it flows on others? Despite the internet providing us a constant access to distraction through Facebook, Instagram, and a forever updating news stream, writer’s block is not a 21st century phenomenon. In 1866, author of Madame Bovary, Gustav Flaubert wrote: “You don’t know what it is to stay a whole day with your head in your hands trying to squeeze your unfortunate brain so as to find a word.” His words ring true with many modern writers’ experiences. But despite its long documented history, writer’s block has struggled to attain any legitimacy as a problem. Advice for authors ranges from the benign (take a long walk) to the unsympathetic (just sit down and write anything, something, until the right words come.) This school of thought was perpetuated by notable authors, such as Gene Fowler, stating that perseverance is the only tool required to overcome the state. But this dismissal of the problem belittles those who rely upon their skill to sustain themselves financially. Author of The Midnight Disease, Alice Flaherty writes: “treatment for writer’s block may seem frivolous to some, but the blocked writer may see the affliction as a work disability.” Is it really just a case of mind over

matter, or is there a scientific basis for those who experience a stifling, overwhelming block on their ability to create? Scientific research on language and creativity has also been hampered by a belief that the creative process is sacred. In fact, some may go as far to claim that creativity is one of the fundamental tenants of being human and therefore should not be researched or altered. Flaherty questions whether a “disapproval of medical attempts to enhance or pathologize normal straights” is peculiar given there is no reluctance to altering these traits by other means such as education, exercise or vitamin supplementation.

“Or is there a scientific basis for those who experience a stifling, overwhelming block on their ability to create?” A 2007 paper published in the Journal of Applied Behaviour Analysis titled: A multisite cross-cultural replication of Upper’s 1974 unsuccessful self-treatment of writer’s block made a light-hearted comment about the lack of treatment and understanding of the condition. The publication of a single blank page represented the struggle 

of many authors, stating that it has “awe‑inspiring brevity”. However those who wish to write more than a blank page may be interested in discovering whether any treatment is available. Research on writer’s block itself has been limited, but certain traits have been found to be similar to those in other neurological conditions. These have provided indication that writer’s block has a scientific basis and occurs in the frontal lobe of the brain. As such, it could be medically treated.

“There is a physical manifestation of the same mental obstruction to creation that is observed in writer’s block” As well as writer’s block many authors can suffer from writer’s cramp. It is defined as: “a brain disorder of the movements that form words”. Writers experience cramps or spasms of muscles in the hand and forearm which renders them unable to write. These are task specific; they only affect the writer when they are trying to write, but not when they do other fine motor tasks such as cooking or playing an instrument. In writer’s cramp, it seems there is a physical manifestation of the same mental obstruction to creation that is observed in writer’s block. Brain imaging has found that the primary and supplementary motor cortex in the frontal lobe are predominantly affected. Writer’s cramp mostly affects those who engage in “repetitive stereotyped practice” such as authors, but also receptionists and clerks, and like its cousin condition repetitive strain injury (such as tennis or golfer’s elbow), “rest or distraction” can give relief. As writer’s cramp and block have been identified to be similar but not identical, it makes sense that rest and distraction may be an effective cure for some but not all those who are suffering. Writer’s block has also been found to

have some parallels with is depression. Writers are eight to ten times more likely to develop depression that the rest of the population. Flaherty also highlights that some of the symptoms of writer’s block are very similar to those of depression.

“Symptoms of writer’s block are very similar to those of depression” This includes loss of energy, imagination and concentration, increased self criticism, and decreased enjoyment of tasks. It is more controversial whether or not the depression should be treated with either antidepressants or cognitive therapy. Many feel that artists require suffering and pain in order to be productive. Others counter that being unable to write is a natural consequence of a life without meaning, and therefore they cannot work while being depressed. Yet, Mike Rose, Professor of English at UCLA, does not reference antidepressants as a method of treatment. The author of Rigid rules, inflexible plans, and the stifling of language: A cognitivist analysis of writer’s block, he thinks that the solution to is more simple. Observing his own cohort of students, he writes: “students who

