Book Review — We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (2013) by Karen Joy Fowler

February 1, 2015November 29, 2015 ~ Ashley Thomson ~ 18 Comments

This review is part of the No Man's Land Reading Project, an attempt to right a gendered imbalance in my reading and a general imbalance in the availability of reviews (by men, especially) of works by female authors. The first thing I said when I finished Karen Joy Fowler’s immensely popular, critically acclaimed, Man Booker … Continue reading Book Review — We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (2013) by Karen Joy Fowler

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), on life’s least possible dimensions ::

September 5, 2014July 22, 2015 ~ Ashley Thomson ~ 2 Comments

... that moment of evening when the light and the darkness are so evenly balanced that the constraint of day and the suspense of night neutralise each other, leaving absolute mental liberty. It is then that the plight of being alive becomes attenuated to its least possible dimensions.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), on Other Worlds ::

April 22, 2014May 14, 2014 ~ Ashley Thomson ~ Leave a comment

... what grows lives and is alive only through the feeling of its contact with other mysterious worlds. If that feeling grows weak or is destroyed in you, the heavenly growth will die away in you. Then you will be indifferent to life and even grow to hate it. That's what I believe. - Father … Continue reading Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), on Other Worlds ::

Why swim with elephants? ::

April 11, 2014 ~ Ashley Thomson ~ Leave a comment

I've had three blogs prior to this one. None of them exist today. I designed them for specific purposes and named them accordingly. That was their death knell. When I became disinterested in that purpose or felt constrained, the blog went to the glue factory. So when I started 'Swimming with Elephants', my chief desire … Continue reading Why swim with elephants? ::

One hundred words on spelling lessons ::

April 26, 2012April 26, 2012 ~ Ashley Thomson ~ Leave a comment

The boy sat in the gym teacher’s office listening to the rain. Know why you’re here? Mr Gempson was bald. His protruding ears had cauliflower cartilage and a vein stood out on his forehead. I wrote a swear word on my homework, replied the boy. On purpose? Sort of. I knew I wrote it but … Continue reading One hundred words on spelling lessons ::

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) ::

April 25, 2012May 14, 2014 ~ Ashley Thomson ~ 2 Comments

Never think that war, no matter how necessary or justifiable, is not a crime.