reading Archives - Cherwell

Why you shouldn’t finish your reading list

On being accepted into Oxford, everyone warned me about the reading lists. “You’ll be reading eight hours a day,” they said. At the time, it sounded almost romantic.

Lost and found: The art of translation

Translation should be more than mechanic substitution. It demands that the translator acts as a conduit, conveying the intricacies of emotion, style, and intention, while negotiating the hurdles of linguistic complexity.

How does an Oxford student read for fun?

No matter which book is in front of me, I’m almost always reading in twenty-second bursts, and I’m constantly thinking about what else I could be looking at if I only picked up my phone.

TLDR: Literacy in the digital age

No one reads these days. If it’s longer than an Instagram caption, it’s not worth my time. I doubt most people will even make...

Dear Reader,

It has been so long since last I felt your fingertips tracing my pages, cascading shivers across my spine. I have missed your smile, and the way your...

To read or not to read?

It’s 5pm and I’m standing on a packed, unmoving train, somewhere between Swindon and Bristol Parkway, dodging questionable armpits and trying my best to...

Why romance books should be your post-exam read

With finals in full swing, and prelims just around the corner, Oxford’s libraries are full to the brim and SOLO is open at all...

The Journal of a Chambermaid: The greatest novel you’ve never heard of

It is easy to suppose that the greatest authors of the 19th century have all already been discovered. Especially when it comes to French...

Doctor Zhivago: The banned book the CIA smuggled across the Iron Curtain

“May it make its way around the world. You are hereby invited to watch me face the firing squad.” These were the words of Boris...

Periodisation and the problem of now

Periodisation is the act of dividing literature into eras like Romanticism, Modernism, or Postmodernism – neat, bounded categories based on unifying characteristics, themes, or historical...

Why reading for pleasure still matters at Oxford

The idea of students reading for pleasure during term time has sparked much debate. Simply put though, Oxford’s intensive schedule makes it near-impossible. The...

The Pasts Contained in Preloved Books at the Oxford Premier Book Fair

Although post-collections celebrations usually involve nights out, followed by long, long lie-ins, I spent Saturday morning taking the bus to the Oxford Brookes Headington...

Review of ‘Intermezzo’: Chess, law, and the philosophy of language in yet another Rooney masterpiece

I thought it perplexing that critics felt Intermezzo similar to other works by writer Sally Rooney. Certainly, it shares some familiar ingredients: it’s set...

Should we judge a book by its cover?

Maybe we need to start giving a chance to the books we wouldn't usually take a second glance at.

Tag: reading