While the Soviet Union was governed by a single communist party for sixty-nine years, it was the Stalinist era spanning 1924 to 1953 that were the most memorably brutal. Nobody escaped the scrutiny of this iron-clad regime and in 1932, Stalin dissolved all literary groups and put a new Union of Soviet Writers in place. From then on, Soviet Literature was to be inspired only by politics which meant total submission for the arts as well. Many Russian writers took …
Author: Aileen Smyth
→With more than thirty years’ experience in the book trade, books continue to absorb and fascinate me. Recommending books to Dubray customers is the highlight of my day; that thrill you feel when someone asks your opinion is very powerful. Aside from being a book nerd, I’m scribbler, a walker and a huge music fan.
I’m not alone in being hugely excited by news that we can expect yet another Lucy Barton book. Coming late to My Name is Lucy Barton, I remember being immediately …
Of all the whimsical words of wisdom circulating on social media at the beginning of the Covid-19 restrictions, this one struck me as funny and starkly relevant: At the end …
Along with books, music has always been one of my greatest joys. Putting these two great loves together was a no-brainer. My collection of music-related books has been growing, and …
With the world held hostage to the deadly virus, getting to travel anywhere now would be a mere dream. But I was lucky enough to visit Vietnam just before the …
The incomparable Patti Smith celebrates the passing of another decade in her life with The Year of the Monkey. In her seventieth year, this prolific punk-rock poet sets out on …
Over the years, I have read many of Iris Murdoch’s twenty-six novels. But I still remember the one that drew me in, that led me down the path of excitedly …
At the end of my last post, I was gearing up for my Camino journey, boots and guidebooks organised, and mind set firmly on putting one foot in front of …
If I had to name just one book that best captured the spirit of the age in which it was written, it would have to be The Great Gatsby, published …
My decision to walk the Camino de Santiago this year is more an accident than a life ambition — Italy was my first choice, a trek in Trentino in northern …
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