experienced blocking were all operating either with writing rules or with planning strategies that impeded rather than enhanced the composing process.” Throughout his paper he argues that students who became hindered by writer’s block were trying to write to an impossible set of standards, used too rigid planning or were inflexible in their approach. Professor Rose argues that while any emotional element of block is harder to combat, the cognitive parts can be addressed. Dennis Cass agrees, writing that fluency, flexibility and originality are all that is required to move beyond the red light. In How to Get Unstuck: The Psychology of Writer’s Block, Cass argues that a process of divergent thinking (brainstorming for ideas) followed by convergent thinking (eliminating options, cutting copy) will ensure that authors do not become stuck with either too few or too many choices. Like others, he offers the advice of breaking routine with a walk to overcome ‘mechanized thought’. So while there has been some progress in understanding what causes writer’s block, a lot remains unanswered. It affects individuals differently, and because of this has no single definitive treatment. But, for any struggling authors reading, take hope that there are a variety of options available. We hope you find one and soon put your pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) again soon.

Authors who suffered from writer’s block lend their advice: ◆◆ Maya Angelou: “What I try to do is write. I may write for two weeks ‘the cat sat on the mat, that is that, not a rat.’ And it might be just the most boring and awful stuff. But I try. When I’m writing, I write. And then it’s as if the muse is convinced that I’m serious and says, ‘Okay. Okay. I’ll come.’” ◆◆ Mark Twain: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” ◆◆ J.G. Ballard: “All through my career I’ve written 1,000 words a day - even if I’ve got a hangover. You’ve got to discipline yourself if you’re professional. There’s no other way.” ◆◆ Margaret Atwood: “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” ◆◆ Erica Jong: “All writing problems are psychological problems. Blocks usually stem from the fear of being judged. If you imagine the world listening, you’ll never write a line. That’s why privacy is so important. You should write first drafts as if they will never be shown to anyone.”

ROMANTIC OR DESTRUCTIVE?

The poet John Donne once said that “more than kisses, letters mingle souls.” What makes reading the intimate letters of others so appealing?

WORDS: CHLOE MOSS

onne’s point about letters providing an intense sense of intimacy cannot be denied. A kiss can be fleeting, whereas scribing your words on a page is a more permanent and revelatory act than anything else you can share with another person. Unless of course a scorned lover burns each page. Or, in the more modern equivalent, puts it through the shredder or clicks delete. But it is doubtful that Donne factored this into his writing. The multitude of famous letters which survive throughout time have been subject to many prying eyes. Throughout all of time and literature, personal letters have had an undeniable potency. A missed note caused tragedy in Romeo and Juliet. Correspondence between rivals reveals the power of desire in Dangerous Liaisons. In Charlotte Bronte’s Villette, her protagonist shelters letters in a glass jar to keep them safe. One of my favourite fictional letters, found in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, reunited long-separated lovers. And Sarah Jessica Parker’s iconic Carrie Bradshaw reads the letters of great men whilst in bed next to her own great man, Big, in the Sex & the City film – a scene which spawned the release of a similar anthology. I hoard books of letters by my favourite authors. I pour over their most intimate of moments, preserved forever; their love and loss and every emotion in between anthologised by an expert editor and neatly bound together. A collection of Ted Hughes’s greatest letters sits on my bedside table, a formidable tome with letters of doomed love to Sylvia Plath, or letters of friendship to his contemporaries. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s letters also have a spot on my overcrowded bookshelf, categorising his letters of similarly doomed love to wife Zelda. On a more salacious note, the discovery of James Joyce’s letters to his lover Fanny, which are, to put it bluntly, pretty pornographic, coloured my impression of him during my undergraduate studies, and made me love him even more than

Ulysses ever could. Why is it that we readers delight in reading the mingling that Donne spoke of from an outside perspective? I think that we love letters because of just how exposing they are for the author. It gives us a highly personal insight into someone’s character, into their thoughts. Perhaps even more exposing than a diary, because they have chosen to share these thoughts with someone else. Last summer, a host of famous faces including Ralph Fiennes and Maxine Peake gathered at Reading Prison to read selected works of Oscar Wilde. An inmate at the prison for for two years, Wilde’s most famous letter is De Profundis, the 100-page letter to his lover Lord Alfred Douglas. This piece is treasured by Wilde fans such as myself because of what it reveals about the writer during the darkest period of his life. Typically seen

