Latest Stories
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Birthday of ‘the world’s greatest love story’
Two hundred years ago next week, one of the greatest of all English novels was published. What is it about ‘Pride and Prejudice’ that still strikes so deep a chord today?
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Year in Review: arts achievements of 2012
The giants of modern culture have been quiet this year. But away from the commercial mainstream, there was a lot going on. We look back at the big hits of a year in the arts.
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Life of Pi brings ‘unfilmable’ novel to the screen
Acclaimed director Ang Lee’s adaptation of ‘Life of Pi’ is set to take cinemas by storm next week. How did the book’s fantastical scenes get adapted to the big screen?
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‘Children’s fairy tale’ becomes cinema epic
When Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ was published, it was reviewed as a bedtime story. This week it hits the big screen as a three-part drama aimed at adults. Has popular culture become too childish?
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Fans in raptures over dramatic ‘Twilight’ finale
The final ‘Twilight’ film has taken $341 million in its opening weekend, and left teenage audiences gushing with praise. What made this vampire love story such a sensation?
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‘Omnishambles’ judged 2012’s defining word
The Word of the Year 2012 has been announced. In the UK, it is ‘Omnishambles’; Americans have picked ‘Gif’ as the top term. But do these neologisms make language richer?
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Physics on stage in ‘multiverse’ love story
A hit play seeks to explain cutting edge quantum physics through a love story with infinite variations. Audiences love it. What happens when science meets the arts?
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Global war: documenting bloodshed
Today’s technology means communicating the reality of war is easier than ever before. Yet millions still turn poetry and art to make sense of conflict. Why the fascination?
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Landmark award for blood-soaked Tudor saga
Hilary Mantel is the first Brit and the first woman to win the Booker Prize twice. But is it the extraordinary characters at the court of King Henry VIII that make her books so popular?
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Driving in decline in the Western world
In countries all over the rich world, people are turning away from their cars – and young people are using them less than anyone. Have we come to the end of the open road?
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Europe clinches Ryder Cup in dramatic comeback
In one of the greatest reversals of fortune in modern sport, Europe’s golfing team has won the Ryder Cup. Will this thrilling final establish the sporting status of golf?
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Harry Potter author launches book for adults
J.K. Rowling’s ‘The Casual Vacancy’ was released this week. It is the first adult’s book from the celebrated children’s author. Has she succeeded in crossing the divide?
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Memoir reveals the secrets of Rushdie fatwa
In 1989, a Muslim leader condemned writer Salman Rushdie to death for his ‘blasphemous’ novel ‘The Satanic Verses’. Now, Rushdie’s new memoir makes the case for freedom of speech.
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Internet celebrates thirty years of emoticons
In 1982 an academic logged onto a university forum and posted a fateful innovation: the smiley. Three decades later, emoticons are everywhere – but they are not always welcome.
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Booker shortlist prizes literary establishment
The shortlist for the Man Booker Prize was announced yesterday. But the year’s best novels share the literary world with a growing mass of self-published books.