By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The character of Mollie, in George Orwell’s 1945 fable Animal Farm, may not be as familiar to many people as the pigs, Napoleon and Snowball, but she plays an important part in Orwell’s satire on the Russian Revolution (and the way its ideals were […]
Tag: Novels
10 of the Best Stories Set in the Future
As the Danish physicist Niels Bohr probably never said, ‘predictions are hard, especially about the future.’ And although the job of authors of science fiction and speculative fiction isn’t to make accurate predictions about what our future lives might look like, but to entertain us by tapping into current concerns, […]
10 of the Best Novels and Short Stories about Monsters
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Literature is full of monsters whose names and appearance have passed into general circulation: we all recognise Frankenstein (even if, as pedants will be quick to point out, Hollywood has made us confuse the ‘monster’ with his creator), Dracula, and the Minotaur, among many […]
10 of the Best Novels and Short Stories about Dogs
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Novelists and short-story writers have created some classic narratives about man’s best friend, the dog. But what are the very best stories and novels about dogs? Where should we begin in assessing the classic, canonical literature that features dogs? From Homer’s Odyssey onwards – […]
A Summary and Analysis of Franz Kafka’s The Castle
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Although we know Franz Kafka’s novel under the English title The Castle, it’s worth pointing out that we might also make a case for calling it ‘The Lock’: Schloss, in the novel’s original German title, means both ‘castle’ and ‘lock’. Kafka’s The Castle is […]