Oeno Biblio

A Prayer for Owen Meany

The first line of John Irving’s ’A prayer for Owen Meany’is a memorable one. We learn that the narrator, John Wheelwright, is a Christian because of his friend with a ’wrecked’voice, and that this boy was tiny, and caused the death of John’s mother. This, of course, is Owen Meany, and as far as introductions go, this sums him up pretty well!
The eccentricity of Owen’s voice, described by John as ’wreckéd’is portrayed well by Irving, who uses the unusual More

Infertility Book Review

An excellent reference book for anyone experiencing primary or secondary infertility is by Anna Furse. Anna herself has been through the ordeal of infertility and took part in a 1995 BBC documentary whilst she under went DNA Tests and IVF treatments in the UK, which resulted in a much welcomed baby girl.

Anna is not new to writing or teaching. Her career has included being a theatre director, award - winning playwright and Senior lecturer in performing arts at the More

Blossom Hill Signature Blend Red

I am a lover of red wine. Having lived in Italy for a year, I have come to adore a glass of red wine on practically any occasion possible (and am not ashamed to admit that I have started picking online recipes to compliment the wine instead of the other way round). In fact, as Italy taught me, it doesn’t even have to be an occasion as such, a glass shared over gossip and catch ups with friends is most More

Divine Comedy

Medieval Literature is one of the peaks in the literature created by mankind. Even without being familiar with the universal truths that we nowadays find pretty obvious, people and especially writers from those times were used to mixing religion, science, believes and culture in one peice of literature thus creating masterpieces that we now consider not only a fascinating reading, but a good source of literature as well. It is something that I believe secondary teaching jobs should place more More

The New Home of Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir. The name conjures up the image of a barge cruising down the Canal de Bourgogne. Onboard, creamy cheese is being smeared across baguettes while waiting for the coq-au-vin to be served, the gently wafting scent of chicken recipes coming from a distant kitchen below decks. A glass of Chambolle-Musigny is swirled and savoured. Then replaced with a Central Otago Pinot Noir.

France may be the romantic heart of this fine wine but it’s the New World that is More

‘Ticktock’ By Dean Koontz - Book Review.

Dean Koontz is one of my all time favourite writers. For me, he just manages to tick so many different boxes. His writing is poetic with being pretentious, his characters are always colourful and his descriptive skills are fantastic. Not many writers can make a car chase feel as fast-paced and gripping as one you see in a movie, but Mr. Koontz can!

I have now read virtually all of his novels, but one of my absolute favourites must be More

An Ovid For Our Times

With the best sellers lists being dominated by dubious celebrity biographies and anguished ’real life'stories of no literary merit, then we need, more than ever, the classics. I’m not just talking about the modern classics by people such as Dickens, the Brontes and Dostoevsky to name but a few, although of course these all have their merit. No, I’m talking much further back in time to the very earliest classics of western literature. Ah, ’Homer'I hear you cry, well, actually More

Best Wine To Have With Turkey

When you want to choose the best wine to have with turkey, your decision will be influenced to a large extent by the kind of wine you love. For instance, there are people who love red wines, others love dry whites while still others prefer sweetened wines and as such, identifying which one you prefer can go a long way towards aiding you in choosing the most suitable one for turkey. If you are the kind of person who prefers More

The Road

I didn’t watch the film The Road when it came out and I still haven’t seen it yet. I’d have bought it at a popular high street music / film shop the other day, only at 15 pounds it couldn’t compete with The Shining. It was right next to it and cost only 3.

I have read The Road as a book, though. And, as much as I wanted to see the film, please be warned: it was not More

The Road

I didn’t watch the film The Road when it came out and I still haven’t seen it yet. I’d have bought it at a popular high street music / film shop the other day, only at 15 pounds it couldn’t compete with The Shining. It was right next to it and cost only 3.

I have read The Road as a book, though. And, as much as I wanted to see the film, please be warned: it was not More