kulthoom.reads

I could, in the face of Atwood-hysteria, remain quiet, but my initial discomfort reading THT for the first time, and now rereading and considering some problematic aspects (thanks  @blackgirlreading) has led me to the opposite. Briefly, the fictional dystopia Atwood creates is a violently patriarchal Christian right who have taken power in the US. The tale follows the unnamed Offred (belonging to Fred) as a handmaid, effectually a slave, forcibly removed from her own family and providing the womb for the powerful elite in a world where fertility has become rare. This is dystopian fiction, an imagined future. Perhaps a moot point here but what has irked me (for many years) about Atwood is her inability to accept that she writes science-fiction. Early in her writing career she irked a legion of fans by stating the difference between science fiction, which “has monsters and spaceships” and speculative fiction which “could really happen”. For any fan of the genre her snooty disrega...

NOTES OF A NATIVE SON by James Baldwin "About my interests: I don’t think I have any, unless the morbid desire to own a sixteen-millimeter camera and make experimental movies can be so classified. Otherwise, I love to eat and drink … and I love to argue with people who do not disagree with me too profoundly, and I love to laugh. I do not like bohemia, or bohemians, I do not like people whose principal aim is pleasure, and I do not like people who are earnest about anything … I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. I think all theories are suspect, that the finest principles may have to be modified, or even be pulverized by the demands of life, and that one must find, therefore, one’s own moral center and move through the world hoping that this center will guide one alright. I consider that I have many responsibilities, but none greater than this: to last, as Hemingway says, and ...

VAN GOGH'S EAR by Bernadette Murphy What if nearly everything you know about the great artist Vincent Van Gogh is based not on truth but gossip, rumour, and hearsay? After a personal tragedy, Murphy, living in the South of France, took up the task of discovering the truth behind Van Gogh's infamous self-mutilation. The book, detailed and meticulous, follows her journey, and yet it is never boresome. I was gripped throughout, a testament to Murphy's skill as a writer, but also her passion for art and history. The book itself reveals not only the answers to these mysteries - what may have happened that eventful day, the identity of the woman Van Gogh handed over his ear to, and why. (No spoilers!) The discoveries are groundbreaking, and the level of research simply remarkable. But this book goes much further, vividly painting a whole picture: the life Van Gogh created in the town of Arles, the Gaugin partnership, his local friends, the tender relationship with his broth...

A list I prepared for my children's primary school who wanted some suggestions on book titles that cover diversity or are by diverse authors. Feel free to copy and share with your local school or library, and/or I hope that it gives you ideas to grow your own collection at home. I'll definitely be looking to buy some of these... Diverse Fiction & Non-Fiction Book list  Early Years (0+) Amazing Grace Mary Hoffman Illustrated by Caroline Binch. Frances Lincoln Children’s Books. The classic picture book about the little girl who loves stories and shows us that we can be anything we want to be. Fruits: A Caribbean Counting Poem, Valerie Bloom Illustrated by David Axtell. Macmillan Children’s Books A rhythmic counting poem that describes all manner of delicious Caribbean fruits as a little girl tries to eat as many of these as she can in a single day. The Goggle-Eyed Goats, Stephen Davies Illustrated by Christopher Corr. Andersen Press A vibrant and colourfully illus...