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7 Dystopian Novels
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5 Good Books You Probably Haven’t Read
3
Symbiosis Sale Ends Today
4
8 Controversial Authors
5
My Easter Egg Hunt
6
History’s Most Controversial Authors
7
Happy Birthday Jack Kerouac
8
11 Influential Female Authors
9
6 Good Self-Published Books
10
7 Radical Authors

7 Dystopian Novels

Definition: Dystopian literature is a genre of fictional writing used to explore social and political structures in ‘a dark, nightmare world.’…(more)

Here are 7 dystopian novels by 7 different authors, all of which I have read. They are presented in chronological order.

 

The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (1895)

The Time Machine

H. G. Wells’s seminal work is about a man who builds himself a time machine, and then travels over 800,000 years into the future. At first it appears this world is a wonderful place, but the Traveller soon discovers that there is a sinister, hidden subterranean class. This bestseller is credited with launching the time-travel genre.

My Review: N/A

Rating: Good

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)

Brave New World

Brave New World utilises erudite social commentary to explore mankind’s inherent nature. Huxley’s portentous vision has proven to be prescient in its prediction of a science-controlled, consumer culture.

My Review: Brave New World is set in a society where everything is controlled. The parentless, manufactured, free-loving population are dependent on a state-endorsed hallucinogenic, happiness drug called Soma. Helicopters serve as the primary mode of transport. Entertainment takes…(more)

My Rating: Good

 

1984 by George Orwell (1949)

1984

This dystopian classic is set in a world of constant war, government surveillance and manipulation. The novel’s protagonist works for the Ministry of Truth, which is responsible for historical revisionism and propaganda. 1984 warns of totalitarian censorship. It has been viewed as controversial since its publication due to its themes of nationalism and censorship.

My Review: N/A

My Rating: Excellent

 

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (1953)

Fahrenheit 451

There is much to ponder in this satirical book whose motif is a warning about the threat posed by state censorship. Bradbury’s seminal work predicts our increasing obsession with mass media.

My Review: Books are banned in this dystopian world, where firemen are employed to burn them. Guy Montag is a fireman, who lives an unfulfilling existence with Mildred, his sedentary, parlour-consuming wife: parlours being an in-house form of entertainment…(more)

My Rating: Quite Good

 

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is a controversial book whose themes include behaviourism, free will and the role of the state. It employs an imaginary teenage dialect called ‘nadsat’.

My Review: Alex is an eccentric 15-year-old delinquent with a penchant for classical music and drinking milk. He and his fellow ‘droogs’ assault, rob and rape with impunity, that is until a serious incident sees him arrested and incarcerated…(more)

My Rating: Good

 

The Man In The High Castle by Philip K. Dick (1962)

Man in High Castle

This alternative history dystopia is set in a world in which the allies lost The War. It is a somewhat chaotic work containing many intrigues.

My Review: After the allies lost World War II America was divided in half. The Germans occupied the east, the Japanese the west. It is now 1962. Robert Childan is the owner of an Americana antiques shop in San Francisco…(more)

My Rating: Okay but convoluted.

 

High-Rise by J. G. Ballard (1975)

High-Rise

High-Rise is a tale about how the social order can fragment. Tense, bleak and satirical, it explores the connection between technology and the human condition.

My Review: Set in an apartment tower block in London, High-Rise is a dystopian tale about the intense animosity that develops between the building’s various floors. The story centres around three main characters – Robert Laing, an instructor at…(more)

My Rating: Quite Good

 

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5 Good Books You Probably Haven’t Read

This week’s blog post is dedicated to 5 good books that you probably haven’t read. Perhaps I am being presumptuous and you have read them. Anyway here they are:

 

The Legend of the Holy Drinker by Joseph Roth (1939)

The Legend of the Holy Drinker

Genre: General Fiction

This compact and wistful novella is a great introduction to Joseph Roth’s writing. The Austro Hungarian author succumbed to a premature alcohol related death shortly after finishing this allegorical tale about seeking redemption.

