Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

Finally the end of June is coming. That means it is time to disclose on some of the things I have been diving into. I thought I had posted this on Friday but it obviously did not post so have it now! I will post again later for the first post of June. 1: My French... The continual French learning never ever ever stops! Reading, typing, listening and speaking tasks all help to improve my understanding of the language. I do not even spend a lot of time doing it; five or ten minutes per day is what I like to accomplish. 2: The Adoption Papers  (1991) by Jackie Kay. As Jackie Kay was author of the month for May, I read her poetry collection The Adoption Papers  (1991). You can check out my review on the blog post to see what my thoughts were on the collection. Searching for tags such as 'BIPOC' or '1990s' can help you find the post easier. 3: Bus websites and timetables. There are some bus routes which I use (when I need to) that have been given updated timetables, with som...

Today I am reviewing Jackie Kay's short story collection Reality, Reality . I absolutely loved reading this collection! It was funny, heartwarming, sad and at times confusing with the stories all offering something different. I read the first story 'Reality, Reality' and immediately I was confused. The writing was not bad but I found the character had an odd personality. I was a little unsure what was going on. However, most of the stories did not confuse me. I did get a little confused over what happened in 'The White Cot'. For me, I was reminded of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper' (1892). I found that Sam and Dionne's relationship was a little worrisome to me. I liked them together but I worried how it would end. I am glad that Jackie Kay took on a story in which I was unsure what to expect next. This short story though had something in common in several of the stories. I found with a lot of the stories there were couples who were often...

Today I am back with another review. This time I am reviewing the short story 'Suggestion' (1895) by Ada Leverson which first appeared in The Yellow Book . This was a quarterly limited-run journal focussing on art and literature. Ada Leverson was one of the women writers of the Fin de Siècle  and a friend to Oscar Wilde. The title of the short story - 'Suggestion' sums up the short story well. To me there is a quadruple meaning as the narrator Cecil Carington suggests things for his sister and his sister-in-law. Then there is the second meaning of suggestion in which Cecil and his sister Marjorie try to come up with suggestions on how to make their father a more pleasing man so that their new mother-in-law, Marjorie's friend can find married life a bit more bearable. The third suggestion is that Cecil is gay. He seems to get on very well with his friend Adrian, of whom his sister Marjorie has her eyes on. Cecil already has someone else planned for her and seems dete...

Spring has sprung and I am here with my first review of the month. I decided I would read Zadie Smith's  ‘The Waiter's Wife ’. It was only until I starting reading it did I realise that the characters in this short story are in her debut novel White Teeth  (2000). Then I realised that most of the short story ends up in the novel anyway. It is not completely the same though. Because of that and as I had read it I chose to review it anyway. I liked this short fiction: seizing the button labelled "my funny bone" and firmly pressing down. I loved reading about Alsana clashing with her niece as per, I loved Samad and Archie reconnecting after years apart, I loved the vivid description Zadie Smith adds in just to build up her fictional North-West London world. This short fiction seems real, it well-thought out and convincing. When Samad Iqbal decides to move from Whitechapel to Willesden, his wife Alsana finds she has reservations once they are there. Money is tight, she is...

Welcome all to my latest offering on the blog! This time I am reviewing the mysterious gothic short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I read this short story for university when we looks at women writers of the Fin de Siècle, pronounced  as /f æn dʊ si:ɛkl   in phonetic or those who do not follow, simply pronounced as  "fan du see-eh-kl" with the "du" sounding the same as in look or put. In case you actually wander what the Fin de  Siècle is French for end of the century. The emphasis is on the ending of the 19th century and it's characteristics. Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a good example of the Fin de Si ècle. The short story highlights the struggles that women can face and how women can fall victim to being diagnosed with hysteria. In the short story, the narrator reveals she cannot do certain things because she is unwell. She sees life as exciting and considers that a ...

Today blog readers I am supplying you all with the first author of the month review. I give you my thoughts on Kazuo Ishiguro's short story ‘A Family Supper’ (1983). I read this short story and thoroughly liked it. First of all, the short story was only nine pages long which made easily manageable for anyone to read. Even with it being nine pages though, it nevertheless carried a strong narrative through which I could follow. The short story often moved back to reminisce on past events and thoughts, which helped to bind the short story together. As far as the nameless narrator is concerned, I find him to be unsure as a character. This for me was interesting. He was similar to his sister in this retrospect though had a juxapositional personality to that of his sister. Where his sister came across as bright and fun, he came across as dull and mellow. It is clear that his relationship with his father is somewhat strained so perhaps that has a bearing on how he is as a person. Anyway, ...

Welcome to my blog everyone. If you are new, I hope you enjoy reading my blog posts. If you have returned then I thank you. Today I am delving into Douglas Stuart's short story  ‘Found Wanting ’ from 2020. Douglas Stuart is my author of the month and this is his first piece of work.  I will say that after I had read this I was left a little confused. I did not expect what happened to actually happen. I guess I found it odd. Not bad. No, I liked it. The story takes place in 1990s Scotland, namely Glasgow and is told from the perspective of this seventeen-year-old. He is secretly gay because being gay was not widely accepted. As it was people within the LGBTQIA+ community were treated differently in the 1990s. This is unsurprising following the HIV/AIDs pandemic of the 1980s. What I liked about this story was the narrators quest to find someone like him. The narrator is innocent and has to make do with what he can. I notice how Doulas Stuart set up the story to give readers the ...