New feature
OK, it’s not much, but I’ve finally figured out how to add the names of the authors I’ve reviewed down the side of the page. So, if you’re interested in who I’ve been reading and reviewing in the past year…
“Aspects of the Novel” by E.M. Forster
I read Aspects of the Novel a couple of years ago now, before I had this blog. As I was clearing out stuff this weekend I came across my handwritten notes, stuffed into the bottom of a box where I…
“Beside the Sea” by Véronique Olmi
A mother takes her two young sons on a trip to the seaside. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? There’s even a bucket and spade on the cover. You can almost feel the warmth of the sun on your skin, hear the…
“Southcrop Forest” by Lorne Rothman
I’ve always been interested in stories with non-human characters. I have an idea to write a story one day about a city – not the people in it, but the city itself, as a living character with its own actions…
“Lean on Pete” by Willy Vlautin
The writing style is incredibly simple, probably the most simple of any book I’ve read since childhood. It perfectly captures the realistic voice of the narrator, a sporadically-educated 15-year-old boy called Charley. Yet despite or perhaps because of the simplicity,…
Lucky dip reading
Saw a good post on the Guardian website about “lucky dip” reading – buying a book you know absolutely nothing about. It makes the valid point that people who shop online are less likely to stumble on new books than…
“Global Shift” by Edmund J Bourne
Titles are important. This book was an excellent survey of emerging philosophies and practices, but it did not convince me that a “global shift” is really taking place, or that, as the subtitle promises, a “new worldview is transforming humanity”.…
“Commonwealth Short Stories”, part 4
In the final part of this series of posts, I’m reviewing stories by Mavis Gallant, V.S. Naipaul, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Hal Porter and Chinua Achebe. Mavis Gallant (Canada) – Orphans’ Progress According to the introduction, Gallant’s work mostly deals with…
“Commonwealth Short Stories”, part 3
Continuing the series, here are my notes on the short stories by Randolph Stow, Janet Frame, Andrew Salkey and Ezekiel Mphahlele. Randolph Stow (Australia) – Magic This is based on the ‘sulumwoya’ myth of the Trobriand Islands, where incest between…