Personal Blogs

7 February 2026

Over the last week I listened to two sections of Eliot’s Quartets. It has been a discussion on the Facebook group. None of us can really make head nor tail of it. A fellow student has shared a link to this following YouTube video: A Reader's Guide to T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets". It is quite long, but I’ll try to find the time to give it a listen. Although I’ll probably give the module materials on Eliot another read, this is one of those texts that I’m not really enthusiastic about.

Yesterday I had a chat with an expert in modernism about texts that might work well with Good Morning, Midnight. A left-field suggestions was Double Indemnity by Cain. I gave this a quick read. It’s a cracking yarn. I was thoroughly engrossed for a few hours but I’m not sure whether there are clear examples within the text that relates to the TMA 4 question. Another suggestion was a textbook, An Introduction to Literature, Criticism and Theory by Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle. This suggestion is in keeping with the TMA 4 guidance.

After a cup of tea, it’s back to the reading.

12 February 2026

After a couple of emails exchanged with my tutor, I’ve settled on a second text. Incidentally, it’s one by Orwell, and is also one that I happened to read 35 years ago, before I really got stuck into my career in computing. In some respects, this feels like a story that has come full circle, returning to an academic crossroads that I had passed decades before. The curious thing about re-reading this text is that I remember fragments of it. It made an impression on me, and was also a book that I carried around between different flats and houses for about a decade.

The copy I used to have is long gone. The version I’m reading has been downloaded to my Kindle. I might well have to find a paper copy, which might give me a useful introduction that might be helpful for my penultimate essay.

18 February 2026

I’m trying to read one of the three secondary readings about Good Morning, Midnight, but I’m not getting very far. The first one is hard to follow. It contains a lot of creative hypotheses about Rhys’s intentions. I’m hoping that the remaining papers will be a bit easier. Now that I’ve finished editing an exam paper, and have had a good old go at making templates for the next presentation of the software engineering module, I feel as though I have a bit of time I can dedicate to reading what I need to read.

Now that my literature studies are beginning to come to an end, I’m starting to wonder about what to study next. There is a bit of me that wants to study a level 1 maths module, since I feel a bit of ‘maths shame’. I really feel as if my practical knowledge of mathematics needs to be developed, since I struggled with the subject when I was an undergraduate. Choosing a maths module would be very much a decision of the head, rather than the heart.

One possible ‘heart’ decision, is an MA in English Literature. Through the MA Open route, there’s a possibility to combine the study of English Literature with Creative Writing.

By the looks of it, the MA in English Lit is split into two modules: MA English literature part 1 and the appropriately titled MA English literature part 2. The first module appears to be a taught module, and the second relates to the writing of a dissertation. On the creative writing pathway, the corresponding module goes by the module code and title MA Creative Writing part 2 where students have to create ‘a sustained piece of creative writing produced to a professional level’.

On the face of it, the MA looks pretty difficult, which is also the masochistic appeal. I’ve learnt that difficult things are often worthwhile. Another possibility is to have a bit of a break from study, but this would mean that I would lose my Amazon Prime and Tidal student subscriptions!

Since I’m not someone to rush into anything, I’ll see how exhausted I feel when I’ve submitted my EMA.

20 February 2026

I spent quite a bit of last night reading critical articles. I’ve moved from reading about Rhys to Orwell. One of the articles referenced a couple of Orwell’s essays, which are available to read via the Australian version of Project Gutenberg where it is possible to download ePub versions of his texts.

I also noticed in an article that Williams (who was mentioned in our previous TMA) has written a book about Orwell. I had a quick look in the OU library but couldn’t find it. I did, however, find my way to a YouTube video that shares a link between Williams and the OU, entitled Raymond Williams (with Stuart Hall) on George Orwell (YouTube). It is worth a watch. The video is a part of a series from the Raymond Williams Society. The society has a website. I had a quick look at the blog. There’s a lot there that I don’t understand!

Not only is there a Cambridge Companion to Rhys, there’s also a Cambridge Companion to Orwell. I’ve downloaded one of the chapters, which I’ll try to read through tonight, along with another article I’ve just about got halfway through. After this, it’ll be just about time to start to make notes from the secondary readings and the text. I’ll then turn my attention back to the module materials.

22 February 2026

I’m two thirds through Orwell’s essay Inside the Whale. I’m finding it slightly harder to read than his other essays, which is only down to the subject matter. Unsurprisingly, he mentions politics and the context in which literature is written. I also keep returning to a question, which is: could I pair Rhys’s Good Morning, Midnight with Miller’s The Tropic of Cancer (which Orwell mentions in his essay). There are some interesting similarities, but it doesn’t quite fit within the essay question. I’ll read the text to see how I feel for it. If I feel it’s a worthwhile pairing, I’ll ask my tutor.

I’ve also discovered an essay about the politics of Good Morning, Midnight. I’ll try to find a PDF copy so I can read it on my Kindle. I like the connection to politics, but I don’t like the reference to Deleuze, who always baffles me.

The more you read, the more you find to read.

28 February 2026

I went to see a production of Playboy of the Western World at the National Theatre. I messed up on my timing, so I managed to see the very last performance (long after the TMA had been submitted). I read a couple of reviews of it, and they were clearly mixed. The Guardian theatre reviewer, who I usually quite like, was clearly confused by the whole thing. I could sense that some members of audience had no idea what was going on. The violence of the final act was shocking, but was presented in a ridiculous farcical way. It’s a curious play, but one that has contemporary political relevance. It resonated on an unexpected personal level too; the extent to which attitudes to others can literally change overnight.

Whilst I was at the National I had a quick look at its bookshop. They had loads of books of plays by playwrights, but none by Aphra Behn. Given another contemporary story, I’m wondering whether I could start a campaign to stage The Amorous Prince.

In other news, I’ve got another book: Raymond Williams’s critical assessment of Orwell. I can’t read it right now, since I’ve got a load of difficult TM354 marking that has landed. I also need to get back to re-reading the module materials.