“Letters have become a weapon to be used against the author” as droll and sociable, the work provides a heartbreaking insight into his feelings towards both his lover and the persecution of gay men at this time. It is nothing short of a masterpiece. A copy of De Profundis also sits on my bedside table. It does at times feel slightly invasive that I am privy to all of these intimate letters, particularly in today’s climate where we have become fascinated by the private lives of our heroes. In a world where

image: unsplash

letters of note:

intimate and revealing conversations – and we as readers seem to have a voracious appetite for these conversations. Turning back to Prince Charles as a victim of yet another hacking – albeit less salacious than the phone calls – leaked memos from the prince to the government over a number of years were a triumph of Freedom of Information requests and a source of outrage for the general public. Glad as I am that these particular dealings were revealed, I would go so far as to argue that this sense of having a claim over private correspondence has tainted the celebration of historic letters. It has muddied the waters. New technologies and methods of communication have made it easier than ever to become involved in private lives. Letters have become a weapon to be used against the author. In literature letters cause no end of strife. But is there something slightly weird about our fascination

with every private word? Is it a bit creepy, for want of a better word, that we romanticise figures who we admire? Knowing everything we know now about Ted Hughes’s relationship with Sylvia Plath I always wonder if it should change how I read their conversations. Hughes exploits our fascination with the epistolary style in his collection Birthday Letters. Although not strictly a letter, the final poem of the heart-wrenching collection is a final word to the since-deceased Sylvia Plath. Last Letter is a poem full of questions from Ted to Sylvia – wondering what had happened to her on the day that she took her own life. It is incredibly raw and exposing and manages to portray the couple’s complex relationship. Despite this being a public poem, I feel as though I am intruding on something when I read it, just as I do with De Profundis. In spite of this, I will always cherish and romanticise the letters that I keep. I still see it as a privilege, and I wish I wrote more letters.

I’m not a great letter writer myself, lacking the patience and harbouring a tendency to spew thoughts out too instantaneously. For a year I sustained a long distance relationship, a commitment primed for anguished letters of longing. I didn’t seize the opportunity to pour my feelings onto the page, because I was too busy using Whatsapp. Much more practical but of course undeniably less romantic. I highly doubt that anyone will be seizing the opportunity, in forty years, to pour over my own double blue-ticked messages, riddled with emojis, anxiety and, more often than not, a hint of ill-advised drunk texting. Although given our thirst for a forever increasing sense of intimacy with strangers, perhaps it isn’t entirely impossible. Donne was right when he said that letters mingle souls. The reason we love letters so much is because we will always long for that connection, that sense of mingling.

Image: Unsplash

David Beckham’s emails are leaked, dirty texts shared as ‘revenge porn’ and phone calls are recorded and exposed, perhaps we’re taking this celebration of correspondence a bit too far. We’ve started to feel entitled rather than privileged, by the insight into the private words of those we idolise. Rather than being a source of admiration or in the case of Joyce’s letters titillation, the exposure of intimate correspondence has become a means of embarrassing people. Prince Charles’ tapped phone conversations, as salacious as Joyce’s words to Fanny, were a source of mortification for the royal family and discomfort for those of us who heard the contents. Although we can’t really compare text to a phone conversation, the same intimacy is shared between the two. News outlets fall over themselves and resort to duplicitous methods to provide their readers with exposes featuring highly

Despite everyone’s predictions, paperbacks are making a comeback in the market. Are eBooks now at risk of extinction?

WORDS: KHYATI RAJVANSHI

he undying battle between the traditional and modern way of reading books continues to divide readers. Ever since the birth of eBook readers such as Kindle, bookworms have been fearing the end of paperback era. But are books really dying? According to The Publishers Association UK, total paperback sales in 2015 were a whooping £609m whereas, digital fiction made only £196m, with just £50m in non-fiction. These numbers are a clear indication of the fact that paperbacks are making a comeback with a corresponding breakdown of the digital books industry. With eBooks and paperbacks currently sharing space in the UK publishing industry, discussions have arisen concerning the future of the traditional form of reading. A leading bookseller at the Harrow branch of Waterstones, Val Frenet, stood proudly in midst of bookshelves, helping customers find what they are looking for. In her opinion, there has been a resurgence over the past two years in the print industry. “I think paperbacks are coming back - not just for the joy of reading but for an artifact, for having something to hold.” Waterstones has recently ended their relationship with Kindle because of the rebirth of the print industry. Books are now being made to look more attractive by including more colourful and eye catching texts. Waterstones is also reducing the prices of hardback books to make more profit. Since 2015, customer service has been increased in their shops in the hope of gaining a more trusted readership across the country. Wearing round spectacles, warm pastel coloured clothes and an enthusiastic smile, Val revealed the secret of attracting more customers to the branch: “We actively look for good literature that

