Happiness without freedom, or freedom without happiness

This year is the centenary of Russian writer Yevgeny Zamyatin’s dystopian novel We – a major influence on George Orwell’s dystopia 1984 and a seminal work of science fiction.

Come and get it

A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption and reckless abandon, Kiley Reid’s second novel “Come and Get It” is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior.

In praise of Walter Benjamin

Though he died by his own hand over 80 years ago, the works of German-Jewish intellectual Walter Benjamin still offer vivid insights into our modern age.

Crime spree

Crime fiction remains one of the most popular genres in literature, so here are five novels by writers from Italy, Japan, Israel, New Zealand and Finland to check out over the holidays.

The morning star

Much of the art – and art criticism – of today is a vapid exercise in politically correct posturing rather than an imaginative exploration of the human condition, but the success of Karl Ove Knausgaard’s challenging works shows the public’s hunger for something more.

Swallows on Amazon

“Critic Swallows Book” collects 22 diverse essays from the long form, online only Sydney Review of Books to celebrate its ten-year anniversary.

The Conversation’s best books of 2023

The Conversation asked 20 of its regular contributors to nominate their favourite books of the year. Their choices were diverse, intriguing and sometimes surprising.

The great Australian novel

The newly published Cambridge History of the Australian Novel considers the role of Australian fiction at home and abroad, its perspectives on the nation’s history and the ever changing landscape of writing, publishing and reading.

Face to face

New research looks at how the human face is represented in writing from the medieval to contemporary eras, revealing how we have interpreted human emotion over the centuries.

The other side of George Johnston

Though little read these days, George Johnston was once one of Australia’s best known writers, and a new book explores his life and writing career, including a series of crime novels penned under the pen name of Shane Martin.

Books, balderdash and bowlderisation

The censorship of books by Roald Dahl, Enid Blyton, Ian Fleming and Agatha Christie to remove potentially “offensive” and addition of content warnings and disclaimers to books by Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Raymond Chandler and P.G. Wodehouse have provoked much debate about the balance between delicate modern sensibilities and artistic integrity.

On the beach

Nevil Shute may fallen out of literary fashion but he remains one of Australia’s best and most popular writers, as a theatrical revival of his most famous book attests.