From the earliest times stories have been translated into other languages, adapted into different contexts and rewritten to suit a new place, time and readership. From Chaucer borrowing from the works of the Italian writers Boccaccio and Petrarch for many of his Canterbury Tales to Shakespeare’s plundering of historical records and ancient tales, where stories are concerned there is ‘nothing new under the sun’. Continue reading “A literary and culinary translation”
Tag: David Copperfield
The State of the Nation novel: part one
As well as telling great stories about complex characters, many novels are interested in the social questions and political changes of their time. As in the title of Anthony Trollope’s highly-acclaimed 1875 novel, such writers explore The Way We Live Now. Continue reading “The State of the Nation novel: part one”
The Take-Away in Literature
It was a nice little dinner …being entirely furnished forth from the coffee-house
(Great Expectations, Charles Dickens)
Until I visited Pompeii – during a holiday on the Amalfi coast a few years ago – I had always assumed take-aways were a recent invention. But in the ancient Italian city devastated by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD, the streets were lined with thermopolia, service counters opening onto the street where people could buy food to take away. There were more than 200 of these in Pompeii, and the remains of houses show few traces of kitchen and dining areas, suggesting that cooking at home was unusual. Continue reading “The Take-Away in Literature”
Eating Out
I love eating out almost as much as I love cooking. And living in London as I do, I’m lucky enough to have an amazing array of restaurants within easy reach offering me all types of food. Continue reading “Eating Out”