In the yore days of 2004, no book gathered the ire of Portuguese high-schoolers quite like Vergílio Ferreira’s Aparição [Apparition]. It was so phenomenally hated, it managed to surpass even the students’ legendary annoyance with the excellent, though in fairness rather lengthy description of the Ramalhete mansion with which Eça opens The Maias. Eça’s sentences, […]
Of course it is. So there, in your face, Betteridge’s law of headlines: This piece starts with a title question that can absolutely, confidently be answered with a yes. I guess Betteridge didn’t have a lot of experience with rage bait. The thing with Christopher Nolan is the man can definitely direct. Even his most […]
Every once in a while, when I have enough time, I still return to the realms of academic work. It’s a great opportunity for keeping up-to-date with the latest research in certain fields of literary studies, not to mention it allows me to apply knowledge in more theoretical ways. So I quite enjoyed the opportunity […]
Plenty of reading recommendations appear in newspapers and magazines around this time, generally accompanied by some kind of drawing that transforms a book into a swimming pool (really, let designers come up with a few other options). There’s the lists by CEOs, and by presidents, celebrities, critics, then the thematic lists and the meant-for-the-kids ones, […]
I turned 37 last August, and then celebrated 20 years as a professional writer in September. Prime excuse for nostalgia or looking backs. And in fact, for a week or two, I toyed with the idea of writing a retrospective, or perhaps sharing some lessons learned. But it felt too awkward, actually unnecessary; not to […]