It requires an illness to get to know yourself better. It is not the length of a book that matters. This short book (of 124 pages) embodies such great histories and philosophies that I could only give it full justice by studying it. I took copious notes, recording the route that the protagonist took from[…]
Can you write anything new about the holocaust? Yes, if you have a fresh perspective like Kertész. Though absurd, a sixteen-year-old survivor (he was only fifteen at the start of the story) of the concentration camp, Gyuri reminisced the bad old days of his prison life. There was a moment every day that he enjoyed[…]
This is the first book I read twice within half a year. Why? For one thing, it is a very good read. The real reason is I had to read it again in preparation for my book club meeting. This entry gives both reviews that were written five months apart. Review of my first reading[…]
“The Noise of Time” is one of the best books I read in 2021. Barnes tells the story of Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich in his way. The music compositions, though important, are not the focus of the novel. It is more about how Shostakovich struggled to keep composing in Stalin’s Russia, how he struggled to remain[…]
Thank you so much to Sarah Okenyo of Derwent Valley Arts who interviewed me on the 8th of December. I’ve copied the write-up of the interview here. To read the full version of the newsletter, please go to: https://mailchi.mp/bdd93c50501a/spring-newsletter-6252321?e=f52bb80176 I also like to thank Sophie Reid for taking photographs on the day. Please visit her[…]
There was a time in Hong Kong when literature was considered a dream subject in the university; only those with top marks were admitted to the Faculty. Of the two official languages in the colonial days, Chinese literature was less popular a choice than English literary studies probably because a good command of English, both[…]