Devils and Angels

The Booker Prize shortlist was announced yesterday: you can find out which novels made the cut here. On 9th November, the Kayton Library is hosting our annual 'Predict the Booker' event. Six Pauline readers will be debating the merits of the books on the shortlist, and trying to win the audience vote for their selected nominee: will we agree with the Booker judges? We have a track record of 100% failure so far - but this year could be different!! You can read the report of last year's event here.  

Appropriately enough, today's post focusses on creative writing, featuring a short piece of work in progress by Harper Katz, and an extract from Alex Twinch's historical novel, Heresy of Angels, which formed the basis of his EPQ.  If you're interested in reading more Pauline creativity, here's a link to the  digital version of the most recent edition of Pandemonium, the SPS creative writing magazine. 

Leaver's Post

Surely it's too early in the term for a leaver's post? Sadly, it's not: this week we say goodbye to Mr Staniforth, our Theatre Technical Manager, who has been overseeing Pauline productions with patience and calm good humour for the last fifteen years. Mr Staniforth has also been a regular contributor to the blog, and his memorably eclectic suggestions for our annual Book of the Year posts have steered us well off the beaten path, towards many new, intriguing and excellent books and writers. We are deeply honoured that he took the time to answer the blog's questions before he departs.  

What were you reading when you were a teenager?

As an early teen I was saving pocket money to buy second hand copies of Alistair MacLean and Jack Higgins, action adventure books. These haven’t lasted, although I am not immune to the pleasure of the airport novel. 

I have kept The Way to Dusty Death and The Golden Gate on my shelves as an adult, as well as a signed copy of one of Jack Higgins’s books. I wrote to him to settle an argument I was having with a friend, who insisted that Frederick Forsyth and he were the same author writing under different names. They are not, and I have a signed letter from Mr Higgins (calling me David, curse my handwriting!) confirming such. 

Jack Higgins and Frederick Forsyth. Not the same writer.  

My mother – who is an English teacher – put Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen in my hands, but while I read them, they never really stuck.  

Book of the Week

If you love books, there's a lot going on this term that you might want to get involved in. This week's meeting of the Senior English Society takes place today at 12.55 in E1, with Mr Hager, and the Milton Society, a new Junior English Society, run by Mr Gardner also has its first meeting this lunchtime, at 12.55 in E4. Mr Gardner writes: 

'The Milton Society is a society open to anyone in the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Forms who is interested in literature. We will meet weekly in E4 (Wednesdays, 12.55-1.30pm) to explore great works of literature across the ages. This term, we are going to focus on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. We will read extracts from the play and watch videos of performances, and there will also be the chance to join a school trip to the National Theatre later in the term. You will also have the chance to watch the SPS Drama production in December! Come along to discover what Hamlet is so upset about, and decide for yourself whether this play deserves its reputation as one of the greatest things ever written.'

Dr Pryce's creative writing society continues on Monday lunchtimes, and the Kayton Library will be hosting its annual 'Predict the Booker Prize' event later in the term (more about both of these in a later post). In the meantime, here's today's Book of the Week:

Indignation by Philip Roth

Recommended by Rohan Pillai

Indignation, written in the 21st century, is set in 1951, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, and is narrated in the first person by a nineteen year old named Marcus Messner, who details his experiences at a college in Ohio. The plot revolves around how small actions can have severe consequences, especially in an environment where the main character’s views are in contrast with the rest of society, as well as the effect of the past on current events.

Book of the Week

Welcome back! We hope you've all had a fabulous summer, with plenty of time to relax (and read). It's the start of a new term, and here to kick off this year's posts is our first book of the week.  

Haven by Emma Donoghue

Recommended by Miss McLaren

Holidays can be a kind of haven, and small islands are often popular destinations. No wonder - they can offer an escape from everyday routines, and a different way of being, surrounded by the beauty and tranquillity of apparently unspoiled nature, places where you can relax and unwind, freed from the pressures of the outside world. The haven at the centre of Emma Donoghue's novel is very, very different ...