we can put out. We keep up-to-date with everything. We make sure the customers are aware of reviews and we help them as much as we can to choose a book themselves if they tell us what they want. The key is excellent customer service.” The advantage of buying books online is that customers can easily view book reviews and ratings by other people who have bought the book. Amazon also allows readers to download a sample of the book before they choose to buy it on the Kindle. This could be a disadvantage to book shops that cater to both eBook and paperback readers. So, how are smaller and local bookshops in London dealing with customer service? And are they being affected by the existence of eBooks? John Clegg, a bookseller at the London Review Book Shop, believes that paperback books will certainly not ‘die’. “Sales of specialist e-readers (rather than tablets with e-reader functionality) are collapsing.”

“It has been shown time and again that people aren’t interested in reading longform on tablets” The focus of the cultural bookshop is to showcase books which might appeal to readers with interest in strong poetry, philosophy and translated fiction. In order to cope up with the eBook market, the bookshop hosts events which brings customers from all over London. John shared an example of a promotion: “We run a regular

Image: Rebekah Ye

is a paperless society a myth?

“eBooks are going from strength to strength” Angela has currently sold 2,000,000 eBooks and feels that the key factor in her success was that she connected with bloggers and reviewers “who really took the first book Silent Scream to their hearts and have championed the books ever since.” She has also gained a following through Facebook ads which are specifically targeted at her audience. She is signed up to Bookouture.com for a total of 16 books in the Kim Stone series and her books have been translated into more than 20 languages. Although Angela has found success through the eBook market, she still believes in both eBooks and paperbacks. For every eBook, there is a Print on Demand option so that her readers can buy paperback versions of her books. Two of her books have already found their space in bookshelves in shops around the UK. This,

however does not make eBooks fail in today’s market. According to her: “Many traditional publishers ignored this medium for a few years perhaps thinking it was a phase that would die out but readers like the convenience of being able to store thousands of books on a portable device. Others enjoy the feel of a physical book in their hands.” Angela mentioned that most of the messages she receives are from younger people that have read her books on the Kindle or iPad. Since the establishment of eBooks readers, the young generation hold a mixed view on the subject of paperbacks vs. eBooks. Sarah, a Masters student in her late twenties, is one of many traditional bookworms that do not find any joy in digital books. “I prefer books because for me it is not just about the act of reading, I love to be able to smell and feel the book,” she said. Unfortunately, this traditional attitude towards reading contradicts with the younger generation. However, Katie, an undergraduate student in her early twenties converted to being a Kindle user two years ago. “Kindle helped me get my reading habit back because it is so convenient in every way. I can travel anywhere with it and it actually enhances the reading experience for me.

“I am never going back to paperback books” Ben, a software developer believes in digitalisation of every traditional object or idea. “There is market for both, however ebooks are an inevitable natural progression which we are seeing in multiple industries not just literature. According to him, they are “more efficient, faster, more durable - you can restore purchase if you have license.” The battle between what is known and what is coming is never ending. With paperback making a banging comeback, it will be interesting to see whether the paperless society will survive or not.

Image: Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash

promotion on the 1st Wednesday evening of every month, where visitors get 10% off of books on the night and a free glass of wine.” The marketing strategies of bookshops vary depending on their sizes, readers, and variety of books they hold. This brings us to the other side of the spectrum - eBooks. Do the same marketing strategies apply to authors that sell digital copies of their books online or on eBook readers? The author of the Amazon Bestselling DI Kim Stone Series, Angela Marsons, recalls her childhood passion for paperbacks. She loved reading anything she could get her hands on and spent many hours at her local library, using her brother’s library tickets to check out extra books. Despite having such an intense affair with books, what made Angela turn to publishing eBooks on platforms such as Kobo, Amazon, and iBooks? “I had tried for many years to secure a traditional publishing deal with no luck but was given an opportunity to publish with a new and exciting publisher called Bookouture who specialise in eBook sales”, she said.

