‘Indeed, the moment an artist takes notice of what other people want, and tries to supply the demand, he ceases to be an artist, and becomes a dumb or amazing craftsman, an honest or a dishonest tradesman’. 1 For the enfant terrible, that young and particular breed of artist, commerce is not an area of…
Introduction Silence is often misunderstood as emptiness—a lack of words, a gap in the narrative, an unfinished conversation. Yet, in literature, silence is never empty. It is deliberate. It carries weight, tension, and meaning that words alone cannot hold. Writers across centuries have used silence as a powerful narrative device: to express what characters cannot…
“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones” – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar It is often said evil supersedes death. That we carry our goodwill to our grave while our injustices live on, despite our corporal disappearance. It is often told a lie gets halfway across the …
We live in a time where internet is everywhere, in our pockets, on our desks, and even woven into our daily routines. It helps us build careers, stay informed, connect with people across the globe—and yet, something strange is happening. Despite being more connected than ever, many of us feel more alone. The internet is…
I was reading The Silent Woman (1993) by Janet Malcolm, a book on the life of Sylvia Plath. What I thought to be a simple biography of the poet turned out to be more than that. The book was about the people who wrote about and profited from the now-deceased Sylvia Plath. The main way…
When not hot on the scent of a miscreant at large, the armchair detective staves off boredom by pretending to read their narrator’s mind. Congeniality, after all, is among their investigative toolkit. They never lose composure before their foes and partners in justice, because they never take their cases personally— their expeditions are merely a…
“They’re made out of meat.” The first line of Terry Bison’s short story has altered my brain chemistry in the way I perceive the world. It’s an unsettling view on the biases, assumptions, and the nature of our intelligence. The story follows two extraterrestrial beings who find themselves trying to analyse the perception of humans…
Arthur Conan Doyle’s fiction, beyond establishing the world’s most beloved detective, firmly identifies itself by skimping on just enough in-text details for the reader to become sleuths themselves. However, a faithful Sherlock Holmes adaptation draws a black-and-white against what can be called “the commonplaces of existence”—even placing the detective upon a well-held position above narrative…
For decades, romantic comedies have held a special place in American pop culture, primarily through the silver screen. Classics like When Harry Met Sally and 10 Things I Hate About You captivated audiences with their charm, wit, and heartfelt exploration of love. But in the realm of literature, rom-coms—or “chick-lit” as they were often dismissively…
Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale has become an increasingly familiar reference point in the frazzled, chaotic cycle of modern elections. The novel’s dystopian world of Gilead, where women are stripped of their rights and forced into rigid roles, has been used to illustrate concerns about political and social trends, particularly in recent years. For many,…