The 4thcoming series is all about introducing you to our authors. If you’ve ever wondered what your favourite 4th Estate author is currently reading, listening to or what their writing ritual is, then we’ve got all those answers for you.
‘…all against the grave and tragic rhythm of the earth in its most timeless phase: the sea.’ William Faulkner
Authors tend to get serious when they portray the world’s oceans. They address the sea in reverent tones. It’s a mood inspired, at least in part, by the sea’s inhuman ancientness. The ocean reveals the brevity of humanity’s time on earth; that we’re just one of many short-lived species that primordially flopped out from its depths onto land. Yet perversely, while looking out to sea thinking of death, people have also marked it as a fine place to holiday. In light of this month’s vacation-orientated ‘Out of the Office’ theme, here are 4 great works on the sea:
This month our blog theme is ‘Love in All its Forms’ – we’re celebrating the diverse ways in which love is depicted in literature – so we asked our authors to tell us who their dream fictional date would be. Philip Hoare unhesitatingly chose Ishmael, the able-bodied seaman who narrates Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’…
Here are the five online things that are essential reading, watching and sharing this week. Chosen for you by us at 4th Estate.