Image: Our Air / Facebook

woman gone mad: THE MYTH OF SYLVIA PLATH

Sylvia Plath is more known for her suicide than her writing, but the tragic female poet leaves a question: why do we love when women go mad? WORDS: BRI WINK

tanding outside 3 Chalcot Square in Primrose Hill, I find myself tucked away in a quiet neighbourhood, where rows of pastel coloured houses frame small, well-kept gardens. When I look closer, I can see it: the tiny blue plaque next to the front door that bears the name of my favourite poet, novelist, and tragic feminist hero. Sylvia Plath. It was here where she put the final full-stop on her first and only novel, The Bell Jar. It was also in this same neighbourhood that she died, though that’s a block down the street in a little rowhouse coincidentally marked with a different blue plaque for writer WB Yeats. It was behind that door at 23 Fitzroy Road where she placed her head in the oven, ending her own life, but that’s where Plath’s story truly begins.

…

50 years after her death, Plath’s tale still captivates the public. It starts with a quiet childhood outside of Boston until the unexpected death of her father prompted an early breakdown. After graduating from university at the top of her class, she attended Cambridge on a scholarship. That’s where she fell in love with Ted Hughes. Then came a marriage, a family, and a separation; all ending in tragedy when she was just 30 years old. Other than a few scattered writings for magazines, one collection of poetry (The Colossus and Other Poems), and The Bell Jar, Plath’s work was relatively small and low-profile. It wasn’t until her

death when her most famous collection of poetry, Ariel, was published, alongside her private journals a few years later. She was the first poet to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize posthumously, and her untimely suicide catapulted her to literary fame. Now, her name is synonymous with the myth of the ‘mad girl’: a pop culture idea that presents female artists, particularly poets, as tragic icons. Virginia Woolf, Anne Sexton, and Sara Teasdale are a few other members of the Mad Girl club. All suffered from varying degrees of mental illness, and all met their end by their own hands. Virginia drowned, Sara overdosed, and Anne locked herself in her garage, dying of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“Despite their tragic deaths, these women have become heroines” But despite, or maybe because of their tragic deaths, these women have become heroines. They’re the new feminist icon: proof that women slighted by a misogynistic world can take control of their lives and make their own decisions. Somewhere along the way society, and myself, has become obsessed with this idea of the Mad Girl. But why do we idolise the madness?

The first time I read The Bell Jar I was in my first year of university, confused about the future and unsure of my space in the world. I found a worn copy of the novel tucked away in the stacks of a used bookshop, pages yellowing and frailing, and felt as if I had met an old friend. As soon as I read that first sentence, I grabbed a pencil and started writing in the margins. The first 150 pages are filled with underlines, circles, sometimes even highlighter, surrounding the words and phrases that catch my attention. I don’t have a favourite, but the most effective passages were the ones where Esther, the main character, mulls over the future. She sees her life as a fig tree with different branches reaching out to different possibilities. Wife, mother, poet, professor, magazine editor: she wants to be everything. Me too, Esther, I thought. Me too.

“No matter how many times I read the book, I hoped for a different ending” There was something about Esther’s unlikely hatred of New York that I found refreshing. She was on an adventure of a lifetime but she didn’t fit in. Her friends were flakey, she enjoyed drinking vodka on the rocks, and she took baths to sort out her problems. She was just a twenty-something woman, experiencing normal twenty-something things. I could relate. Then came the apex of the story: Esther’s breakdown. I knew it was going to happen. It was looming like a ship on the horizon. Yet I kept hoping that this time, Esther would be okay. She wouldn’t try to kill her herself; she wouldn’t be admitted to a mental hospital; she wouldn’t let the bell jar descend again. But that never happened for Esther, no matter how many times I read the book and hoped for a different ending. It never happened for Plath, either.

… Dr. James C. Kaufman, a psychology professor at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, knows more about the myth of the mad girl than anyone else. It was his research into the creativity behind the minds of the most famous female writers in history that has shaped how we view female poets. In 2001, he coined the term ‘Sylvia Plath Effect’ during a study. It’s one he now regrets. “The belief that tragedy or mental illness will make you a great artist can be dangerous,” explains Kaufman. “If I’ve added to this type of legacy for Plath, then as I’ve matured, I now regret it.”

“The belief that tragedy will make you a great artist can be dangerous” His research suggests that female poets are more likely to show signs of mental illness compared to other writers, whether male or female, as well as other creative women, such as actresses and painters. It’s often misconstrued: many find Kaufman’s research as proof that female poets are crazy. However, that’s not the truth.

