Reading Archives - Andrew Blackman

Reading

What Is Literary Fiction Anyway?

Literary fiction is hard to define, but I'm going to try anyway. The debate tends to be poisoned by debates about elitism and being "better" than genre fiction, which I'd like to avoid here. Instead, I want to identify the…

Reading

Books I Read in January 2025

With novels set in Malaysia, Russia, Germany, India and Serbia, along with some interesting non-fiction, here's what I read this month.

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November 2024 Reading Roundup

From Indigenous Americans discovering Europe to Voltaire destroying my last shred of optimism, here's a summary of my reading this month.

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 15: A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain

Join me as I survey Jorge Luis Borges's survey of the works of the non-existent writer Herbert Quain.

Reading

Review: The Other Side by Alfred Kubin

What would a dream world look like? A world in which the normal rules of cause and effect don't exist, in which social obligations are subordinate to each individual's ability to dream? In Alfred Kubin's vision, it looks a lot…

Reading

Review: 912 Batu Road by Viji Krishnamoorthy

A Malaysian debut novelist combines a contemporary love story with a historical narrative of Japanese occupation. I enjoyed one much more than the other, but would recommend it nonetheless.

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Norng Chan Phal: The Mystery of the Boy at S-21

A harrowing true account of a small child surviving the Cambodian genocide.

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July 2024 Reading

Will AI destroy us? Why do some novels not quite work despite having all the right ingredients? Can a bad title ruin a good book? These are just some of the questions prompted by my reading this month.

Reading

Review of Eclipse by John Banville

My thoughts on Eclipse, a beautifully written novel by Irish writer John Banville.