Books you can’t sink your teeth into: A brief look into unsolvable manuscripts
If there’s one thing that most people appreciate, it’s a good mystery with a clever solution. It is no accident that Agatha Christie is...
Has Oxford made us hate reading?
"Ever felt like you were suffocating under a pile of books, making the idea of picking up yet another feel utterly daunting?"
The Conservative Effect, 2010-2024 review: “Comprehensive and damning”
If you only read one book on British politics this year, make it this one.
P.G. Wodehouse’s Ukridge at 100
It is unfortunate that P.G. Wodehouse's reputation in Oxford takes such a blow from his being a popular favourite among OUCA members. Still, he...
The many voices of Franz Kafka: Reading The Metamorphosis
Spilling out of the gates of the Sheldonian Theatre and onto Broad Street, the lengthy queue for a public reading of Franz Kafka’s The...
War, Peace and Writing
Throughout history, art has left an indelible cultural impact on humanity’s collective understanding of war. Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ is perhaps the most famous manifestation of...
Bust?: Saving the Economy, Democracy and our Sanity by Robert Peston and Kishan Koria- Review
"So long as we have an economic system geared towards the accumulation of wealth rather than the acquisition of it, inequalities will continue to widen"
Book recommendations from the editors’ desk
"It’s rare that I find non-fiction to be such a page-turner, but Tara Westover’s autobiography was just that."
Review: Chaucer Here and Now, Weston Library
"Mansplaining scribes, scandalised censors, and unfinished endings. Even from day one, there is no stable and single Chaucer."
Empireworld: How British Imperialism Shaped the Globe (Sathnam Sanghera, 2024): Review
Without confronting the wrongs of the past, the wrongs of the present will go on unabated.
The Autobiogra-phony
"A master of saying everything and nothing all at once! I sure would make a great celeb."
Wattpad: the new online course in creative writing?
The only issue that sites like Wattpad face is their association with ‘low value’ feminine writing and smut.
Literary Red Flags: Cause for Alarm?
"The internet loves to tell us what to do, especially when there's a healthy smattering of pseudo-psychology involved."
Making reading for pleasure pleasurable
"After being a bit too optimistic with my 2023 Goodreads Challenge, 2024 is going to be the year where I repair my relationship with books."