My Review: The story is about an alcoholic tramp by the name of Andreas, who lives under bridges of the river Seine in Paris.  Andreas finds himself in luck when he is given two hundred francs by a stranger, which allows him to recapture something of his pre-tramp existence… (More)

 

Maggie Cassidy by Jack Kerouac (1959)

Maggie Cassidy

Genre: Semi Autobiographical

Maggie Cassidy is a meditation on being in love and youthful innocence. Unlike Kerouac’s seminal work, On the Road, it has a more conventional prose style. This is a captivating book full of profound insights.

My Review: 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 of the author’s alter ego, Jack Duluoz…(More)

 

Novel with Cocaine by M. Ageyev (1934)

Novel with Cocaine

Genre: Transgressive

This is a nihilistic and philosophical novel about adolescence and addiction that could be described as Dostoyevskian. Since the time of its publication in book form there has been intense speculation over who wrote it.

My Review: Set in the years immediately before and after the Russian Revolution, Novel with Cocaine follows the life of Vadim, a Moscow adolescent and student. Vadim is prone to self-loathing and disdainful of others, none more so than his mother, whose… (More)

 

The Wayward Bus by John Steinbeck (1947)

The Wayward Bus

Genre: General Fiction

Although The Wayward Bus is one of Steinbeck’s lesser known novels, it is in this reader’s opinion one of his best. The author’s deep understanding of human nature is in evidence throughout.

My Review: An unlikely group of characters are travelling through rural South California by bus.  In his unique style Steinbeck proceeds to explore each personality in intricate detail; their inhibitions, motivations, intimate thoughts and hopes for the future… (More)

 

The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West (1939)

the Day of the Locust

Genre: Modernist

The Day of the Locust is a short, plotless and poignant novel with a surreal aspect that is prescient in its prediction of the Hollywood-obsessed society of today, with its fixation on celebrity and image.

My Review: Talented artist Tod Hackett has relocated to Los Angeles where he is working as a movie set designer. Tod develops an infatuation for Faye – a beautiful, blonde and brazen aspiring actress, and sometime call girl. When her father, a vaudevillian…(More)

 

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Symbiosis Sale Ends Today

Get my Psychological Thriller Symbiosis today for only 99c/99p (Usual Price: $3.99/£2.86). Available from Amazon (US & UK).

Symbiosis

Perceptive and poignant, Symbiosis explores our enduring fascination with twins and the complexities of twinship.

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Symbiosis was released at the end of January.

Symbiosis

Sale ends today Tuesday April 12th.

Amazon US (99c) & Amazon UK (99p) — also available in paperback.

 

 

8 Controversial Authors

Here are 8 recent/contemporary controversial authors. They are presented in the order in which they were born.

 

John SteinbeckJohnSteinbeck(February 27th 1902 – December 20th 1968)

John Steinbeck is one of the most acclaimed literary figures America has ever produced. His accolades include The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (1940) and the Nobel Prize in Literature (1962). He was highly critical of America’s economic policies, and a fervent supporter of unionisation. These views made him a reviled figure in some circles. His seminal work, The Grapes of Wrath, was burned on 2 separate occasions in his hometown of Salinas.

 

George OrwellGeorgeOrwell(June 25th 1903 – January 21st 1950)

George Orwell was opposed to totalitarianism and committed to democratic socialism, ideals that resulted in the author often courting controversy. His allegorical novella, Animal Farm, was seen as being highly critical of Stalin’s rule. Animal Farm and his dystopian novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, were banned in the USSR. Orwell’s  accounts of poverty in The Road to Wigan Pier and Down and Out in Paris and London did not endear him to all in his home country.

 

William S. BurroughsWilliamBurroughs(February 5th 1914 – August 2nd 1997)

William S. Burroughs was at forefront of the Beat generation, influencing the likes of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Burroughs was a controversial character with a penchant for rent boys and heroin. His writing is characterised as being sardonic, dark and often humorous. Arguably his most famous book, the non-linear Naked Lunch was viewed as so scandalous at the time of its publication that it underwent a court case under U.S. obscenity laws.

