Readathon: Hour 3

Here we are at Hour 3 of the Readathon. I decided to start with a short book, Tamburlaine Must Die by Louise Welsh. Welsh writes from the perspective of Christopher Marlowe, an Elizabethan playwright and apparent rival to Shakespeare, in his final days before his mysteriously death in 1593. It was a gripping read and a real page turner. I finished the book by 01.30 and it was time to choose my next target.

I toyed with continuing with my 'light' theme but decided to go for Sexual Politics by Kate Millet. Although I studied Sociology at university, very little class time was given to feminism. The (mostly male) lecturers treated feminism as a necessary evil: not something they believed in but part of the curriculum. Millet's work was published in the 1970s and, I suspect, one of the first calls to arms for women. She hangs her analysis on literature but uses that to analyse the patriarchal society we live in. What bothers me is that this book was written over forty years ago and women are still having to deal with the same bullshit. My inner rage is keeping me going through what is a very informative book. I cannot wait until the chapter where Millet analyses D.H. Lawrence. She has a very funny, tongue in cheek way of writing whilst tackling some 'big' theories. 

Only 20.5 hours left to go.