March | 2016 | Guy Portman's Blog

My Easter Egg Hunt

Mar 25 2016

Happy Easter. This week we take a sojourn from the usual book/author theme to explore the world of Easter Eggs. Sales at Easter time make up approximately 10% of UK chocolate spending for the whole year. We Britons love chocolate. In world league tables of per capita consumption the UK comes joint 4th behind Switzerland, Germany and Austria. As is the case every year my supermarket is seething with Easter chocolate.

Amongst the usual culprits is this Lindt Giant Carrot.

The Church of England never tires of reminding us that secularism and consumerism is resulting in religious traditions being increasingly marginalised. Their response is The Real Easter Egg (see below). These can be found in stores across the UK. The story of Jesus is depicted on the sides and back of the box.

For those of us emaciated from our Lenten fasts might I suggest a gargantuan Easter egg (see below). If camouflaged with foliage this Easter Egg could masquerade as part of the scenery in an Easter egg hunt.

Until recently I was under the impression that Easter eggs are supposed to be an opportunity to indulge oneself after the privations of Lent. This is no longer the case. Lent Continued Easter Eggs are everywhere these days, especially in WholeFoods. The below ~~Smug Eggs~~ moo free eggs are organic, GM free, wheat free, soya free… It appears that soya is no longer the go to dairy alternative. This is due to its purported health risks. How do I know? I listen in on people’s conversations when I go on my photography trips to WholeFoods.

Prior to this Easter I had never seen the sweetener xylitol advertised on Easter Egg packaging (see below). To me it sounds as appealing as a swimming pool promoting its high chlorine content. Xylitol is all the rage at the moment I was soon to discover. Apparently it can reduce bacteria in your mouth by up to 90%. Does this mean that if you eat Easter Eggs with xylitol in you are cleaning your teeth at the same time?

There’s always one. Not content with being oval, this Ladurée pretentious petal egg (see below) has embraced a postmodern deconstructed look. It is decorated with crystallised rose, jasmine and violet petals, garnished with dark, milk and praline chocolate figurines and bells. Cost: £72.50 ($102.47)

Laduree Petal Egg

Below are some aesthetically pleasing Easter Eggs that resemble real birds’ eggs.

And here are some ostrich sized ones.

One thing I have noticed this year is the prevalence of Easter chocolate being sold by companies that we do not usually associate with chocolate. Below are some Hello Kitty chocolate treats that I came across yesterday.

I am an ardent devotee of Cadbury Creme Eggs (see below). But not all is well in the world of Cadbury Creme Eggs. Satisfaction has fallen dramatically amongst consumers since the product’s controversial recipe change, which saw Dairy Milk being replaced with ‘standard cocoa mix chocolate’. I must confess that I didn’t even notice.

creme egg

Whatever Easter Eggs you decide on, I hope you enjoy them.

…………………………………………………………….

I am the author of the black comedy Necropolis.

And the psychological thriller Symbiosis.

History’s Most Controversial Authors

Mar 18 2016

The following 7 controversial authors are presented in the order in which they were born.

Aristophanes (Circa 446 BC – 386 BC)

Often referred to as ‘the father of comedy’, Aristophanes was an ancient Athenian comic playwright, whose plays are still performed to this day. Though regarded as being old fashioned and conservative, Aristophanes was also extremely controversial. Respected and feared for his comic wit, the playwright was merciless in his scathing satire of religion, politicians and poets. His victims included such influential figures as Euripides, Cleon and Socrates.

Aphra Behn
(July 10th 1640 – April 16th 1689)

Restoration era author, playwright, poet and political spy Aphra Behn was one of the first English women to earn a living from her writing. She was viewed as a literary role model by later generations of women authors. Behn’s written accounts of her romantic relationships with men and women provoked outrage. Other highly controversial themes in her works included women’s rights and the wrongs of slavery.

Voltaire
(November 21st 1694 – May 30th 1778)

Voltaire was unrelenting in his criticism of the establishment, church and the order of the day. His beliefs and determination to voice them did not endear him to all. The controversial writer endured 2 stints in The Bastille and a period of exile in London. His most famous work, Candide, is a satirical work that was widely banned at the time, as it was viewed as blasphemous and revolutionary.

Goethe Goethe (August 28th 1749 – March 22nd 1832)

German writer and statesman Johan Wolfgang von Goethe was a pioneer in fields as diverse as evolution and the theory of optics. In an era when the private nature of sexuality was stringently enforced, the erotic occurrences in a number of his works led to him being viewed as a controversial literary figure. Parts of his book, Venetian Epigrams, were withheld from publication due to their perceived scandalous sexual content.

Thomas Paine ThomasPaine (January 29th 1737 – June 8th 1809)

Author and political theorist Thomas Paine was one of America’s Founding Fathers. His pamphlet, Common Sense (1776) sold an estimated half-a-million copies during the course of The American Revolution. But it was the controversy of his later writing, particularly The Age of Reason (1794) that was to seal his remarkable fall from grace. His criticism of what he regarded as religious dogmatism led to Paine being ostracised.

D. H. Lawrence (September 11th 1885 – March 2nd 1930)

D. H. Lawrence was one of the most influential writers of his generation. Controversy courted the writer incessantly, primarily because of the perceived explicit nature of his works. One of his most famous novels, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, though published was heavily censored. 30 years after his death in 1960 Penguin attempted to publish the original version, but were forced to go to trial due to the Obscene Publications Act of the previous year.

Vladimir Nabokov (April 22nd 1899 – July 2nd 1977)

Russian born Vladimir Nabokov was a renowned novelist, lepidopterologist (someone specialising in the study of moths) and chess composer. Nabokov’s seminal work, Lolita, is about a man who falls in love with a 12-year-old girl. The book’s paedophilic theme resulted in it being rejected by numerous American publishers. Lolita was eventually published by Olympia Press, a Paris based publisher. To this day the book courts controversy.

