In recent interviews, Donna Tartt has spoken eloquently about the immersive and addictive magic of good stories, strong characters and plot, and of her desire to work these qualities into her own writing. While such aims might describe a popular novel consumed at great speed only to be tossed aside equally quickly, Tartt’sThe Goldfinch is altogether Read More
The past few months have seen a surge in high-profile persons, including Nobel Prize-winning economists, calling to end the global ‘War on Drugs’, especially in the US. With marijuana decriminalisation laws and promises to curb high incarceration numbers, it is easy to forget the daily savagery that exists in neighbouring Mexico. Heli is a tragic Read More
Reviews for Philippe Claudel’s slow-burning psychological drama have been mixed at best, many critics seemingly being unable to overlook the conceptual similarities it bears to Michael Haneke’s Cache of 2005. It’s true that the films share a star in Daniel Auteuil and both are premised on the delivery of anonymous and increasingly sinister gifts to Read More
The defeat of the Germans at the battle of Stalingrad in 1943 initiated the German retreat and is considered by many to be the turning point of the Second World War. Understandably then, the battle forms the inspiration for a multitude of works on the Second World War. The subject matter of Audrey Magee’s The Read More
As a cineaste, it can be easy to take Ken Loach for granted. Since his return to more commercial filmmaking in 1990 he has produced eighteen features. This is an impressive feat for any director, but in an age in which European funding is so precarious it is nothing short of a miracle. What is Read More
Nigeria is a country which has produced its fair share of groundbreaking and influential writers of the African canon. If Americanah, Ngozi Adichie’s third novel is anything to go by, it would not seem unfeasible that in the future she may be joining her country men Achebe and Soyinka on literature syllabuses across the globe. Read More
Eimear McBride’s debut novel, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing has been widely hailed as extraordinary. It won the Goldsmith’s prize for fiction 2013 and saw the author hailed as “a genius” in The Guardian. McBride’s debut tells the story of a girl growing up in Northern Ireland, and her relationship with her brother. The Read More
“They said I must die” In 1829 Agnes Magnúsdóttir and two others are condemned to death for murder and arson. Lacking a suitable prison, Agnes is held in the intimate, domestic setting of a family farm to await her execution, where she inspires both fear and fascination in its inhabitants, and is visited by the Read More
Family life and the consequences of war collide in director Erik Poppe’s A Thousand Times Good Night – as war photographer Rebecca (Juliette Binoche) struggles to acclimatize to family life following a brush with death whilst photographing a suicide bomber’s mission in Kabul. Rebecca travels in to the city with the bomber before panicking and Read More
After a rather mixed career in screenwriting, ranging from the multi-award-winning The Wings of the Dove (1997) to the abysmal 47 Ronin (2013), Hossein Amini makes his directorial debut in this decent thriller. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith’s novel of the same name, The Two Faces of January blends elements of Greek mythology with a neo-noir Read More