Hanif Kureishi is a subversive writer in search of identity beyond the borders of race, gender and class. Vanessa Guignery draws a portrait of the author of The Buddha of Suburbia, My Beautiful Launderette and My Son the Fanatic. In 1993, three years after the publication of his debut novel The Buddha of Suburbia, Hanif … Continue reading “Hanif Kureishi: The Buddha of Suburbia”
The UK’s most prestigious literary prize, the Booker, will be awarded on 19 November. This year’s shortlist of six books, including four debut novels, is very diverse, featuring authors from the U.S., Zimbabwe and Ethiopia as well as a single representative from the U.K. Four of the picks centre around parent-child relationships. Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie … Continue reading “Booker Prize Shortlist 2020”
The autumn is approaching, and with it two traditional cinematic highlights: the Deauville American and Dinard British film festivals. Like everything else, they will be a little less traditional this year but not necessarily in a bad way. (Deauville will include films from the cancelled Cannes and Annecy festivals, even if it features fewer Hollywood … Continue reading “Film Festival Time”
On the Come Up is the second novel written by Angie Thomas, after The Hate U Give. It is set in the same universe. Angie Thomas tells us a powerful coming-of-age story about hip-hop, freedom of speech and fighting for your dreams. The story features Bri, a 16-year-old African American girl trying to overcome obstacles … Continue reading “Book Notes: On the Come Up “
The Hate U Give (THUG for short) was published in 2017. The setting, events, and characters of this coming-of-age story are largely inspired by Thomas’s own life. It was a number-one New York Times Best Seller, made the 2017 National Book Award Longlist, and was adapted into a movie in 2018. The protagonist is Starr Carter, a … Continue reading “Book Notes: The Hate U Give”
Greta Gerwig’s new adaptation of the classic coming-of-age story Little Women retells the story of the novel in parallel with the life of its author, Louisa May Alcott. Alcott wrote the novel in 1868. She had been writing stories commercially for several years when a publisher asked her to write a novel for girls. Alcott … Continue reading “Little Women: Big Film”
Greta Gerwig’s latest movie based on Louisa May Alcott’s novel will take you into a female world in which conventions are defied, questioned and challenged by four sisters. Indeed, these four women on the brink of emancipation shatter the traditional image of upper-middle class young ladies whose role (and even duty) was to get married … Continue reading “Little Women”
The Goldfinch is a stunning coming-of-age story set in New York, Las Vegas and Amsterdam. Donna Tartt’s 2013 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been adapted for the screen. The story centres on Theo Decker, 13 when the book opens. His reasonably settled teenage life living with his mother is torn apart in seconds. During a visit … Continue reading “Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch” on Screen”
The 45th Deauville American film festival, taking place from 6 to 15 September, has a particularly feminine slant this year, with a large number of female-directed films, and two women jury presidents, Catherine Deneuve for the competition jury, and Anna Mouglalis for the revelation jury. Deauville is its usual mix of mainstream and edgy, split … Continue reading “Women’s Voices at Deauville 2019”
The Hate U Give is a bestselling young-adult novel and now a new film. The carefully nuanced novel, written in part from experience by young African-American author Angie Thomas, gives a fascinating insight into the life of a teenager caught between two worlds: the mostly black neighbourhood where she lives and the mostly white private … Continue reading “The Hate U Give”
