A Literary Life

The one unassailable fact with fiction is that it will contain characters – characters that live and breathe on the page in their own unique ways.   The characters may not necessarily be human (Paul Auster’s Timbuktu [1999] is from the point of view of a dog) but there will be some quality within each character that endears them to the reader.   A qualification: this endearment may not necessarily mean that the character is likeable – think of one of the most beloved figures in British fiction, Heathcliff, and how his passion at times overwhelms into madness.   He is not, by any definition, a loveable character, and yet he is loved.   Or there is Becky Sharp, a character defined by her abrasive wit, and yet it is this that makes Thackeray’s Vanity Fair [1847–48] such a joy.    Guy de Maupassant   A sentence beloved of Ford Madox Ford and Henry James comes from the Guy de Maupassant story, Le Reine Hortense [1883] and it is this: “He ...

In 1955, Vladimir Nabokov published his most famous work, Lolita .   Lolita was included on Time's list of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005 and was fourth in the Modern Library's 1998 list of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th century.   Its reputation is vast; its influence is bigger still.  What follows is an extract from my PhD where I discuss this novel and gives great insights into the creation of one of the greatest novels ever written. Lolita did not come to Nabokov fully formed in the mid-1950s.   In 1939, he wrote a novella that remained unpublished until 1986, following his death in 1977.   That novel, entitled The Enchanter , Nabokov would go onto describe as “the first little throb of Lolita ” in an essay that would subsequently be attached to that great novel.    Like Lolita , it is concerned with ephebophilia and the same technique of a predatory older man to gain access to his desire as Humbert Humbert...

The Olympic Torch came through my town this morning.   I was out on the streets at 8:30am, along with a good two hundred other people, watching as the torch was taken along the street towards Conwy Castle.   I had no idea who the torch bearer was, so here is the BBC’s Live Feed explanation: “The town is jam packed and people are hanging out of windows to cheer Sarah Thomas, 31, as she passes with the flame. Sarah is an academic and teacher but also finds time to compete in contests such as the Ironman UK Triathlon and Ultraman Canada Championships. Sarah Thomas, local hero “She was the first ever person from Wales to represent the UK in its 25 year history. She ran 84km, cycled 418k and swam 10k in aid of Dolen Cymru - a charity dedicated to creating life changing links in terms of education, health, governance and civil society.” Well done Sarah Thomas, I say.   I’m glad a real sportsperson and civic champion carried the torch through my home town, ...