What his findings don’t prove is that any female poet is more likely to be mentally ill than any other person. When I ask him why these poets are more likely to go mad, he told me that his thoughts on the matter have changed over the last 16 years. At first, he pointed to overthinking, the stress of being a woman in a male-dominated field, and the nature of poetry as potential links. Now, he’s come to a slightly different conclusion. “Most of the writers in the study lived in the past,” he reflects. “The signs of mental illness that I noted could easily have been driven by society’s opinions and judgements.”

… There’s something oddly chilling about reading someone’s descent into madness. The Bell Jar is largely autobiographical, and once you know Plath’s history, you can easily read between the lines. Every sentence is overflowing with meaning: is this the life she dreamed of before she met Hughes, before she had kids? Is this what she felt like before that fateful day when she took her own life? Her poetry is the same. “Is there no way out of the mind?” she asks in Apprehensions. “What horrifies me most is the idea of being useless: well-educated, brilliantly promising, and fading out into an indifferent middle age,” she proclaims in her journals. If you look at other female poets and writers of the same nature, you’ll find similarities in their work. They all write about the inevitable of death and dying, with their depression, confusion, and anxiety at the forefront.

“Eternity bores me, writes Plath, I never wanted it” In her journals, Woolf writes that she “likes being myself, but only when I’m scattered and various and gregarious.” Sexton believes that “I am alone here in my own mind. There is no map, there is no road.” Teasdale insists that her body “must go, back to the little drift of dust.” Just like I knew what awaited me at the peak of The Bell Jar, Plath knew that she was the heroine of a story that was always meant to end tragically. “Eternity bores me,” she declares in Years. “I never wanted it.”

… Kaufman reminds me that Plath tried on many occasions to get help. It’s something fans often forget. “It’s important to recognize that Plath and other did not choose to be ill, and in many cases actively tried to feel better,” he writes. He’s still cautious about how fans idolise these poets. “I think that recognizing her gifts or drawing comfort from her work is great. But romanticizing her very real depression and pain is not good.” When I question him about the obsession with this phenomenon of the mad heroine, he tells me it’s because “we all like a good story.” He’s right: I’m a sap for a tragic tale. A young woman, just on the brink of success, sticking her head in the oven? That’s a great story. Woolf walking into the River Ouse with a pocketful of stones? Even better one. This is what makes the myth of the Mad Girl so addictive. These women, and their stories, can’t possibly seem real. Their poetry blurs the lines between fiction and reality, making it impossible to tell where the story ends and where their lives begin.

The influence of literature in

Credit:Image taken by Islam Soliman

VIDEO GAMES

Video games are not necessarily associated with literature, but Ayn Rand’s philosophy, Objectivism has greatly influenced the digital narrative of Bioshock BY ISLAM SOLIMAN

Lilterary fiction has seen a growing presence in-game design. While the narrative architecture implemented in games thread together a string of core game-play mechanics such as – puzzles, boss-fights, role-playing structures – some contemporary games are taking inspiration from the works of literature to explore a diverse array of philosophical themes.

n the original Bioshock series creator Kenneth Levine of 2k games has used literature and the political ramblings from Russian-American philosopher Ayn Rand, a controversial novelist who wrote a 1957 novel called ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and developed the philosophical term ‘Objectivism.’ The main subject of Rand’s work and philosophical idea is that people should seek to free themselves from the failures of governmental coercion and follow their own sense of selfsustainability. This is written in her fictional novella Anthem, with the line: “what is my joy if all hands, even the unclean, can

reach into it? what is my wisdom, if even the fools can dictate to me? what is my freedom, if all creatures, even the botched and the impotent, are my masters? What is my life, if I am but to bow, to agree and to obey?” To put the whole matter in a nutshell, Rand believes that “man must act for his own rational self-interest,” and according to AynRand.org it is essential for people to follow their own happiness as their “highest moral compass.” Philosophical ideas about ‘individualism’ and the impact of ‘totalitarian control’ over ordinary working people are well documented in 2k games critically acclaimed Bioshock. Raptures forefather and ruler, Andrew Ryan, is Bioshock’s characterization of Ayn Rand. In the guise of Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, Andrew Ryan seeks to create an isolated society free of authoritarian control, where technology advancements are able to loom free from the capitalist tendencies of the government. In a report at the 6th Australian Conference on Interactive 

