The best science fiction novels
Science fiction is now a crowded genre and a popular field. The genre is characterised by speculative fiction and novels rich in ideas, especially about the future of human civilisation and the relationship between people and technology. But what are the best classic science fiction novels?
Five of the best collections of English poetry, selected by Dr Oliver Tearle
What are the best English poetry anthologies? And how would one define ‘best’? The answer, of course, is that it’s always going to be subjective to a point. But it’s worth having a go at picking the greatest anthologies from which the poetry fan can choose. The poetry anthology is a great way not only of revisiting old favourites, but of discovering new poets. In this post, we’ve turned our attention to a kind of book that provides a highly valuable service for the poetry-lover. Many of these books can be purchased for the equivalent of the cost of lunch (depending on where you lunch, of course), or, at most, set back the book-buyer no more than a night out in the local pub would. And a volume of poetry can provide a lifetime of pleasure!
The Oxford Book of English Verse
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Alfred, Lord Tennyson lived a long time, and wrote a great deal of poetry. The definitive edition of his Poems stretches to three large volumes. Nevertheless, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to choose ten of the best Tennyson poems, ranging from his narrative poems to lyrics and elegies and everything in between.
For those who wish to learn more about Tennyson, we’ve previously treated his interesting life and work here. To enter a world of myth, magic, and emotional depth, follow the links we’ve provided to each poem. Are these the greatest poems Tennyson wrote? Obviously any link will be subjective to a point, so we welcome your thoughts below.
By Dr Oliver Tearle
‘A literary movement’, the Irish novelist George Moore once observed, ‘consists of five or six people who live in the same town and hate each other cordially.’ Few literary movements better exemplify Moore’s point than modernism. Modernism was a hugely significant movement in art, literature, architecture, and music in the early twentieth century.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
When he died aged 58 in 1870, Charles Dickens left behind fifteen novels, five Christmas books, several volumes of travel writing, and dozens of journalistic pieces and short stories. But what are the ten books that best exemplify Dickens’s genius, his unique comic achievement, and those qualities which we tend to think of when we hear the word ‘Dickensian’? Undoubtedly a fool’s errand.
But we’ll give it a go anyway, if nothing else because it’s an excuse to share some great trivia about Dickens’s finest books.