Date Archives April 2011

“Saturday” by Ian McEwan

Reading 1 Comment

Not my favourite McEwan – that is Atonement by a long way. This was OK, a more meditative book, full of long meandering passages from the head of Henry Perowne, a successful neurosurgeon living in Marylebone with his successful wife and talented blues-musician son, awaiting the return from France of his beautiful and talented and successful daughter. A man so… Read More

“Evening is the Whole Day” by Preeta Samarasan

Reading 5 Comments

Update: I interviewed Preeta Samarasan about this book and her writing in general – to listen to the interview, click here.   This book grew on me. At first I found the amount of detail overwhelming, and thought the pace was too slow. Gradually, though, I got used to the style. By the end, I thought it was one of… Read More

“Written on the Body” by Jeanette Winterson

Reading 5 Comments

There is a lot of beauty in this book. Every sentence is like a poem. You can feel the care and attention that went into every choice of word. For the first few pages, I was blown away and thought I had discovered a new favourite writer. But towards the end my enthusiasm faded. I felt like a diner who’s… Read More

“Remarkable Creatures” by Tracy Chevalier

Reading 3 Comments

This is a historical novel about Mary Anning, a young fossil hunter in early 19th century Britain. I quite enjoyed it, but it didn’t do anything special for me. It’s funny – although I studied history at university and have a lot of interest in it, I generally prefer contemporary fiction. I think it’s because I find that historical novels… Read More