Have you ever considered hiring a professional ghost?
No, not the supernatural kind – the literary kind. Splicing the word “ghostwriter” into two, this professional ghost entices prospective clients with the promise of its own invisibility. It increases its allure by marketing itself as a formless entity detached from its own literary labour.
Let’s go back to January 1st 2021, a day for new beginnings, new year’s resolutions… but not a new me? My old reading habits just stay the same.
“I was growing less and less attached to life. If I kept going, I thought, I’d disappear completely, then reappear in some new form. This was my hope. This was the dream.”
“The outbreak of a mysterious and deadly disease” and the search for a vaccine. Is this an extract from the BBC on the developments of COVID-19? No, this is the synopsis to Stanley Johnson’s novel The Virus.
Emily Cooper Smith Are you an avid reader who finds it hard to fathom why certain people dislike reading? For some, Aphantasia could be the answer. If I told you to think […]
Ken Kesey’s first published novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest saves to be a story that is more than just a simple journey taken with characters.
I don’t care about what a book looks like on a shelf. I have never cared about the aesthetics of being a reader – books simpering on their pedestals, waiting to pose against a gravel backdrop and gain a million likes.
I, like many people, buy books if they have pretty covers. This applies even if I already own a copy of said book. Leading me to have multiple copies of Pride and Prejudice, and even books I’m not fond of like Great Expectations. I counted 10 copies of Alice in Wonderland. Did I used to have an obsession with Alice in Wonderland? Yes. Do I now? No. Shouldn’t I be able to get rid of the excess copies? No, they mean too much.
Goodreads is a book tracking app that lets you find new books then read and review them, neatly putting them on shelves after you have completed them.
Alongside ‘unprecedented’, it is a word that has been used excessively during the pandemic. It has sparked a mountain of debate over what should be deemed ‘essential’ during lockdown, with some ‘essentials’ provoking more heated disputes than others.
thestray.org 