The title of this series of novels, at least in its trilogy form comes from the Tennyson poem “Ulyesses,” which is famously about the Greek hero looking back on his legacy and seeing how it has stripped him of her personal identity and value. I primarily know Anthony Burgess the same way that most of you (the Americans specifically) as the author of A Clockwork Orange, and if we’re being very honest from having watched the Stanley Kubrick film way too many time. But I […]
“He ate little but drank much and vomited proportionally.”
A Dead man in Deptford is one hell of a book. Imagining the fascinating life and early death of Christopher ‘Kit’ Marlowe – Elizabethan playwright, poet and alleged spy – on opening I was a little worried that the language might be too dense (’tis written in the parlance of the time) but before long I was putting off sleep to read more while gleefully noting all of my new favourite olde words and pretty much wanting to roll around in the wonderful writing. While […]
“Is it better for a man to have chosen evil than to have good imposed upon him?”
While I’m familiar with Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange from general pop culture absorption, as well as a film class in college where we watched a few scenes, I’ve never actually watched it. I’ve heard that the author of the novel, Anthony Burgess, hated Kubrick’s film version (and also hated that this book is pretty much what people know him for, despite his many works). So I was excited when my Secret Santa this year got me a copy (thanks narfna!) — I wanted to see what all the fuss was […]
Thank you, Narfna!
Thank you for the books, Narfna! I’ve had A Clockwork Orange on my TBR list forever but have never gotten around to reading it. And while I’ve never heard of Golden Boy, it sounds exactly like the kind of thing that I’d like. Can’t wait to try these both out!



