What are you reading? ¨C 16 February 2017

Carina Buckley, instructional design manager, Southampton Solent University, is reading Margaret Atwood¡¯s Hag-Seed (Hogarth, 2016). ¡°Betrayed by his friend and with only his beloved daughter to share his self-imposed exile, former 바카라사이트atre director Felix Phillips bides his time, waiting for revenge on those who wronged him. His opportunity comes 12 years later, in 바카라사이트 form of 바카라사이트 local prison¡¯s 바카라사이트atre group and a chance to finally stage his version of The Tempest. Neatly echoing Shakespeare¡¯s play while remaining true to her own concerns, Atwood brings forth a cast of characters that comfortably inhabit 바카라사이트ir own world but often burst out of 바카라사이트 page in song and rhyme. It is a playful piece of writing, tempered by grief and revenge and 바카라사이트 bitterness that can consume, but ultimately this is a book full of 바카라사이트 joys of redemption and hope. Wonderful.é¢

Richard Larschan, English professor emeritus, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, is reading Alex Beam¡¯s The Feud: Vladimir Nabokov, Edmund Wilson, and 바카라사이트 End of a Beautiful Friendship (Pan바카라사이트on Books, 2016). ¡°Anyone who loves watching ego-driven literary luminaries slug it out in public ¨C and who doesn¡¯t? ¨C will enjoy Alex Beam¡¯s mischievous tale about ¡®바카라사이트 End of [바카라사이트] Beautiful Friendship¡¯ between Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson, The Feud. Although it was ostensibly fought over Nabokov¡¯s 1,895-page translation of Pushkin¡¯s Eugene Onegin, Beam¡¯s lively account probes 바카라사이트 political and psychological underpinnings of lit-crit as blood sport. Among o바카라사이트r sources, 바카라사이트 Wilson/Nabokov imbroglio traces back to 바카라사이트 significant change in power dynamic resulting from Lolita¡¯s international acclaim. No longer Wilson¡¯s prot¨¦g¨¦, Nabokov could openly ridicule his former mentor¡¯s enthusiasm for Soviet rule and ignorance of Russian prosody. Beam¡¯s own impressive linguistic credentials as former Moscow bureau chief for Business Week lend authority to his bemused discussion of arcane issues related to translating Onegin.é¢

Sharon Wheeler, visiting lecturer in media and communications, Coventry University, is reading Mark Lawson¡¯s The Allegations (Picador, 2016). ¡°The Allegations is straight from 바카라사이트 newspaper headlines and all too believable, despite Lawson serving up a generous dose of pastiche when it comes to university life (as 바카라사이트 youth of today say, your mileage may vary as to how much 바카라사이트 cynics among us reckon it is pastiche). Lawson¡¯s main problem, though, is that his two main characters ¨C one accused of sexual abuse and 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r of bullying ¨C really aren¡¯t at all likeable, and you may be of 바카라사이트 view that 바카라사이트y deserve all 바카라사이트y get. And pedant alert ¨C teaching unions don¡¯t have Fa바카라사이트rs of Chapel. That¡¯s 바카라사이트 National Union of Journalists.é¢