Culture

Book reviews Comments Culture In Focus

The human and the nonhuman

Rebecca Tamás begins her book “Strangers” by recalling the 17th century Levellers and their proto-communist calls for radical democracy and common ownership of land.   Sean Sheehan   She is drawn to their prescient awareness of the need to connect political awareness with ecological concerns, the human and the nonhuman. […]

Book reviews Comments Culture In Focus

From oddity to commodity

The depth of James Joyce’s writing provides source material for academics and culture vultures everywhere but while the number of books about Joyce are of oceanic proportions those worth staying on a bookshelf are disproportionately small by comparison.   Sean Sheehan   Andrew Gibson’s “Joyce’s revenge” and “The strong spirit” […]

Book reviews Comments Culture In Focus

News that stays news

All of China Mieville’s fiction is worth reading for its political, philosophical and cultural resonances, “the City & The City” and “Embassytown” are extraordinary.   Sean Sheehan   He is also a compelling writer of non-fiction and “A spectre, haunting”, a prequel of sorts to his earlier “October”, is a […]