The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis is a guidebook to good living. In this episode of Hardcore Literature (Season 3, Episode 5), we’re talking about Aristotle, habits, entrepreneurship, law of attraction, religion/Christianity, how to read the Bible, and personal deep spiritual transformation. Check out the timestamps below the player to jump to any topic […]
How to Prepare for the Oxford and Cambridge English Interview
The Oxbridge English Interview Masterclass is now open for enrolment. It’s the best course anywhere on interview preparation for Oxford and Cambridge University, particularly if you’re studying English Language and Literature (indeed, any of the Humanities). You’ll learn how to stand out from the crowd. What to do, what not to do, and some very […]
How to Possess a Poem by Memory
Memorisation is a lost art. Particularly when it comes to poetry. People hardly even read poetry anymore, let alone memorise poems. But memorising a poem is possessing a poem, and that’s where most of a poem’s value comes in. Here’s how to memorise a poem
Recommended Books for my Teenage Daughter
I went into a bookstore before lockdown and overheard a father asking the worker what books he would recommend for his teenage daughter. They walked past the Austen. Past the Homer. Past the Shakespeare. And straight to the colourful YA section. Had my British sensibilities not intervened, I might have recommended a few different books… […]
The 5 Best Book Podcasts for Real Readers
The reason I started the Hardcore Literature Book Review Podcast was because I couldn’t find many book review podcasts I loved. I searched and searched, looking through all of those “Best Book Review Podcasts” and “Top 10 Book Podcasts” articles. The same names kept coming up. The same book review podcasts that I had tried […]
What the Oxford English Interview is like (my story)
A decade has passed since my Oxford English interview. I’ve since successfully coached hundreds of students through the entire Oxford and Cambridge entrance process. So, in anticipation of the forthcoming ‘How to Pass the Oxford and Cambridge University Interview’ Video Masterclass, I reminisced a little about that thoroughly nerve-wracking experience. Enrolment is open for the […]
My Favourite Shakespearean Sonnet (Video)
Did you know Shakespeare started writing the sonnets during Elizabethan lockdown? All the theatres were shut because of plague. So what’s a playwright to do? Well, he penned Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, and got started on his sonnet sequence. I say “get started” because Shakespeare wrote the 154 sonnets over 2 decades. […]
A Platter of Poetry Readings
A poetry reading for every day of lockdown. And here’s the first week. Thank you to those who recommended their favourite poems. I said I’d read your favourite poems, and here they are. So keep them coming! It was a great first week, with poetry from Thomas Nashe, Wallace Stevens, William Shakespeare, Ernest Dowson, Alfred […]
Shakespeare’s King Richard III – Hardcore Literature Podcast
King Richard III is a pivotal, bold stride towards the creation of the Shakespearean myth, the creation of character and the human. Literature was never the same again after Richard III. We go deep into the history, politics, language, and themes of Richard III, chartering Shakespeare’s influence and the time in which he was writing – a […]
Bookshelf Tour
A bookshelf will tell you everything you need to know about a person. As Alan Bennet said, “A personality is stamped on a library just as a shoe is shaped by the foot.” Seeing as I write a lot about books and reading, I thought I’d give you my first mini bookshelf tour. I’ve recently […]
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