It's a Classical Life

 The more classic books that I read, the more I am convinced that we should be looking to them for guidance and direction on how to proceed if we are keen to embark on a simple living journey. I have spoken of this before , but feel that I have more to add on the subject - this time using Mary Shelley's classic text Frankenstein as inspiration.  Without giving away too much of the plot, Victor Frankenstein is consumed with the idea of creating life. Through his studies at the university of Ingolstadt he is able to do this, but as soon as he does he is wracked with grief and regret. Much of the first volume of the novel is based around his process and subsequent emotional torment. In dealing with this, what does Frankenstein do? Does he flee to the city to be around people, shops, things, stuff? Does he seek the company of like-minded scientists or rush back to his family to promote or brag about his accomplishments? No to both of these.  Initially, Frankenstein sought so...

  This summer I have decided to focus a little bit on Ancient Greece in my blog posts. First up, I thought I would give an introduction, just to set the scene. I’ve used a number of sources for this information; see the end of the post for a full resource list. If you already have a sound background on this time period, feel free to skip the following overview. If not, I suggest you do read as knowing the cultural and historical context in which a writer is writing will add to not only your understanding of the themes and style of writing, but also help with your critical analysis of the work.  There are many resources available today for the beginning student of Ancient Greece, some of them good, some of them not. I won’t try and recreate a whole unit of study on Ancient Greece here at this stage (though I may do in the future 😊) because for the self-educated student, working through a variety of sources is the best way to learn. What I will do is guide you through a brief i...

  At the moment my Instagram is filled with the lovely wintery snaps of books and Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere. Many of my favourite Bookstagrammers are from the North, but I am also seeing my favourite Australian Instagrammers sharing summer shots, garden shots and brilliant blue skies.  We are definitely entering summer and there is no denying that; I wanted to write a summer reading list, but really these books are such classics and can be read at any time of the year. Most of these books are on my summer reading list. I can't wait for the holidays to really begin on the 18th, when we can get away for a few days and begin the long, hot, break with rest, family and relaxation.  Here is my list for classical reading this summer. There are only 5 classics on the list, because summer should be full of other things as well!! 1. A Mid-Summer's Night Dream, William Shakespeare. I studied this play in high school drama class and I'm really keen to revisit it again th...

Crime fiction, and in particular Detective Fiction, is one of the most popular genres in modern literature. People are drawn to the clues, the methodical, logical steps taken by detectives and enjoy pitting their wits against the protagonist to guess "who dunnit" first. Even if people aren't fans of reading this popular and diverse genre, most will have heard of the most famous detectives: Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur Conan Doyle, and Hercule Poirot (the little man with the funny moustaches) and Miss Marple, both created by Agatha Christie. These three detectives are amongst the most famous, most adapted and most parodied characters in all literature. Yet how did two English writers create such famous characters, when 'detectives' as a form of police investigator weren't even introduced into the English consciousness until 1842? Read on for a little history lesson on the rise of detective fiction.  In his book,  "Murder in Print: A Guide to Two Cent...