 

Alexsandr SolzhenitsynSolzhenitsyn(December 11th 1918 – August 3rd 2008)

Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist, whose accolades included winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. His novella, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, is widely considered the most powerful indictment of the USSR’s gulag system ever written. In 1973 the first of his three-volume account about life in the gulags, The Gulag Archipelago, caused such outrage in the Soviet Union that he was expelled from the country.

 

Salman RushdieSalmanRushdie(Born: June 19th 1947)

Rushdie’s second novel, Midnight’s Children, won the Booker Prize in 1981. His fourth book, The Satanic Verses, was deemed offensive by many Muslims, as it refers to a number of allegedly pagan verses, temporarily included in the Qur’an and later removed. When Ayatollah Khomeini issued a Fatwa against the author in 1989, Rushdie was rushed into protective custody, as rioting, book burnings and fire-bombings raged through the Muslim world.

 

Chuck PalahniukChuckPalahniuk(Born: February 21st 1962)

Palahniuk has constantly courted controversy with the content of his books: no mean feat in today’s era of tolerance. His short story, Guts, about masturbation accidents, contained in his book, Haunted, was met with such shock that people even passed out at public readings. Haunted is often voted in polls as one of the most disturbing books ever written. It has been banned along with the author’s other works in many schools.

 

Taslima NasrinTaslima Nasreen(Born: 25 August 1962)

Themes in controversial Bangladeshi author and poet Taslima Nasreen’s writing include female oppression and graphic language. When she criticised Islamic philosophy in her book Lajja (1993), a radical fundamentalist organisation called the Council of Islamic Soldiers offered a bounty for her head. The following year she fled Bangladesh to West Bengal. Concerns for her safety culminated in the author going into hiding in New Delhi. In 2015 she moved to the US.

 

Bret Easton EllisEaston-Ellis(Born: March 7th 1964)

Bret Easton Ellis’s third novel, the infamous American Psycho, caused uproar even before its release date. The book was viewed by many in the literary establishment as scandalous, due to its explicit violent sexual content, and its perceived misogynistic elements. Easton-Ellis has continued to court controversy ever since, not only through his books, but also with his incendiary Tweeting habits, which have included Tweets on such sensitive subjects as HIV and Aids.

 

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My Easter Egg Hunt

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.

IMG_2569

Amongst the usual culprits is this Lindt Giant Carrot.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

IMG_2559

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.

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And here are some ostrich sized ones.

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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.

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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.

Necropolis

And the psychological thriller Symbiosis.

Symbiosis

History’s Most Controversial Authors

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

 

AristophanesAristophanes (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
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
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.

 

GoetheGoethe(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 PaineThomasPaine(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. LawrenceD.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 NabokovNabokov (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

 

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 KerouacJack 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

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 AustenJane 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 ShelleyShelley(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 EliotGeorge 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 DickinsonEmily 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 WhartonWharton(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 WoolfVirginia 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 ChristieAgatha 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 HurstonHurston(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 MitchellMitchell(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 AngelouAngelou(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 PlathSylvia 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.

 

6 Good Self-Published Books

This week’s blog post is dedicated to 6 self-published books that I enjoyed reading. Several of these books have had some commercial success. As followers of this blog are aware I am an eclectic reader, and this is reflected in the choice of books. Click on the links to read my reviews.

 

Tollesbury Time Forever by Stuart AyrisTollesbury2

Genre: Literary Fiction

Simon Anthony, a resident of the picturesque village of Tollesbury, is an avid Beatles fan with a history of mental health issues and a dependence on alcohol. One evening an inebriated Simon staggers out of his local…(more)

 

A Gangster’s Grip by Heather BurnsideA Gangster's Grip

Genre: Crime

Rita has been living in Greece, where she has been running a restaurant with her husband Yansis. She has just returned to her hometown of Manchester for a visit. On arrival at her parents’ home she finds a surly stranger ensconced…(more)

 

Wasting Talent by Ryan LeoneWasting Talent

Genre: Transgressive

Young guitar virtuoso Damien Cantwell is a member of a band in Southern California. Damian is talented, popular and good looking, but has a drug problem. He started drinking and smoking at a tender age, and his substance abuse now consists of a dizzying array…(more)

 

