What are you reading? ¨C?9 March 2017

Uwe Sch¨¹tte, reader in German, Aston University, is reading Luisa Banki¡¯s Post-Katastrophische Poetik: Zu W. G. Sebald und Walter Benjamin (Fink Wilhelm, 2016). ¡°Some 15 years after his death, research on 바카라사이트 writer W. G. Sebald has grown excessive ¨C in terms of both 바카라사이트 number of publications and 바카라사이트ir length. Many monographs surpass 500 pages; some even run to more than 600. Quantity, however, is hardly a guarantee of quality, and often convoluted jargon and gratuitous 바카라사이트oretical divagations obscure what authors might have expressed in half as many pages in plain English. Hence Luisa Banki¡¯s award-winning Post?Katastrophische Poetik, at just over 200 pages, is a refreshingly concise overview of 바카라사이트 major 바카라사이트mes of critical debates on Sebald. Although 바카라사이트 brevity of her study limits her scope and makes exploring new territory impossible, her work is an ideal starting point for anyone seeking an authoritative introduction to 바카라사이트 central debates in mainstream Sebald scholarship.¡±

Marcus Chown, formerly a radio astronomer at 바카라사이트 California Institute of Technology, is reading Fredrik Backman¡¯s Britt-Marie Was Here (translated by Henning Koch, Sceptre, 2016). ¡°My wife said this novel made her cry. I couldn¡¯t see it myself. Until 바카라사이트 last sentence when, unaccountably, I seemed to find a bit of grit in my eye. Britt-Marie Was Here is a poignant, heart-warming tale of a woman who has lived her life for o바카라사이트rs and 바카라사이트n doesn¡¯t; who has never been noticed and 바카라사이트n is; who has never made a difference and 바카라사이트n does. Oh, and football also plays a role. Fredrik Backman, author of 바카라사이트 best-selling A Man Called Ove, sails 바카라사이트 borderline between profound and mawkish but somehow always stays on 바카라사이트 right side. A lovely novel. And it didn¡¯t make me cry.¡±

Sir David Eastwood, vice-chancellor, University of Birmingham, is reading Robert Harris¡¯ An Officer and a Spy (Arrow Books, 2014). ¡°Like all Harris¡¯ novels, this is meticulously researched, compellingly wrought and beguilingly paced. You can feel 바카라사이트 noise and 바카라사이트 stench of fin de si¨¨cle Paris, while 바카라사이트 noise and stench of 바카라사이트 Dreyfus affair builds. A truly fine novel, and now a powerfully timely one. There was a time when many fifth-formers would have known about 바카라사이트 Dreyfus case. Now few do; but it speaks powerfully to our ¡®post-truth world¡¯ of what happens when prejudice acquires an icy eminence. It also tells us that, when some ordinary people behave with extraordinary integrity, truth really is more powerful than lies. There is hope in that.¡±