There are books that make me think, and there are books that make me squirm. Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground manages both - a confessional so raw it feels like eavesdropping on a man’s nervous breakdown, with philosophy as his chosen weapon. It’s not so much a novel as an exorcism, written in ink and bile. … Continue reading Notes from Underground
Tag: books
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
There are few mirrors in literature as merciless as Stevenson’s, and none quite so fogged by our own breath. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is less a Gothic tale than a confession disguised as one - a dimly lit sermon on the human condition, preached from the pulpit of a London … Continue reading The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Blind Pew: A Study in Terror and Vision
Newell Convers Wyeth, Blind Pew (1911).A haunting illustration for Stevenson’s Treasure Island: the blind beggar strides down the moonlit lane, stick thrust forward, half-frail and half-fearsome - fate itself tapping towards us. In another life, back at home, whenever something went awry - a cup chipped, a tool gone missing, a mystery mischief no one … Continue reading Blind Pew: A Study in Terror and Vision
The Vatican Cellars: Or, How to Build a Cathedral on Quick Sand
André Gide, that sly archbishop of paradox, published The Vatican Cellars in 1914 - the very year Europe began dismantling its cathedrals with artillery fire. It’s a book that calls itself a ‘sotie’ - a medieval farce performed by jesters in cap and bells - which is Gide’s way of saying, ‘This is a joke, … Continue reading The Vatican Cellars: Or, How to Build a Cathedral on Quick Sand
Down Below: Leonora Carrington’s Descent into the Furnace of the Mind
Leonora Carrington didn’t so much write a memoir as vomit out an apocalypse. Down Below isn’t autobiography in the polite sense, with polite sentences arranged like cutlery for an afternoon tea. It is, rather, the table turned over, the crockery smashed, and the cutlery embedded in the wallpaper. This slim, feverish account of her psychotic … Continue reading Down Below: Leonora Carrington’s Descent into the Furnace of the Mind
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