Barry Braithwaite’s Last Life by A. R. LoweBarry2

Genre: General

The book is about the developing friendship between the protagonist, Alfred, and an alcoholic by the name of Barry. Barry, an electrician by trade, has been reduced to living in a skip, his days spent borrowing pound coins about town…(more)

 

The Rebel’s Sketchbook by Rupert DreyfusThe Rebel's Sketchbook

Genre: Satire/Transgressive

The Rebel’s Sketchbook is a collection of 13 first person satirical short stories. Subjects encompass capitalism, class war, drugs, viral culture, boy bands and zero hour contracts. The compilation’s motif is rebellion…(more)

 

Symbiosis by Guy PortmanSymbiosis

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Symbiosis is a personal favourite of mine. I published it last month. Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…(Amazon link)

 

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7 Radical Authors

This week’s blog post is dedicated to 7 famous authors, who were/are radical in one way or another. I hope you find it interesting.

 

Andrea DworkinDworkin(September 26th 1946 – April 9th 2005)

Andrea Dworkin is best remembered for her objection to pornography. The radical feminist writer argued that there was a correlation between pornography and violence to women. In the late 1970s and 1980s she was a spokeswoman for the anti-pornography movement, often provoking the ire of liberal feminists with her polarising views. The 10 books she wrote on the subject of feminism include Woman Hating and Right-Wing Women.

Why Radical: radical feminist

 

Yukio Mishima Mishima(January 14th 1925 – November 25th 1970)

Japan’s most famous author was a controversial figure who held nationalist views and was obsessed with the Samurai code (Bushido). He even set up his own private militia. On November 25th 1968 Mishima and 4 members of his militia barricaded themselves in the Tokyo headquarters of the Eastern Command of Japan’s self-defence forces. After delivering a speech, Mishima committed Seppuku, a Japanese ritual suicide consisting of disembowelment followed by beheading.

Why Radical: nationalist

 

Taslima Nasreen
Taslima Nasreen
 (Born: 25 August 1962)

Themes in Bangladeshi author and poet Taslima Nasreen’s writing include female oppression and graphic language. When she criticised Islamic philosophy in her book Lajja (1993), a radical fundamentalist organisation called the Council of Islamic Soldiers offered a bounty for her head. The following year she fled Bangladesh to West Bengal. Concerns for her safety culminated in the author going into hiding in New Delhi. In 2015 she moved to the US.

Why Radical: critic

 

Marquis de Sade Marquis de Sade (June 2nd 1740 – December 2nd 1814)

The Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, philosopher and writer who was renowned for his libertine sexuality. His erotic writing was rife with sexual fantasies, pornography, violence and blasphemy. De Sade’s scandalous works made him a despised figure within certain circles, and on several occasions led to him being imprisoned. In 1768 he was exiled to his château at Lacoste. The words sadism and sadist are derived from his name.

Why Radical: sexual libertine

 

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

Emily Dickinson was a prolific American poet, who penned over 1700 poems. However, she had fewer than a dozen poems published during her lifetime, and it was only after her death that she achieved fame. The primary reason for Dickinson’s lack of acclaim was her reclusive habits. By the late 1860s’ she very rarely left the house, and when speaking to visitors, she did so from the other side of her closed front door.

Why Radical: recluse

 

Leo Tolstoy Tolstoy(September 9th 1828 – November 20th 1910)

Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy is widely regarded as being one of the greatest writers of all time. His most famous works are War and Peace and Anna Karenina. It was his time in the army and trips to Europe that led to Tolstoy becoming a Christian Anarchist. Vehemently opposed to state control, he argued that peaceful anarchy could only be brought about by non-violent revolution. His stance is explained in his essay On Anarchy.

Why Radical: political views

 

Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo
 (February 26th 1802 – May 22nd 1885)

Hugo, a successful novelist, poet and dramatist, is considered to be one of his country’s finest writers. His most famous works are The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables. Hugo was an eccentric figure who did all his writing in the nude. The reason being that he believed it helped him avoid procrastination. Unable to leave the house unclothed, he would order his valet to hide his clothes until after he had finished his writing.

Why Radical: eccentric

 

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