*Contains no plot spoilers. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Pachinko is a family saga about Korean migrants living in Japan against the backdrop of the unheaval of the 20th Century. The novel traces struggles, triumphs and colourful personalities of several generations of one family. It rockets along at an amazing pace and doesn’t let up. This is a bookContinue reading “Book Review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee”
Tag Archives: words
Book Review: The Romantic Italian Nights and Days by Kate Holden
Kate Holden is the Australian author of the amazing memoir In This Skin. The Romantic is a follow-up to this memoir. A bit about Kate Holden, she’s a woman from Melbourne who grew up in a respectable middle-class family. She then broke away from her stable family life and became a heroin addict and aContinue reading “Book Review: The Romantic Italian Nights and Days by Kate Holden”
Mark Forsyth’s Elements of Eloquence Part 2: The Cheat Sheet
Here are the classical rules of rhetoric, illustrated and made simple. Based on Mark Forsyth’s Elements of Eloquence. I hope that you enjoy them and that this handy cheat sheet helps you to improve your writing.
Book Review: The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth – Part 1
Mark Forsyth is the witty and effervescent writer of several books on the history of language, etymology and linguistics. The Elements of Eloquence explains the timeless art of crafting memorable one liners. In other words, the rules of classical rhetoric. This is a great guide for writers who want to master the subtle artContinue reading “Book Review: The Elements of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth – Part 1”
Ancient Word of the Day: Borbhan
The word Borbhan comes from Gaelic. It’s the gentle murmuring or purling sound made by a stream; also the sound of small stones falling.
Ancient word of the day: Arachnid
According to ancient Greek myth, the first spider to ever live was a once human girl named Arachne. She lived in the ancient city of Lydia in Turkey and was famous for her ability to weave beautiful clothing. Arachne gained fame for her weaving and became boastful of her ability, telling people that her weavingContinue reading “Ancient word of the day: Arachnid”
The odds in favour of you being born were slim
“Imagine a speck of dust next to a planet a billion times the size of the earth. The speck of dust represents the odds in favor of your being born; the huge planet would be the odds against it. So stop sweating the small stuff.”
Book Review: The Mind in the Cave by David Lewis Williams
I grabbed a copy of this book fully expecting to love it. The Mind in the Cave is packed with information about ancient history, anthropology, archaeology and the Lascaux and Chauvet cave complexes – some of my favourite subjects. Although I have to say that this book was written in a style that was confusing to read, difficult to wade through and some of the information didn’t make sense, even to this non-expert on the topic.
Ancient words of the day: Arcadian Idyll
Arcadian Idyll: an idealised vision about rural life, a country paradise. Arcadia was and still is, a mountainous region in Greece. It was populated mainly by shepherds and the sleepy and fluffy flocks of sheep. In reality, rural life in Arcadia was harsh, poor and beholden to the ravages of unpredictable weather. However thatContinue reading “Ancient words of the day: Arcadian Idyll”
You have sprung from soil in which you are a stranger
A palm tree stands in the middle of Rusafa, Born in the west, far from the land of palms. I said to it: How like me you are, far away and in exile, In long separation from family and friends. You have sprung from soil in which you are a stranger; And I, like you,Continue reading “You have sprung from soil in which you are a stranger”
Content Catnip 