"Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity"...

"He knew everything about literature except how to enjoy it." - Joseph Heller

English literature.  Most people develop a love for the subject at a young age... not me!  I found the whole subject rather tedious, especially at GCSE.  Analysing a book chapter after chapter, theme after theme, seemed to drain all the life out of the books that we were made to read.  Thus resulting in my rather lack-lustre view of literature during my teens.  We picked apart Macbeth, over-sentimentalised Romeo & Juliet, and killed the friendship in Of Mice and Men.  Safe to say, I was not the most enthusiastic English student whilst at school.

I'd always been fascinated by language, whether it was foreign or native; the semantics and syntax had always been an area that I'd enjoyed exploring.  This is probably why I decided to take English Language as an A Level instead of English Literature, despite attaining an A* at GCSE...

The ability to immerse yourself in a story, and have your own take on the story and it's characters is what I love the most about literature.  So the idea of generalising a character under umbrella terms really bored me to tears, and unfortunately turned me away from literature for a very long time indeed.

With my A-Levels complete and University on the horizon, I suddenly realised how few of the classics I had read.  I found it shocking, and disappointed in myself that I'd reached 18 without even scraping the surface of the amazing literature that our English novelists have produced.  Rookie error!

Being a keen actress during school, my Grade 8 LAMDA solo acting exam included one of Juliet's soliloquies from Romeo & Juliet.  With a firey passion for Shakespeare, but with few of his plays under my belt, I felt that the only way to rectify this was to READ READ READ.  For the first time since childhood I started to embrace literature again. Hallelujah!

I started with Charles Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities' and from that point on I've been hooked on reading the classics, and with a philosophy of never looking back.

My favourite...

Novel: A Portrait of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Play:  Hamlet by Shakespeare
Playwright: William Shakespeare
Author: Charles Dickens
Era: Late 19th Century to Early 20th Century
Character: Romeo from Rome & Juliet by Shakespeare

Currently reading... 

Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Lauren-Eloise x

My Unrequited Love

As the saying goes, you always want what you can't have.  Now, for most people this may be something they can't afford, something they don't have room for in their life or something forbidden to them but my unrequited love is affordable, compact and universally idolised.

Heels.  A chic pair from Zara, some quirky and cool platforms from Topshop or the heart-stopping Charlotte Olympia range (Dolly, shown above, £575). And yet why can I not indulge? At 20 years old, I stand at a vertigo-inducing 6 feet tall.

Although many of my more vertically challenged friends claim to hanker for a couple more inches, I cannot stress enough to them the trials of being tall. From standing out a head above your classmates in assembly, to your choice of men being seriously reduced (especially when with shortness seems to come a charming cheekiness) it really can be a hindrance.

Since going out clubbing on an evening has become a bi-weekly habit at Uni, my pain has only worsened.  I watch friends slipping on a pair of sexy heels and stepping out in gorgeous, feminine confidence while I go barefoot during pre-drinks before I cram my feet in a dull pair of flats and shuffle out of the door.

People suggest a mid-heel but who wants shoes that signal the wearer is nothing more than safe and sensible? I want eight inch, stiletto platforms, I want the real deal, and I want it without repeatedly bashing my head against the ceiling of the club (true story).

So, any lucky readers who stand at a height suitable for vertiginous heels, thank the Sex-Kitten Gods for blessing you with smaller proportions and understand when your tall friends weep in the shoe lounge of your nearest Topshop or browse Louboutin alone with a tub of Ben and Jerry's at night. We are the walking wounded (in flats), girls with our hearts constantly broken, cursed with a problem that simply cannot be solved.

Your friendly neighbourhood giant,
Sophie