Book of the Week

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Recommended by George Singellos

Frankenstein is at heart a story that tackles many moral and philosophical ideas as well as expressing its take on those issues through the revelations of Victor Frankenstein, from his desire to his disgust, the reaction of the townspeople and the consequences they have for his creation. 

On the surface, the novel is a dramatic and thrilling horror story, filled with tragedy, murder and despair, all of which make it both exciting and chilling when reading.

Director's Notes on My Fair Lady

Mr Anthony

Gabriel Pascal, the film producer originally responsible for adapting Pygmalion for the screen, first met George Bernard Shaw in the nude.

Sometime in the 1920s, Pascal was swimming without trunks on the French Riviera when he saw a skinny, naked man with a long white beard holding on to a buoy. Shaw commented on the golden brown of Pascal’s buttocks and Pascal asked, as a struggling film producer, if he might produce an adaptation of one of Shaw’s plays. Shaw replied that he would only grant such a favour if one day Pascal were 'utterly broke'.

Book of the Week

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Recommended by Henry Drewitt-Jones

Before I consider this book, I feel it is my duty to tell you that I am a 14 year old.  I am far from emotional maturity and yet this novel brought me to tears.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a stunningly written portrayal of the true story of Lale Sokolov.  It follows his path into Auschwitz and eventually, luckily for him, out of it.  Lale's story is a near impossible one to summarise - in my copy it took the author 267 pages to explain it fully: to explain it, I must delve into the character of the protagonist, which Heather Morris does so brilliantly.  Lale's character takes the best-seller through a tale of heroism and strength, horrifying deeds and pain, but also survival: it really shows you an individual war. 

Book of the Week

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Recommended by Alexandre Vecchioli

Authored by Niccolo Machiavelli at a time of significant political upheaval, The Prince sought to address the political and ethical dilemmas faced by Renaissance rulers.

Machiavelli saw a need to advise leaders of Italian states, by mean of a political treatise, in the effective application of political policy and in the process delivered one of the most significant milestones in the history of political thought.  In pre-Machiavellian thought, ethics and politics converge.  Plato's Republic, for instance, propounded the view that these two ideals were inseparably connected.  The separation of these two subjects created a less philosophical and more pragmatic approach to political science.