Archive | March, 2009

On the Holloway Road on the Holloway Road

31 March 2009 · On the Holloway Road · Comments { 1 }

I went to do a stock signing at Blackwell’s on the Holloway Road last week. It was great to see the book on sale on the Holloway Road itself. The store manager Kevin Molloy was a really nice guy, too – he’s even reading the book himself. Walking down the Holloway Road made me think [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

“The Savage Detectives” by Roberto Bolano

21 March 2009 · Reading · Comments { 6 }

If I describe the plot of this book, it will sound incredibly boring. Even a brief summary is boring, unless of course you happen to be interested in the visceral realist poetry movement in Mexico City in the 1970s, apparently a satire of the real life infrarealistas of which Bolano himself was a member. Fortunately, [...]

Read full story · Comments { 6 }

My book is a bestseller*

17 March 2009 · On the Holloway Road · Comments { 7 }

* in Crouch End. Hey, it may not be the New York Times bestseller list, but it made me proud when I walked past my local bookshop, Prospero’s Books, and saw my book at #4 on the Bestsellers Chart. I even asked someone to take a photo. Come on, it’s probably the last time in [...]

Read full story · Comments { 7 }

Ismail Kadare and dissent

16 March 2009 · Literary events · Comments { 1 }

Interesting piece in The Guardian recently about the Albanian writer Ismail Kadare and his alleged ties to the Hoxha regime. I went to see Ismail Kadare speak at the Southbank Centre in London last year, and he addressed this issue very effectively, I thought. He said that the people who tell him he should have [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

London Buses #1

12 March 2009 · Living · Comments { 1 }

One of the things I love about London is riding the double-decker buses. You see things differently from up there on the top deck. You notice things that you’d miss if you were just walking along the street. For example, this television dumped on the roof of a bus-stop. What’s the story behind that? A [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

“The Enchantress of Florence” by Salman Rushdie

9 March 2009 · Reading · Comments { 3 }

I don’t quite know what to make of this book. There were so many storylines in so many countries at so many different times, all overlapping and sloshing around at the same time, that at times the book became overwhelming. The writing is beautiful, the concept fascinating, but somehow I didn’t find the book as [...]

Read full story · Comments { 3 }

New Kerouac novel

8 March 2009 · Literary events · Comments { 1 }

I was excited to read recently that Jack Kerouac’s unpublished first novel The Sea is my Brother is to be published next year. I thought Peter Townshend wrote an excellent piece about the event and its possible implications. One note of caution, though: I wonder why The Sea is my Brother has not been published [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

“The Unconsoled” by Kazuo Ishiguro

7 March 2009 · Reading · Comments { 1 }

Have you ever had one of those dreams where you are trying to get somewhere but things keep going wrong? You get on the wrong train, get off and go back in the other direction but it takes you somewhere else, then start walking but the streets don’t go where they’re supposed to? I’ve had [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

“The Anatomy of Prose” by Marjorie Boulton

6 March 2009 · Reading · Comments { 1 }

This is a rigorous 1950s analysis of prose, seeking to classify different elements of prose as you would classify insects or flowers. From the broad divisions of types of prose (narrative, argumentative, dramatic, informative, contemplative), Boulton proceeds to smaller divisions and sub-divisions, for example listing and defining 36 different rhetorical devices. Despite the intense detail, [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }

Still reading…

5 March 2009 · Reading · Comments { 1 }

Despite appearances, I have not been promoting myself 24 hours a day I finished The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie and have started Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano. Just don’t seem to have any spare time to do book reviews and have developed a bit of a backlog. Don’t worry, it’s not as painful [...]

Read full story · Comments { 1 }