36 h. ago Oprah Winfrey picks Ann Packer's 'Some Bright Nowhere' for book club

Ann Packer's novel “Some Bright Nowhere” is Oprah Winfrey's latest book club pick

Politics

3 d. ago I’m a committed introvert – but no AI will take away the joy I get from other people | Emma Beddington

While it might be soothing to think you could replace social interactions like book clubs with ChatGPT, subcontracting human thought out to a bot will never bring happiness This is depressing: according to the Cut, people are using AI to solve escape room puzzles and cheat at trivia nights. Surely, that is the definition of spoiling your own fun? “Like going into a corn maze and just wanting a straight line to the end,” says one TikToker quoted in the article. There’s also an interview with a keen reader who uses ChatGPT as a book club replacement, scraping the internet and aggregating “stimulating opinions and perspectives”. All well and good (actually, no, it sounds bleak as hell) until he had a character’s death spoilered in the fantasy epic he had been enjoying.Meanwhile, Substack seems to be clogging up with AI-generated essays. The nu-blogging platform is an earnestly artisanal space where writers craft their stuff; subcontracting that to a bot seems like the acme of pointless...

Politics

1 week ago Lynne Ramsay on pushing Jennifer Lawrence to the brink in her twisted motherhood drama: ‘I make films my way’

She burst on to the scene with Ratcatcher and terrified audiences with We Need to Talk About Kevin. The Scottish film-maker’s latest stars Hollywood darling Lawrence, but it doesn’t flinch from the dark side of family lifeSeveral years ago, Martin Scorsese read Die, My Love in his book club. The novel, by Argentinian author Ariana Harwicz, follows an unnamed woman who moves with her husband to the middle of nowhere in France. Isolated and frustrated, she battles the confines of marriage and motherhood. She introduces herself to the reader as “a nutcase”, as “someone beyond repair”. She sets fire to ants, swears at her child, complains of its “constant clucking and grousing”. She speaks the unspeakable: “I’m a mother, full stop. And I regret it, but I can’t even say that.”Scorsese subsequently sent the novel to Jennifer Lawrence’s production company. He was convinced that Lawrence could – should, must – play the mother. In turn, Lawrence and her producing partner, Justine Ciarrocchi,...

Events

1 week ago 'Cute and funny' feel good film with all star cast of legends on BBC tonight

The 2018 film, Book Club, is due to air on BBC Two tonight (Fri) and features an all-star cast including Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen

Politics

2 w. ago Criminally good Classic Crime: Scandalize my Name by Fiona Sinclair, Beattie Cavendish and the White Pearl Club by Mary

Barry Turner reviews Classic Crime

Events

4 w. ago Oprah Winfrey picks Megha Majumdar's 'A Guardian and a Thief' for book club

Megha Majumdar's novel “A Guardian and a Thief” is now Oprah Winfrey's book club pick

Politics