Is this the world’s finest bookshop?: ‘This is Holland,” a sales assistant tells me, as I scan bookshelves generously stocked with English as well as Dutch works. “We are not so religious. Yes, we have more mosques now - but we have also a lot of empty churches.” And here’s a great thing to do with such atmospheric yet dormant spaces. I’m in central Maastricht, standing in what must be one of the finest bookshops in the world. [Guardian]
The neuroscience delusion: A generation of academic literary critics has now arisen who invoke “neuroscience” to assist them in their work of explication, interpretation and appreciation. Norman Bryson, once a leading exponent of Theory and a social constructivist, has described his Damascene conversion, as a result of which he now places the firing of neurons rather than signifiers at the heart of literary criticism. Evolutionary theory, sociobiology and allied forces are also recruited to the cause, since, we are reminded, the brain functions as it does to support survival. [TLS]
Cairo’s greatest literary secret: The latest Booker prizewinner is tucking into seafood risotto beside the calm waters of the Arabian Gulf, weighing up a sometimes turbulent career. Bahaa Taher was sacked as a radio journalist in Egypt in the 1970s and driven into exile. Yet he says now, “I was freed, not fired.” As the Man Booker prize turns 40 this year, the foundation behind it has backed a new award, for the best novel of the year written in Arabic. [Guardian]
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