Ancient Vs. Modern:

Tokyo is a wondrous contrast of old and new...

A lovely stone lantern and the flashy windows of the Loewe store in Omotesando.

A shrine dwarfed by surrounding mansions and advertising in Harajuku.

Which do you prefer; old or new?

"Peter Quint - you devil!"

Over the weekend I finished my second choice - The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - of the 2007 Winter Classics Challenge hosted by A Reader's Journal - this post provides all the details of the challenge.

The Turn of the Screw is "widely recognised as one of literature's most gripping ghost stories", unfortunately I am obviously missing a literature gene as despite trying my darndest, I utterly failed to be gripped by this short gothic novella. It contains all the ingredients which usually captivate me; a bucolic English country estate, sinister supernatural spirits and unexplained occurrences along with the need to fully utilise your own imagination. But, something was missing for me, I hope you have more luck.

"What I had said to Mrs Grose was true enough: there were in the matter I had put before her depths and possibilities that I lacked resolution to sound; so that when we met once more in the wonder of it we were of a common mind about the duty of resistance to extravagant fancies." (James, 1991:33)