All posts tagged: Albert

The Children by Melissa Albert

The Children by Melissa Albert

Published by Jenni Sidey

There is a particular spell certain children’s books cast on a reader. You return to them as an adult and the spine cracks like a coffin lid; what felt like wonder at eight rereads at thirty as something colder. Melissa Albert understands this magic, and the rot at its edges, better than almost any writer working today. The Children by Melissa Albert, her first novel for adults, takes that quiet creeping recognition and builds an entire house around it. A literary, slow-burning hybrid of family mystery and modern gothic, this novel asks what happens when the children who lived inside a beloved fantasy series grow up to be the only ones who remember what really happened. The setup, briefly: Guinevere and Ennis Sharpe were written, lightly fictionalized, into their mother Edith’s wildly popular Ninth City series before her early death in a fire. Two decades later, Guin is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir, and Ennis, an installation artist she has not seen since they were children, announces a new show titled simply Mother. The Story …

What Albert Camus Wrote About the Nauseating Reality of the Guillotine

What Albert Camus Wrote About the Nauseating Reality of the Guillotine

Published by Sam Flores

Published: Jun 2, 2026written by Simon Lea, PhD Philosophy Summary The death penalty is a second sickening act of violence, not a just solution that brings peace to society. Camus argued the state’s true motive is primitive revenge, masked by euphemisms because society is ashamed of the reality. The condemned man suffers two deaths: the psychological torture of waiting and the final physical execution itself. A secular state lacks the right to execute, as it requires a pretense of infallibility that it does not possess. Show more   The death penalty was abolished in France in 1981, with the last execution taking place in 1977. Albert Camus wrote ‘Reflections on the Guillotine’ twenty years earlier in 1957. His argument against capital punishment is not primarily based on sympathy for the condemned but on the legitimacy of the state’s right to take life. Camus concludes the essay with a warning against allowing the state the power to decide who in society must die. To do so, he argues, requires the pretense that agents of the state have god-like infallibility.   Sickening …

Why ‘A Happy Death’ Was Albert Camus’s Most Shocking Novel

Why ‘A Happy Death’ Was Albert Camus’s Most Shocking Novel

Published by Sam Flores

Published: Jun 2, 2026written by Simon Lea, PhD Philosophy   In this article, we examine Camus’s first novel, its shocking content, and possible reasons he came to abandon it. A Happy Death shares a lot of similarities with Camus’s masterpiece The Stranger. Their central characters, Patrice Meursault in the first novel and Mersault in the second, are almost identical, with “u” in the surname making only difference. However, there are also crucial differences in what motivates these two characters. Here, we look at the two most shocking differences between the works: the killing and the way others are treated.   Situating the Text Albert Camus in Paris, 1957. Source: Los Angeles Times.   Albert Camus’s first published novel was his 1942 masterpiece The Stranger (L’Étranger). It was published alongside his essay The Myth of Sisyphus, and both works introduced Camus as a serious player on the French literary and philosophical scene. However, prior to writing The Stranger, Camus worked on a novel that dealt with similar themes, shared a central character, and even included whole …

David Attenborough: Biggest must-watch TV moments ahead of star’s 100th birthday Albert Hall celebration

David Attenborough: Biggest must-watch TV moments ahead of star’s 100th birthday Albert Hall celebration

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter When Sir David Attenborough was born in 1926, George V was on the throne, Stanley Baldwin was in Downing Street, and the BBC, the institution where he would spend many productive decades, was, itself, still in nappies. Over the years, Attenborough has become the face and voice of natural history the world over. From chasing animals through jungles and deserts, to observing the myriad changes to our ecosystem in his near century on planet earth, Attenborough has been a guide through the wild citizens and untouched places of our world. With the presenter turning 100 today, we look at some of the moments from his televisual oeuvre that have defined Attenborough for generation after generation. Attenborough and the puffins, Wild Isles As the years have gone by, Attenborough’s forays in front of the camera have become increasingly rare. Appearing in 2023’s …

Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday to be marked by star-studded live BBC event at Royal Albert Hall

Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday to be marked by star-studded live BBC event at Royal Albert Hall

