Anthony Burgess on James Joyce: the lost introduction
Written in 1986 as the introduction to a Dolmen Press edition of ‘Dubliners’ illustrated by Louis le Brocquy, but never used, this brilliant essay, recently found among the papers of the author, who died in 1993, appears here for the first time
Happy Bloomsday! (June 16, the day during which Leopold Bloom takes his famous walk around Dublin in James Joyce’s Ulysses.)
And The Irish Times offers a perfect way to celebrate by reading this essay about one of Joyce’s other most famous works.
8 Actresses Who Brought Our Favorite Book Characters to Life
This is a good list, with insightful commentary:
- Jane Darwell as Ma Joad, The Grapes of Wrath
- Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
- Emma Watson as Hermoine Granger, Harry Potter
- Winona Ryder as Jo March, Little Women
- Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, The Silence of the Lambs
- Sissy Spacek as Carrie, Carrie
- Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice
- Helena Bonham Carter as Marla Singer, Fight Club
Shakespeare, magical realism and “House of Cards”: A conversation between authors Alexi Zentner and Téa Obreht
Alexi Zentner’s new novel, “The Lobster Kings,” is set in a lobster fishing village and focuses on Cordelia Kings. Inspired by “King Lear,” Zentner’s second novel is the story of Cordelia’s struggle to maintain her island’s way of life in the face of danger from offshore and the rich, looming, mythical legacy of her family’s namesake.
“The Lobster Kings” has already been getting raves from Ben Fountain, Stewart O’Nan and the Toronto Star, which said “Zentner displays more talent and controlled craftsmanship in ‘The Lobster Kings’ than many other writers will manage in a career’s worth of novels.”
Alexi and Téa Obreht (“The Tiger’s Wife”) met recently to talk about “The Lobster Kings’” inspiration and influence, Shakespeare, writing outside your voice, and the way myth and magic work in fiction.
In Salon, two authors hold a wide-ranging discussion on how and why they write fiction.
It’s Tartt—But Is It Art?
No one denies that Donna Tartt has written the “It novel” of the year, a runaway best-seller that won her the Pulitzer Prize. But some of the self-appointed high priests of literary criticism—at The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books, and The Paris Review_—are deeply dismayed by The Goldfinch_ and its success.
We couldn’t have a week without a controversy within the halls of literary criticism. In this article for Vanity Fair Evgenia Peretz looks at the high-brow critics’ negative reactions to a novel that the public seems to love.
