A Frank Literary Blog!

Part 5 of my celebration of Ben Okri’s wonderful collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, published in 1997. I love this book, it’s a poetic and beautiful homage to storytelling, writing, creativity and freedom, presented with a positive spirit of human flourishing and connectivity. Quote: "There are two essential joys in storytelling. The joy of the telling, which is to say of the artistic discovery. And the joy of the listening, which is to say of the imaginative identifi

This is a beautiful book, and I cannot recommend it enough, especially if you're new to the 3Ps, and it all sounds a little weird ("Sounds kooky - what are these principles, they keep talking about?" ). Like all of us, Sarah is a beautiful spirit, who for years laboured under the weight of her personal thinking. She's just another normal human being who came across 3Ps conversations and heard something different ... it shifted things for her, and this book tells her story. It

So, I wrote this earlier, in response to a question about exactly what my Three Principles Whitstable Facebook group was about, and thought it was worth sharing! "We're based in Whitstable, Kent in the UK, and we're trying to build a hub here for sharing simple living and well-being through the three principles understanding, as described by Sydney Banks back in the 70s. It's all pretty relaxed, and I totally get it, if it's not your thing. Through groups, here and online, we

My celebration of Ben Okri’s wonderful collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, published in 1997. I love this book, it’s a poetic and beautiful homage to storytelling, writing, creativity and freedom, presented with a positive spirit of human flourishing and connectivity. My focus here is a quote from the essay, The Joys of Storytelling 1. For context I began with these quotes. Quote 1: "Homo fabula: we are storytelling beings." Quote 2: "We are part human, part stories."

Continuing my celebration of Ben Okri’s wonderful collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, published in 1997. Episode 2 here! I love this book, it’s a poetic and beautiful homage to storytelling, writing, creativity and freedom, presented with a positive spirit of human flourishing and connectivity. My focus here is a quote from the essay, The Joys of Storytelling 1. Here's the quote: "Let us extend the heresy. Let's create a little fugue out of it. Our lives are great inv

Continuing my celebration of Ben Okri’s wonderful collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, published in 1997. Episode 3 here! I love this book, it’s a poetic and beautiful homage to storytelling, writing, creativity and freedom, presented with a positive spirit of human flourishing and connectivity. My focus here is a quote from the essay, The Joys of Storytelling 1. Here's the quote: "How many of us try to live with a sense of beauty about the shape of our lives, the same

My celebration of Ben Okri’s wonderful collection of essays, A Way of Being Free, published in 1997. I love this book, it’s a poetic and beautiful homage to storytelling, writing, creativity and freedom, presented with a positive spirit of human flourishing and connectivity. My focus here is a quote from the essay, The Joys of Storytelling 1. For context I began with these quotes. Quote 1: "Homo fabula: we are storytelling beings." Quote 2: "We are part human, part stories."

A little take-away from Don Delillo’s wonderful 1997 novel, Underworld! After a stylistically perfect opening sequence, set in 1951, the book starts in the 1990s and works back through the decades to loop back to the early 50s. One of the book’s main protagonists is Nick Shay, middle aged in the 1990s, whose story unfolds in reverse to his late teens. This short audio focuses on a conversation between 17 year old Nick, and a wise Jesuit priest to whom Nick’s been sent for ref

My short take-away from the 1965 novel, Stoner by John Williams. William Stoner attends university to study agriculture with a view to taking over his parents' farm in the future. But a moment of epiphany when studying Shakespeare sonnet #73 changes the course of Stoner's life in ways he had never imagined. For more ideas and my literature courses: frank-foley.com/literature Here's a link to Shakespeare sonnet #73: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/73.html

My short audio on the opening lines of Hamlet by William Shakespeare! This week’s take-away focuses on how Shakespeare creates tension in the first few lines of the play. Bernardo and Francisco’s confusion over guard-duty roles establishes the tension, and hints at the wider confusion in Denmark in regards threats of attack from Fortinbras. More on my website: frank-foley.com

The vapid emptiness of consumerism. So many things. So much stuff. Appealing to ego. The me me me in ourselves… Infinities of me me me…...

My short audio on the issue of bantering in the novel, The Remains of the Day (1989) by Kazuo Ishiguro. For Stevens bantering is a serious business. With his private self subsumed into his professional role as a butler, everything becomes a function of service - even the spontaneous conversational oil of bantering. Stevens sees it as another task to be carried out, but is bantering a craft that can be learned? For discussion groups and literary study, go to my website: frank-

You can talk, she thought, it’s all right for you. It was Sunday again and they were walking in Richmond Park. “You’re not even...

That mug of tea steamed and I left it on the table awhile to cool. She was gone and that was all there was to it. Three seagulls started...

From the 1934 collection, More Pricks Than Kicks, Samuel Beckett's short story, "Dante and the Lobster" is for me, one of the great stories of the 20th century. My short video is a celebration of this story, with an attempt to do justice to that stunning ending. Read the story here: Dante and the Lobster

The pigeon was nearly dead. It was resting, not moving. A group of schoolgirls had gathered and stood looking down at it. The shoppers...

My short take-away from the 1965 novel, Stoner by John Williams. William Stoner attends university to study agriculture with a view to taking over his parents' farm in the future. But a moment of epiphany when studying Shakespeare sonnet #73 changes the course of Stoner's life in ways he had never imagined. Here's a link to Shakespeare sonnet #73: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/73.html My website: frank-foley.com

Katherine Mansfield was one of the great short story writers of the 20th century, with works such as Bliss, In a German Pension, The...

Taken from the 2003 collection, The Burned Children of America, Jonathan Safran Foer's short story, A Primer for the Punctuation of Heart...

"And that's not all she told me," said Ellie. "No?" he said. "No." "Go on, then," he said. “She said you sit watching the window. She...

My take on the Hemingway short story, "The Battler" from the collection, In Our Time, published in 1925. Young Nick Adams has just been...

One of the great works of world literature, Hamlet by William Shakespeare, is famous for its revenge narrative, its existential angst, and its great soliloquies … yes, including that one … "To be or not to be…" Despite all that good stuff, in this short video I'm going to spend five minutes paying homage to a three word line … the greatest line in Hamlet! Is it usually overlooked when exploring this incredible play? Yes. Am I the only one bonkers enough to spend time talking

"When will you be home?" She looked through the dark to the window then closed her eyes. She yawned and tried to sound tired."Tuesday,...

My new cooker was delivered today, but I had to send it back. I needed a new cooker because the old one had little pictures of flames...