SOME novelists expect their readers to learn a new language. Clockwork Orange is challenging, and so, more recently, is Trainspotting. The Gringo Champion is equally demanding.

In folk myth, wild arums are connected with bawdiness, writes Damien Enright.

Italy gave us the Roman empire and the Renaissance two of the most influential forces in European history. Has this legacy coloured Italians’ perception of themselves and their place in the world, wonders Marjorie Brennan.

A cast of young British actors is being hired by producer Dino De Laurentiis for a new adaptation of Giovanni Boccaccioo’s ribald 14th century classic The Decameron, reports Daily Variety.