Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis. ‘After a night of troubling dreams, Gregor Samsa awoke to find himself transformed into a giant beetle’. With one of the most famous first sentences in literature, Kafka’s eerie masterpiece grabs you and doesn’t let go. But what is this story getting at? Is it an allegory, a fable, or simply a […]

Franz Kafka, Metamorphosis. ‘After a night of troubling dreams, Gregor Samsa awoke to find himself transformed into a giant beetle’. With one of the most famous first sentences in literature, Kafka’s eerie masterpiece grabs you and doesn’t let go. But what is this story getting at? Is it an allegory, a fable, or simply a […]

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness. ‘The horror, the horror…’ Conrad was one of the great novelists of the earlier twentieth century, and this short masterpiece is an examination of colonialism told in his typical rich, mesmerising style. Raw Reading is a new study group. Each month, we will read a short classic work of about […]

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness. ‘The horror, the horror…’ Conrad was one of the great novelists of the earlier twentieth century, and this short masterpiece is an examination of colonialism told in his typical rich, mesmerising style. Raw Reading is a new study group. Each month, we will read a short classic work of about […]

Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop.  Florence Green decides to open a bookshop in a small town. What could be more charming? But not everyone wants a bookshop or approves of the books she wants to sell. A timeless gem describing what happens when someone shakes up a community set in its ways. A comic and moving […]

Penelope Fitzgerald, The Bookshop.  Florence Green decides to open a bookshop in a small town. What could be more charming? But not everyone wants a bookshop or approves of the books she wants to sell. A timeless gem describing what happens when someone shakes up a community set in its ways. A comic and moving […]

Bohumil Hrabal, Closely Watched Trains. Miloš Hama is a young railroad apprentice in wartime Czechoslovakia. But he has other things on his mind besides the war - losing his virginity, gossip at the railway station…  A touching and humorous portrait of a sympathetic character by a Czech master. Raw Reading is a new study group. […]

Bohumil Hrabal, Closely Watched Trains. Miloš Hama is a young railroad apprentice in wartime Czechoslovakia. But he has other things on his mind besides the war - losing his virginity, gossip at the railway station…  A touching and humorous portrait of a sympathetic character by a Czech master. Raw Reading is a new study group. […]

Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These. Keegan’s novella about the infamous Magdalen laundries and the capacity of an ordinary person for heroism is becoming a Christmas classic alongside Dickens. In a short space, we are taken to a vividly memorable world where we witness the heights and depths of human nature. Raw Reading is a […]

Claire Keegan, Small Things Like These. Keegan’s novella about the infamous Magdalen laundries and the capacity of an ordinary person for heroism is becoming a Christmas classic alongside Dickens. In a short space, we are taken to a vividly memorable world where we witness the heights and depths of human nature. Raw Reading is a […]