Fiction

Don Quixote is the best book out there on political theory, followed by Hamlet and Macbeth. There is no better way to understand the tragedy and the comedy of the Mexican political system than Hamlet, Macbeth and Don Quixote. They're much better than any column of political analysis.

Subcomandante Marcos

Wednesday, 29 November 2023 10:19

The Sikh Snowman

Written by Owen Gallagher

in Fiction

A Christmas book for the child in your life, or in yourself......... Some snowmen had topknots. Some wore football scarves and skull caps. Some had veils over their faces. One had fairy wings. They all began to sing...... Snowfall, friendship and feelings combine in this heartfelt and celebratory story about…

Monday, 21 August 2023 20:03

Class, gender and authority: the life and work of Dorothy Edwards

Written by Geoff Sawers

in Fiction

Geoff Sawers introduces the life and work of Dorothy Edwards. Image above: Dorothy holding Dora Carrington's cat, credit: King's College, Cambridge, ref FCP/7/4/2/101 Born in 1902 or 1903, the Welsh writer Dorothy Edwards was of a generation of women that did not expect to marry since the respective generation of…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 16 August 2023 13:54

Small Infinities

in Fiction

Written by Paul Victor Tims

Introduction By Fran Lock Small Infinities is an appropriate title for a book – and an author – so enamoured of outlandish juxtaposition, paradox, and contradiction. While one useful description of this collection is as a work of socialist science – or “weird” – fiction, another is as broadly metaphysical.…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 14 August 2023 12:53

Strumpet City, by James Plunkett

in Fiction

Written by Jenny Farrell

The Dublin lockout of 1913 was one of the greatest industrial disputes in Irish history. The conflict between some 20,000 workers and 300 employers lasted from 26 August 1913 to 18 January 1914. Its core demand was the right to organise. Dublin’s tenements were among the most squalid in Europe.…

Dublin Lockout James Connolly

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 28 May 2023 09:24

Love, mutual trust and solidarity: Chingiz Aitmatov, the Kyrgyzstan national writer

in Fiction

Written by Jenny Farrell

One of the lasting effects of the continuing cultural Cold War against all socialist thought and culture is the West’s denial of the art of socialist countries. This affects all genres in all the socialist countries. The work of these artists is rarely easily available to the general public, and…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 27 May 2023 09:02

Returning the Screw

in Fiction

Written by Paul Victor Tims

Returning the Screw By P.V. Tims After Henry James Have you got a match? My name is Quint. And no, growing up with a name that sounds like a cross between “cunt” and “squint” didn’t do me any favours. You might have heard of me. If you’ve ever read The…

Henry James Turning the Screw

Friday, 19 May 2023 10:03

The Global Crime Novel: Worldwide Corruption and Chiseling

Written by Dennis Broe

in Fiction

The Global Crime Novel: Worldwide Corruption and Chiseling In a 1931 Warner Brothers made the film Blonde Crazy, in the pre-Code period where expression was raunchier and more truthful, before the era of middle-class censorship. As the Depression reaches its peak, conniving bellhop James Cagney is trying to convince new…

Thursday, 13 April 2023 10:03

Katja Oskamp: Marzahn Mon Amour

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Fiction

The shortlist for the annual International Dublin Literary Award for 2023 was published in late March. Among the six books on the list is a book by the East German writer Katja Oskamp, Marzahn, Mon Amour. The title stands out for East Berliners in particular, who immediately recognise Marzahn as…

Saturday, 29 April 2023 16:49

The Precinct with the Golden Arm

Written by Michael Eaude

in Fiction

Michael Eaude reviews The Precinct with the Golden Arm, by Dennis Broe, Pathmark Press 2020 This noir novel is the third of a trilogy set in Los Angeles in the late 1940s, the golden place and age of the P.I. novel, and featuring private investigator Harry Palmer. If the title…

Noir novel Nelson Algren Raymond Chandler

Wednesday, 12 April 2023 09:50

The Invaders: Alien Beings From A Dying Empire

Written by Dennis Broe

in Fiction

The Invaders: Alien Beings From a Dying Planet. Their Destination: The Earth. Their Mission: To Make It Their World. It began with a landing of a craft from another galaxy. Now David Vincent knows that the invaders are here, that they have taken human form. Somehow, he must convince a…