To wrap up their annual mini-arts festival, On The Rocks teamed up with Jazzworks to fill Sandy’s Bar with some lovely jazz tunes. As those acquainted with the band already know, Jazzworks provide the perfect setting for a chilled night with friends, and Saturday evening was no exception.

Musicians took turns playing and mingling, and satisfied the audience alternating between beloved classics (Fly Me to The Moon is always a crowd-pleaser) and upbeat tempos, for a good 2 hours. Everyone sat in groups on the sofas and enjoyed friendly chats over a drink, which all added to the laid-back atmosphere.

Discussions occasionally stopped, but only to appreciate the music. Halfway through the evening, the room fell suddenly silent as the singer gracefully started the first notes of Feelin’ Good: this was undoubtedly one of the evening’s highlights.

The event was then followed by a Stand-Up show brought by the St Andrews Comedy Society: a large crowd entered the bar for the occasion. Many students performed, and I was impressed by the courage they had to go up on stage and how they made people laugh.

Overall, the evening showcased a good sample of what the St Andrews arts scene is capable of: a wide range of creative forms and expressions, all driven by passion (and talent!), bringing a crowd of people together to share it, and, first and foremost, organising a renowned and successful festival. This year once again, I am fully convinced by what On The Rocks has to offer and I left the event eager to discover what surprises they have in store for the upcoming semester!

As we collectively drown in Week 11 deadlines, find respite On The Pebbles with a jam-packed day of arts and culture. This appropriately-named launch event is in anticipation of On the Rocks, the largest student-run arts festival in Scotland, which will take place next April. 

For the ecologically-minded amongst us, there is a Clothes Upcycling seminar taking place at the Barron Theatre between 12-3pm, in collaboration with ‘Sustainable Style’. For £3 you will be provided with all the materials needed to spice up your winter wardrobe.

If you are looking to relax and rewind, Jazzworks will provide soothing tunes from 7pm in Sandy’s Bar, to be followed with Stand-Up from the St Andrews Comedy Society. A £3 ‘Sandy’s Pass’ will get you access to both.

One event Owl Eyes is particularly looking forward to is the Watercolour Workshop, an evening of painting and live music at the ‘Next Door’ brasserie on South Street, from 8pm.

If that wasn’t enough, consider dropping into the Music Café at Jannetta’s Gelateria, an art exhibition at the new Combini Café or enjoy some pop-up acapella performances at surprise locations throughout the town.

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Offering an eclectic mix of events at a number of locations around town, On the Pebbles looks to be a promising day, ahead of the highly-anticipated On the Rocks festival in April. Details of all events taking place this Saturday 15th November can be found at the here. 

In this week’s literary review, Eliza Quinn examines Lisa Halliday’s critically-acclaimed debut novel Asymmetry. Quinn examines notions of power and domination in the affair between a young woman and a much older man, begging the question: is this ok?

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I adored it, contemplated it, felt challenged by it. I obsessively and annoyingly recommended it to all of my friends, at the slightest lull in any conversation. I liked it, and will continue to like it, because it does what any work of art should do: it made me think differently about the world around me and made me see things more clearly.

As the title implies, Asymmetry is about imbalances of power. Divided into three sections, we follow first the story of Alice, a 20-something editor, working in New York. Early on in the novel, she has a chance encounter with Ezra Blazer, a world-famous, Nobel-Prize winning author who is much older than she is. They begin an affair, which lasts for several years.

Halliday describes their affair from the third person, but not necessarily from Alice’s personal perspective. Instead the focus rests intentionally on their dialogue, their conversations with one another. Throughout the book, you never gain insight into Alice’s actual thoughts concerning the affair with Ezra, instead, their words and actions are methodically written down by Halliday, like an empirical study of the relationship by a cool observer. This detached, objective writing style demands of the reader to make their own judgement, to apply their own emotions and experiences onto the skewed relationship they are reading about. Halliday offers no personal spin, no clear bias, compelling the reader to make one for themselves. Most importantly, it highlights the gross imbalance of power between these two people, and asks the reader to make a personal judgement call on the question that obsessively rang through my head like an alarm bell: is this ok?  

Because the power imbalance is there, unavoidably and unsettlingly there. From the beginning of their liaison, Ezra phones Alice when he wants to see her, the words CALLER ID BLOCKED telling the reader he has done so. He can always reach her, but she can never reach him. Everything about their relationship is skewed, with Ezra holding all of the cards.

When they’re together, he tells her what to wear and eat, how to act, and what to read.

What does Alice get out of it? The brilliance of the novel lies in the fact that we simply have to make our own assumptions. Through imparting our own subjective experiences onto the text, we come to know ourselves better and are forced to question our assumptions.

Asymmetry is a sharp and thorough examination of unequal power dynamics, posing questions that stay with you long after you’ve finished the book. If it wasn’t already blatantly obvious, I highly recommend it as a must-read.