TRUMAN CAPOTE'S BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on September 30, 1924, Truman Capote went on to become a professional writer, making waves with his debut novel Other Voices, Other Rooms. His novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1958) was adapted into a popular film, and his book In Cold Blood (1966) was a pioneering form of narrative non-fiction. Capote spent his later years pursuing celebrity and struggled with drug addiction. He died in 1984 in Los Angeles, California.  Read here.

DO vs. MAKE

Do and Make are two verbs which frequently confuse students. In order to learn about the difference between them and when to use each one,  make sure that you read here and do some exercises here!

https://www.grammarism.com/make-do-exercises/

http://www.learnenglish- online.com/domaketest.html

https://english-grammar.at/make-and-do.htm

ITALO CALVINO

On September 19 1985 Italo Calvino died at his home in Tuscany of a cerebral haemorrhage. Many Italians felt they had lost a literary friend; messages of condolence came from the Vatican and the President of the Republic, while Umberto Eco’s front-page obituary in the Corriere della Sera almost overshadowed news of the Mexican earthquake. In the same paper, John Updike lamented that “world literature had been deprived of its most refined and civil voice”. Reportedly, Italo Calvino had planned to write 14 more books; he was only 62. Read here.

Here you can read the translation of a famous article in which Italo Calvino explains why it is important to read the classics. 

During the last quarter century Italo Calvino has advanced far beyond his American and English contemporaries. As they continue to look for the place where the spiders make their nests, Calvino has not only found this special place but learned how himself to make fantastic webs of prose to which all things adhere.

Gore Vidal

WILLIAM HOGARTH AND HIS TIMES

William Hogarth's Gin Lane is one of his best-known works of engraved art. Along with its companion, Beer Street, Gin Lane addressed a serious problem in mid-18th century England - the abuse of spirits (= strong alcoholic drinks such as whiskey and gin) by the working classes and the poor. In the right  foreground a skeletal ballad singer has just died. His left hand still clutches his bottle. A drunken woman is taking her snuff while her neglected  baby falls to his death in front of the Gin Royal Tavern. Behind the wall a man and his dog fight for a bone. Further back, a man pawns his coat and saw and his wife her kitchen tools for some more drinks. The pawn broker is properly named, "S. Gripe" (= complaint, affliction). Both his comfortable home and rich clothes stand in contrast to the devastation around. Only pawn brokers, coffin makers and distillers profit in such a society.  Continue to read here.

TYPES OF NOVELS

The novel is an extended work of prose fiction. It derives from the Italian novella (“little new thing”), which was a short piece of prose. The novel has become a popular form of fiction since the early 18th century, even if prose narratives were written long before then. The term refers to a prose narrative about characters and their actions in what is recognisably everyday life. This differentiates it from its immediate predecessor, the romance, which describes unrealistic adventures of supernatural heroes. The novel has developed various sub-genres. Read here and here.

You can also read this post about the various genres of fiction.

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!

REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

SIEGFRIED SASSOON

Born on 8 September 1886, Siegfried Sassoon was an English writer and poet, WW I veteran. Read here and here.

He is best remembered for his angry and compassionate poems of the First World War, which brought him public and critical praise. Refusing the sentimentality and patriotism of other war poets, he wrote of the horror and cruelty of trench warfare and scornfully ridiculed generals, politicians, and churchmen for their incompetence and blind support of the war. 

MY SUNDAY MOVIE - MANSFIELD PARK

LONDON'S BIG BEN WILL BE SILENT UNTIL 2021

The iconic bell will only ring for special occasions over the next four years, such as New Year's Eve and Remembrance Sunday.  Read here and here.

SEPTEMBER