GEORGIA

Everybody knows Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining . Hailed as probably one of the greatest horror films of all time, it still stands the test of time even forty years since its release. One aspect of this is its familiarity: it dominates pop culture. Every American comedy has spoofed parts of The Shining for their Halloween episodes. And these parts slot so well into other media because they have been integral to horror for hundreds of years — clichés, if you will. Perhaps the most important cliche used by Kubrick, is Isolation. The Overlook Hotel is cut off from the world. There’s no other staff, it sits at the top of a bleak and lonely mountain, and it is far too large for three people. The hotel can be seen as a twist on the classic Gothic haunted castle. Emptiness and solitude are integral fears for all of us: loneliness goes against the human condition. No wonder this film has such a profound impact on almost all who watch it. Is everyone at risk of losing our minds, if we are just l

Technically I read most of  Tennis Lessons by Susannah Dickey in June, but that post got very crowded and I finished this book on the first day of July so it's heading up this month instead. This is the first novel I've read in second person and I'm really not sure how I feel about it; being responsible for such a gross main character and all the terrible things that happened to her wasn't hugely up my street. But it was well-written and follows a pretty classic coming-of-age structure so it was altogether an enjoyable read. Plus I'm a sucker for contemporary Irish literature so I was never going to rate this too harshly. Excited to see where Dickey goes next because I think this was slightly held-back by debut novel syndrome. Still, it gets 3.5 stars out of 5. Despite having only read one of her books before, I'm a huge Liane Moriarty fan. Crime fiction is my favourite genre and the way she blends it so seamlessly with humour is brilliant. So it's no surpri