Benjamin McEvoy

Essays on writing, reading, and life

What Is Sublime? A Super Quick Introduction in the Context of Romantic Poetry

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We hear it all the time. “That picture’s sublime.” “That doughnut was freaking sublime.” “Darling, wasn’t that orgy simply sublime?” But what does “sublime” really mean? Is it really just an adjective for “very good?” Well, not really… Let’s take a quick look at what sublime really means in the context of Romantic poetry. And […]

Is reading manga a good way to improve your Japanese?

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Ignore the people who say you can’t improve your Japanese by reading manga. As a level 4 otaku and someone who has spent most of the year blasting through manga at an alarming rate and seeing my Japanese ability soar, I’ve come to the conclusion that… Manga is an awesome way to improve your Japanese.  […]

Halloween Horror Comic Book Haul 2016

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I must be sick. Halloween is my favourite time of year. There’s nothing better than carving pumpkins, squirting fake blood all over the place, and crawling under the covers to scare yourself silly with a stack of terrifying stories.  This year, I’ve focused mainly on reading horror comic books for Halloween. It’s a realm I […]

4 Thoughts On Bob Dylan Winning The Nobel Prize For Literature

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Hemingway won it in ’54. Churchill the year before that. Camus won it in ’57. Beckett in ’69, Neruda in ’71, Golding in ’83, and Morrison in ’93. Pinter in ’05, Pamuk in ’06, and Lessing in ’07. Munro won it in 2013. Modiano in 2014. Alexievich in 2015. And now Bob Dylan has won […]

6 Booktubers Every Bookworm Should Follow

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Booktube, like any other niche on the internet, follows the 80/20 principle. 80% of it is annoying, obnoxious, and boring. But 20% of it shows nuance, intellect, flavour, and personality. In the interests of cutting through the noise and sharing the book-related YouTube channels that deserve the most attention, here are 6 Booktubers that every bookworm should follow. […]

10 Ways To Celebrate National Poetry Day 2016 (October 6th)

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National Poetry Day is here. It’s a day to indulge our love of the written and spoken word. It’s a day to celebrate everything that poetry can do. All over the UK, people will be discovering poetry for the first time, revisiting poetry after years of appreciation, writing poetry, discussing poetry, and living poetry. But […]

The Best Books and Audiobooks on Scribd

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At the dawn of the e-reader era, bookworms the world over lamented the death of traditional print publishing. Many, myself included, vowed that they would never make the shift from paper to Paperwhite. But all it took for me to quickly change my mind was a glorious app called Scribd. Bibliophiles aren’t looking at the death […]