Edited by Christopher Douce, Friday 31 July 2026 at 08:38
17 July 2026
I’ve finally finished a quick read of Anita Desai’s The Complete Stories. I quite liked it. I liked that I was taken to places that were completely unfamiliar to me. I started to puzzle over what some of the stories might mean (especially with respect to history) but I didn’t go too far. I really liked the richness of her language that she used, and the vividness of her descriptions. I also really liked that in one story, the perspective she used changed from third person to first person, and back again to third person again. I'm looking forward to seeing how the text is used by the module.
Next up, I hope to watch a production of King Lear from Drama Online, whilst leafing through a copy of the text that I’ve downloaded from Project Gutenberg. After this, I plan to read In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes. I have no idea what this is about.
19 July 2026
Well, that was a bit dark.
I’m looking forward to getting an Oxford World Classic copy of Lear, so I can begin to figure it all out.
I think I prefer comedies.
My next task: In a Lonely Place.
26 July 2026
I’ve finished In a Lonely Place. It was a cracking read, replete with teasers to keep you interested, to persuade you that you might have some idea what is going on. It is about as dark as Lear, except the violence is implied. How come I haven’t heard of Dorothy B. Hughes? Where has she been all my life? How was she able to get into the head of a trouble misogynist?
Next up is The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. I have a paper copy of the text, but I’ll give the one from Project Gutenberg a go.
On a whim I decided to have a quick search around the BBC to see if there were any helpful resources. It wasn’t too long before I started to listen to an episode of In Our Time that was all about Goethe (BBC Sounds). I managed to stay awake for the first fifteen minutes before falling asleep, so I’ll have to have a listen to it again.
Whilst I was browsing, I also noticed that there was an adaptation of the text, available as Drama on 3 episode. I’ll give this a listen when I’ve been through the text. I think I’ve got a bit a head start, since the In Our Time episode shared a couple of spoilers.
A bit of ‘study on the side’: I’ve listened to a lecture by Emma Smith about Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist. Smith’s lecture emphasises its meta theatricality. I had quick look to see whether there was a version available through Drama Online, and the only Jonson play I can see is Volpone. I then started to search for biographies of Jonson and Kidd, remembering that I still have a biography of Marlowe to get through. This might become summer reading too.
A893 Journal – July 2026
17 July 2026
I’ve finally finished a quick read of Anita Desai’s The Complete Stories. I quite liked it. I liked that I was taken to places that were completely unfamiliar to me. I started to puzzle over what some of the stories might mean (especially with respect to history) but I didn’t go too far. I really liked the richness of her language that she used, and the vividness of her descriptions. I also really liked that in one story, the perspective she used changed from third person to first person, and back again to third person again. I'm looking forward to seeing how the text is used by the module.
Next up, I hope to watch a production of King Lear from Drama Online, whilst leafing through a copy of the text that I’ve downloaded from Project Gutenberg. After this, I plan to read In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes. I have no idea what this is about.
19 July 2026
Well, that was a bit dark.
I’m looking forward to getting an Oxford World Classic copy of Lear, so I can begin to figure it all out.
I think I prefer comedies.
My next task: In a Lonely Place.
26 July 2026
I’ve finished In a Lonely Place. It was a cracking read, replete with teasers to keep you interested, to persuade you that you might have some idea what is going on. It is about as dark as Lear, except the violence is implied. How come I haven’t heard of Dorothy B. Hughes? Where has she been all my life? How was she able to get into the head of a trouble misogynist?
Next up is The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe. I have a paper copy of the text, but I’ll give the one from Project Gutenberg a go.
On a whim I decided to have a quick search around the BBC to see if there were any helpful resources. It wasn’t too long before I started to listen to an episode of In Our Time that was all about Goethe (BBC Sounds). I managed to stay awake for the first fifteen minutes before falling asleep, so I’ll have to have a listen to it again.
Whilst I was browsing, I also noticed that there was an adaptation of the text, available as Drama on 3 episode. I’ll give this a listen when I’ve been through the text. I think I’ve got a bit a head start, since the In Our Time episode shared a couple of spoilers.
A bit of ‘study on the side’: I’ve listened to a lecture by Emma Smith about Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist. Smith’s lecture emphasises its meta theatricality. I had quick look to see whether there was a version available through Drama Online, and the only Jonson play I can see is Volpone. I then started to search for biographies of Jonson and Kidd, remembering that I still have a biography of Marlowe to get through. This might become summer reading too.
31 July 2026
I’m not getting on with Goethe.