High Browse Online

This month, I want to be self-indulgent and talk about one of my favourite kinds of books – Epic Historical Novels. Think Jean A Auel’s Earth’s Children series (starting with Clan of the Cave Bears and recently concluded with The Land of Painted Caves) and Sarum by Edward Rutherfurd. When it comes to epic tales, [...]

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This seems to be the year of Snow White with two blockbusters Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Hunstman in the cinemas. Both are based on the fairytale by the Brothers Grimm, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves but with their own twists and reinvention. I like reinvented fairytales, particularly those that reference contemporary [...]

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Do you know what Epistolary Fiction refers to? I didn’t know what that meant until recently. Epistolary Fiction refers to fiction written in correspondences, or letters. The eighteenth and nineteenth century saw the rise of epistolary fiction as travelling became more common and so did correspondences. Some scholars regard the Epistolary style to be exclusive [...]

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The world celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of iconic British writer Charles Dickens this month. Born Charles John Huffam Dickens on 7 February 1812, he is arguably one of the greatest authors of the Victorian era, if not of English literature. What better way is there than to make the celebration your own [...]

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Some believe that the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world in 2012. What better theme to start the New Year with Apocalyptic, or Dystopian novels? (Pardon my fascination with morbidity.) I seem to consider the two themes as interchangeable, with slight difference. Apocalyptic works are more concerned with the end of the days [...]

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I am often taken by the elegance of the Steampunk subgenre (sometimes also known as Gaslight novels). These books conjure the imagery of polished brass, gears, parasols, corsets and airships of the Victorian era. Steampunk novels are also sometimes labeled Speculative Historical Fiction: how can 21st century machinery be reinvented (or neo-invented) in the post [...]

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The Man Asian Literary Prize longlist has been announced. Of the 12 authors, most of them are from South Asia, with 5 from India alone. Many familiar names made the list such as Haruki Muarakami with his dystopian absurdist epic novel 1Q84 and Banana Yoshimoto with The Lake. The Man Asian Literary Prize is awarded [...]

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As our libraries across the island honour World Mental Health Day by putting up book displays and decorative corners related to mental wellbeing, I want to highlight some novels that deal with the theme of Mental Health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated 10 October 2011 to be World Mental Health Day, in order [...]

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The shortlist for the 2011 Man Book Prize was announced on 6 September. The list this year includes two debut authors Stephen Kelman and A D Miller. Title: Pigeon english Author: Stephen Kelman Publisher: London: Bloomsbury, 2011 Call No.: English KEL Title: Snowdrops Author: A D Miller Publisher: London: Atlantic, 2011 Call No.: English MIL [...]

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This month, let’s celebrate two joys of life – food and fiction. I believe one of the first books that come to mind when I mention Food Fiction is Chocolat by Joanne Harris. Did you watch the film adaptation starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche? The recording for this film can be found in our [...]

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