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Category Archives: Books
The Decline of the English Department
This is an interesting account of how the university English Department drifted from its original purpose, which is the study and assessment of the Canon of English literature, but there is no doom prediction in the survey. Indeed, Adam Walker senses a renewed interest in reading and literature, but outside the university.
Productions of Pride and Prejudice
The video below presents an interesting discussion about Netflix’s coming version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as compared with previous productions. I made the following comment about the previous productions:
The 1980 version with Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul lacks the production values of the 1995 and 2005 versions, but it is more faithful to the story and the characters. Colin Firth may appeal to the female audience, but he does not play Jane Austen’s Darcy. Though without the same appeal, David Rintoul is closer to Austen’s Darcy. I invite people to actually read Jane Austen’s descriptions of Darcy and the dialogue he has in the story. The same holds for Elizabeth Garvie’s Lizzie, who maintains her sweetness and refinement while tearing Darcy apart in the drawing room scenes. Jennifer Ehle’s Lizzie is too vulgar to be an authentic Jane Austen Lizzie. As for Mr Collins, the two actors who played the part in the later versions made a farce of the character, particularly David Bamber in the 1995 version. Mr Collins was a pompous fool, but, as Charlotte Lucas pointed out, he was educated with a respectable position in society. He didn’t eat like a grunting pig. I regularly watch the 1980 version and enjoy it each time.
An Alternative description of The Counterculture Goddess
This description was sent to me by someone offering author services. I suspect it is AI-generated. It is very good – spot on.
The Counterculture Goddess is a layered, character-driven historical novel set against the cultural and spiritual upheaval of 1960s Europe, where shifting beliefs, personal rivalries, and political tensions collide inside a rapidly transforming society.
Through Anneke and Nienke’s intertwined relationships, the story explores love, jealousy, ideology, and identity within the broader backdrop of post–Second Vatican Council Europe and the rise of countercultural and spiritual movements. The result is a narrative that blends personal drama with historical and philosophical transformation in a very textured way.
As part of an ongoing Sixties Series, the book also benefits from a larger narrative framework that tracks the transition from postwar innocence into cultural revolution and moral disruption across multiple interconnected stories.
With 5 books in the series already established, there is clear long-form storytelling momentum here, but also a natural challenge many multi-book historical series face — sustained discoverability between releases and consistent visibility across evolving story arcs.
The demise of university English literature departments
A Boomer’s life
I made this slideshow to celebrate the fortieth wedding anniversary of my older brother, Michael, and his wife, Wendy, in 2006. It was a great hit with the family at the time. It had terrific memories. But now, 20 years later, when Michael and Wendy are in their eighties, and I’m eighty next July, the slideshow has so much more significance. It now shows a way of life and its ambience that has almost disappeared. It’s still a lot of fun, but now it is tinged with nostalgia for a time in Australia that is drifting into the nation’s forgetfulness.
We were in our mid-twenties when the 1960s Revolution hit in Sydney. In this slideshow, one can see the background of the novels in my Sixties Series, especially in Books 3, 4, 5, and 6 to come.
An Edmund Burke title coming
My latest novel in the Sixties Series, LOVE IN THE COUNTERCULTURE, is ready for release on 29 June 2026. It’s all been put to bed.
I have decided to pause writing the next title, DREAMS TO NIGHTMARE, until I have attended to a long-overdue task of bundling revised and updated versions of the postings, essays, and presentations on Edmund Burke’s political philosophy that I have given at meetings and conferences over the last ten or so years. More details, plus a table of contents, will be provided in due course.
Anticipated release is December 2026
Where is self-publishing going?
This is a very good look at the recent developments in self-publishing and suggestions of how to manage them. The YouTuber is a successful self-publisher.
Something weird is happening in Self-Publishing.
Another view about the quality of present-day books
This is a thoughtful analysis of the quality of present-day books. Significant is the number of books being published every year. This last year, according to Jared Henderson, 4 million books were published. This is an insane number compared with ten years ago. The reason for the number is the ease with which anyone can publish a book, a trend made worse over the last two years by AI. Naturally, there’s a lot of rubbish among that number. Indeed, Henderson claims the vast majority are slop. However, among that bubbling slop that good booksellers can clear away, he asserts good-quality books can be found. I’m happy to have my books examined in this regard.
New cover for The Counterculture Goddess
I have had covers for two titles in my Sixties Series professionally designed. One is for Love in the Counterculture, which is due for release at the end of June 2026. The second is for The Counterculture Goddess, published in 2025 and revised in 2026, which I have just received.
I have also provided a character and other information sheet for readers. My plan is to provide a similar information sheet for all my fiction titles.