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Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac

Mar 11 2016

birthday cake

As it is Jack Kerouac’s birthday today (he would have been 94) I am dedicating this week’s post to the iconic author.

Jack Kerouac(March 12th 1922 – October 21st 1969)

Notable works: On the Road, The Dharma Bums, Big Sur, The Town and the City

Novelist, poet and artist Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1922 to French Canadian parents. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg he was one of the pioneers of the Beat Generation. Today Kerouac is best remembered for his spontaneous prose style. Themes in his work include jazz, Buddhism, drugs, poverty, promiscuity and above all travel.

A notoriously heavy drinker, Kerouac’s favourite drink was said to be Margarita. He wrote in his book, Big Sur, ‘Don’t drink to get drunk. Drink to enjoy life.’ His drinking led to his premature death aged 47 from internal bleeding.

Here are some interesting facts about Jack Kerouac:

According to Kerouac he was born Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac.

He was a high school athletics star (sprinter and hurdler) and college football player (running back).

Kerouac has been compared to James Dean because of the rebellious nature of his work and his Hollywood good looks.

Kerouac is buried at Edson Cemetery in his hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts.

Kerouac’s most famous work, On the Road, was written on a 120-foot piece of continuous scroll over a 3 week period in April 1951. It was not published until 1957. Here is a picture of the original manuscript.

Manuscript

I have read 2 of Kerouac’s books, On the Road and Maggie Cassidy. Although On the Road is his seminal work, I preferred Maggie Cassidy. Click on the links to read my reviews.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac – The defining text of The Beat Generation is a largely autobiographical account of the author’s adventures in America and Mexico. The story follows restless protagonist Sal’s various road trips…(More)

Maggie Cassidy by Jack Kerouac – Set in the close-knit working-class French-Canadian community of Lowell, Massachusetts, Maggie Cassidy is a semi-autobiographical account of Kerouac’s adolescence. The story is recounted through the teenage mind…(More)

Here are 2 good Jack Kerouac quotes:

‘Nothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.’ — On the Road

‘Great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends and fads and popular opinion.’ — Jack Kerouac

11 Influential Female Authors

Mar 04 2016

As International Women’s Day (IWD) is next week (March 8th) I am dedicating this blog post to female authors. I have only included authors who are no longer with us. Sorry J. K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer, and dare I say it, E. L. James.

Here are 11 of the most influential female authors/writers ever.

Jane Austen(December 16th 1775 – July 18th 1817)

Jane Austen’s 6 novels were published at a time when virtually all well-known authors were male. Her erudite social commentary and use of irony continue to resonate with readers to this day. Marriage and the role of women are recurring themes in her writing.

Mary Shelley Shelley (August 30th 1797 – February 1st 1851)

English novelist, short story writer and dramatist Mary Shelley published her seminal work, the Gothic novel Frankenstein, when she was only 21. Today she is considered to be a major Romantic figure, praised for both her literary achievements and her liberal views.

George Eliot(November 22nd 1819 – December 22nd 1880)

Mary Ann Evans used a male pen name because she wanted to be taken seriously as a writer. She was one of the foremost writers of the Victorian era. Eliot’s novel Middlemarch is widely considered to be amongst the greatest English language novels ever.

Emily Dickinson(10th December 1830 – 15th May 1886)

The reclusive Emily Dickinson was a prolific American poet who penned over 1700 poems. The flexible and innovative structures of her poems, the conciseness of her language, the blending of different themes, and use of metaphors were in stark contrast to the rigid conventions of the era.

Edith Wharton Wharton (January 24th 1862 – August 11th 1937)

Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and short story writer Edith Wharton was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature on 3 occasions. Her writing is characterised by its humour, conciseness and social insights. A number of her books have been adapted for the silver screen.

Virginia Woolf(January 25th 1882 – March 28th 1941)

Novelist and critic Virginia Woolf was an influential interwar writer and one of the foremost modernists of the 20th Century. She embraced an experimental stream of consciousness writing style, in which the subjective impressions of her protagonists formed the narrative. Feminist ideas are a recurring theme in her work.

Click here to read my review of Mrs Dalloway.

Agatha Christie(September 15th 1890 – January 12th 1976)

Prolific author Agatha Christie is best remembered for her 66 detective novels. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the creator of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple as the best-selling novelist of all time. Over 2 billion copies of her books have been sold.

Zora Neale Hurston Hurston (January 7th 1891 – January 28th 1960)

Zora Neale Hurston was an American folklorist, anthropologist and author, who wrote 4 novels and more than 50 short stories, plays and essays. Her most famous novel is Their Eyes Were Watching God. The highly opinionated Hurston was a staunch patriot, who was vehemently anti-Communist.

Margaret Mitchell(November 8th 1900 – August 16th 1949)

Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for her romantic novel Gone With the Wind. It sold more than a million copies in its first 6 months. Readers appreciated its masterful use of symbolism and treatment of archetypes. Mitchell never published another novel in her lifetime.

Maya Angelou Angelou (April 4th 1928 – May 28th 2014)

African-American author, poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou is best remembered for her 7 autobiographies. For many years she used the same writing ritual, which entailed waking up early and going to a hotel room, where she would spend her working day.

Sylvia Plath(October 27th 1932 – February 11th 1963)

Sylvia Plath was well known for her poetry during her short-life. In 1963 Plath committed suicide. She went on to achieve posthumous fame for her mental health themed semi-autobiographical novel The Bell Jar, which was published in the UK a month after her death.

Click here to read my review of The Bell Jar.