Credit: images from the Federalist/Bioshock wiki/BBC

Ayn Rand, the author of 'Atlas Shrugged'

Andrew Ryans, the founder of Rapture

Entertainment, Narratology scholar, Dr Rowan Tulloch, a lecturer at the University of New South Wales, pointed out that Bioshock also counteracts Ayn Rand ‘Objectivist’ theory, and instead reflects engrained ideas about cultural anxieties. He wrote: “the game offers a complex rendering of an ideology taken to the extreme: a society of self-motivation, self-advancement, and consequently, the inherent abandonment of ethics and social responsibility.” The university lecturer also notes that the game throws you into a world that forces players to not only comprehend Rand’s ‘Objectivist’ theory, it also shows players the risks of a lawless utopian city that has collapsed under Ryans control. “It shows the players a world where the end outcome of free-market, free-for-all culture has caused societal collapse and the monopolistic of one corporate entity: Ryan Industries,” Tulloch explained.

“Free-for-all culture has caused societal collapse and the monopolistic of one corporate entity: Ryan Industries.” The moment you are plunged into the treacherous world of Rapture, as Jack Wynands, a passenger on a plane that crashed into Rapture, you are immersed into a political critique of Rand’s individualist capitalism. The game highlights the idea of individualism near the end where players are forced to make their own moral choice between saving or harvesting little sisters who are part of Ryan’s scheme of mass-market genetic development. However, as Tulloch notes, player’s actions are also constrained through limited game-play choices. Tulloch points out, that the combination of limited ‘choices’ and ‘agency’ in the games narrative advances the overall problem of individualism. Tulloch stressed that the literary themes implemented into the narrative and game-play design is a “sign of the growing sophistication and maturity of the medium.” In the same way that readers can develop different interpretations from books and novels, James Casey, a Senior Project Director at VSGI (Visual Systems Group) and assistant

Will Self, the author of ' Death of The Novel'

professor at George Mason, asserts that the interaction of player ‘choice’ and ‘agency’ in video games like Bioshock helps players formulate their own conclusions about individualism. “The great thing about Bioshock is that you can approach it from different angles and see some of your own thought processes play out within the environment,” the former Bioware and EA gamedeveloper said. “The fact that there are parallels and other similar themes used from literature in video games shows that video game developers are telling more and more complex stories as video game graphics improve.” Ian Bogost is an American philosopher and video game designer who writes extensively about video games. Bogost focuses specifically on how video games, through their rules and limitations, make persuasive arguments that are experienced by players. On his blog, Expressive Power of Video Games, he explained that “Videogames are both an expressive medium and a persuasive medium; they represent how real and imagined systems work, and they invite players to interact with those systems and form judgments about them.” Casey points back to other examples of literary game design, claiming that the cultural landscape of gaming is different from the arcade culture in the 1980s, and that some video games have more literary quality than some fan fiction books. “A simplistic statement like ‘you’d be better off putting down the controller and reading a book’ is a daft counter argument,” he said. “You could say well if I put down the controller and read the latest Twilight series, am I really getting a better experience for my mind than playing a game like Bioshock or Assassin’s Creed, a game that explores history via the context of a science-fiction genre.” Will Self, an English novelist and the author of The Death of the Novel, recently suggested that the “format of the novel is dying.” In response to Will Self ’s prophecy, Casey said that the sheer number of books that exist in comparison to video games “doesn’t mean that digital literature used in video games should be ignored and disregarded.” Instead, he says, “both books and video games should be viewed as two separate forms of popular literature, one which complements the other.” Jon Oesthensen, an English lecturer at Brigham Young University, feels that video games like Bioshock are worth studying as “textual” and “cultural” objects. Oesthensen says: “Since I feel that video games are expressive works (i.e., designed to evoke an emotional or aesthetic response from those who play them), I certainly feel that they are worthy of study. We can study them as textual objects, just as we would any form of art. He adds: “we can also study them as cultural objects that are imbued with our own privileged ideologies that reflect certain ideas about our culture.”

F. SCOTT fitzgerald Gin

OSCAR wilde Iced Champagne

DOROTHY parker Whiskey Sour

ERNEST hemingway Daiquiri

WILLIAM faulkner Mint Julep

CARSON mccullers TRUMAN capote

Sherry

Screwdriver

WORDS: CHLOE MOSS ILLUSTRATION: SAM CLEAL

SPRING 2017