Author: Fictitiously Yours, Gail

"'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar. "This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied rather shyly, 'I--I hardly know, Sir, just at present--at least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then.'" -Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll It takes some effort to pin down who in entirety we actually are because we are constantly changing--not perhaps several times a day like Alice, but I can see how different I was in my past compared to now. One thing that hasn't changed in years and probably never will is that I am a writer and bibliophile. Throughout stressful changes and evolutions of my mind, I hash it out in writing so that life carries on for me to read another book.

“a rather nice excuse”

Fictitiously Yours, Gail2 Comments

170 years ago today, 16 October 1854, Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin. He became a popular playwright during his life, also writing many short stories, some poetry, and perhaps most famously today, the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. “Let us go to the theatre to-night,” said Lord Henry. “There is sure to be… Continue reading “a rather nice excuse”

A Poe Compendium for the 175th Anniversary of His Death

Fictitiously Yours, Gail5 Comments

Poe has quickly become one of my favourite authors (if not the favourite judging by how often I reference him or his writings) and as such must have an extra special dedicated post for once rather than simply popping up throughout everything else I write like a macabre jack-in-the-box.

Dear Schober

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Dear Schober, I hear you are not happy and have to sleep off the frenzies of your despair... Although this makes me extraordinarily sad, it does not surprise me in the least, since such is the lot of almost every sensible person in this miserable world.Franz Schubert, 21 September 1824 letter to Franz von Schober… Continue reading Dear Schober

“anyhow depressed and only half-awake”

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I'm not by any means a morning person, but I can sympathize with Richard Hannay here, the narrator of this Buchan tale: if you must ruin part of the day with unpleasantness, why not morning which is already a grim prospect to face anyway? Certainly, I've always thought I'm much more motivated and awake to… Continue reading “anyhow depressed and only half-awake”

“set down in some old book”

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There's nothing like reading to disabuse one of the notion that they are unique, alone in the universe, an anomaly unto themselves. Yet, at times, in the insulation of our own consciousness, we are inclined to imagine ourselves the sole inhabitants of the universe. In a way, we are the only inhabitor of our own… Continue reading “set down in some old book”

Strange and Hideous Dreams: The War of the Worlds Review

Fictitiously Yours, Gail7 Comments

I don't think there is anyone quite like H.G. Wells, who can so convincingly write about fantastical impossibilities in a manner that is not only credulous but also firmly rooted in a comprehensive grasp of known science, society, and human nature. Maybe Jules Verne comes close but seems at times out of touch with human… Continue reading Strange and Hideous Dreams: The War of the Worlds Review

“to say what one thinks”

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It's Aldous Huxley's 130th birthday today. He was born July 26, 1894 in England and became a respected writer and philosopher, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature multiple times throughout his life. Huxley's writing has insight into human nature and its social dynamics and development, from the famous Brave New World to his seemingly… Continue reading “to say what one thinks”