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter A star-studded live event is being planned to celebrate Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday, featuring broadcasters including Sir Michael Palin, Steve Backshall and Chris Packham. Hosted by Kirsty Young, the evening will take place at London’s Royal Albert Hall and include performances from musicians featured in his BBC Planet Earth TV series. Dan Smith, the frontman of Brit Award-winning Bastille, will join the BBC Concert Orchestra to perform “Pompeii”, which appeared in Planet Earth III. Icelandic band Sigur Rós is also set to play “Hoppípolla”, famously used in promotions for Planet Earth and Planet Earth II. The event will also combine memorable wildlife moments from the BBC’s natural history archive. Those who have worked alongside Sir David – including Backshall, Packham, and Sir Michael – will reflect on his immense impact and lasting legacy. Sir David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday …

Albert Camus’s Early Philosophy in “The Wrong Side and the Right Side”

Albert Camus’s Early Philosophy in “The Wrong Side and the Right Side”

Published by Sam Flores

Published: Apr 22, 2026written by Simon Lea, PhD Philosophy Summary These early essays are the source material for all of Camus’s subsequent work, revealing his developing philosophy. The title symbolizes inseparable dualities, meaning you cannot have life’s good times without the bad, like a coin. Camus explores life’s ambiguity and uncertainty, contrasting themes of alienation, death, and the indifference of the world. He often suspends judgment, observing life from a state “between yes and no,” or between affirmation and rejection. Show more   Towards the end of his career, Camus looked back on his first published essays, collected in The Wrong Side and the Right Side, and concluded that the work started here was still in the process of becoming in his present work. What we find expressed in these short essays can be considered the source material of all his subsequent work. Naive yet beautiful, these essays are worth reading in their own right but are also tremendously useful for those seeking a deeper understanding of Camus’s philosophy of life.   Background to the Essay Collection Postcard of Algiers, early …

Max Cooper’s show at the Royal Albert Hall was a visual spectacle

Max Cooper’s show at the Royal Albert Hall was a visual spectacle

Published by Sam Flores

The former computational biologist has long been a proponent of audio-visual art (he even runs his own company, Mesh, dedicated to the same), and that experience was on show here. In terms of sheer sensory overload, this was it: as music played, audiences watched as the massive screen raced to keep up, displaying neon cityscapes one minute, and migrating birds the next, all of it soundtracked by Cooper’s own music. Source link

Prince Albert and rarely-seen son Alexandre Grimaldi, 22, attend tennis tournament separately

Prince Albert and rarely-seen son Alexandre Grimaldi, 22, attend tennis tournament separately

Published by Daniella Wilson

On 11 April, at the prestigious Monte Carlo tennis tournament, an unprecedented and, to say the least, somewhat strange situation unfolded. It wasn’t unusual to see Prince Albert at the Country Club enjoying one of the matches played on clay, but it was truly surprising that his son, Alexandre Grimaldi, was also there. They weren’t seen together at any point, so it’s understood that they arrived separately, and it’s also unknown whether they had any contact while at the venue. Prince Albert attends Monte Carlo tennis tournament © Getty ImagesMelanie-Antoinette de Massy and Prince Albert II of Monaco attended the semifinal of Valentin Vacherot of Monaco against Carlos Alcaraz of Spain on day 7 of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters 2026 The only thing known for certain is that the Monegasque sovereign, 68, watched the semifinals of this Masters 1000 from the VIP box, accompanied as usual by his cousin Mélanie-Antoinette de Massy, 41, who is also president of the Principality’s tennis federation and the head of the organization of an event that brings together the …

Ladysmith Black Mambazo star Albert Mazibuko dies aged 77

Ladysmith Black Mambazo star Albert Mazibuko dies aged 77

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the inside track from Roisin O’Connor with our free weekly music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Get our free music newsletter Now Hear This Legendary South African singer Albert Mazibuko, a long-standing member of Grammy-winning choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, has died aged 77. Mazibuko, who performed with the group for 55 years, died on Sunday (5 April) following a short illness. His death was announced on Facebook by his fellow group members the following day. “It is with immense sadness that we tell you that our brother, Albert Mazibuko, has left us this Easter Sunday to be with his saviour in heaven,” they wrote. Mazibuko, pictured at the 2017 Grammy Awards, has died (Getty) “We will update you with further news, videos and pictures celebrating the life of Albert. We cannot express how broken our hearts are at this time.” The eldest of six brothers, Mazibuko – whose full name is Mdletshe Albert Mazibuko – was born in Ladysmith, South Africa, in 1948. Mazibuko left school at …