It was, as is so often the case, the cover that caught my eye. I was in Unity Books, browsing the stacks for a bit of contemporary something or other. Something a little bit femme fatale suited my mood. … Continue reading »REVIEW: Pretty Dirty Things
Bird by Bird is a book about writing, for writers. You will know if this is you. Anne Lamott isn’t telling you much you haven’t heard before. You’ve read it all in writer interviews and blog posts and pep talks, … Continue reading »Bird by Bird
Decay is a favourite artistic theme of mine. The melancholy of nostalgia is another. A Visit from the Goon Squad, roaming back and forth across time, has both in spades. The question has been raised whether it is a novel … Continue reading »A Visit from the Goon Squad
We lost Richard Adams in the last week of 2016, so it seemed appropriate to talk about how one of his books, Watership Down, was a touchstone throughout my childhood. The opening scene is one of those “classic English countryside” … Continue reading »Favourite Books #2: Watership Down
I have Difficulty with Jane Austen. I found Pride and Prejudice a moreish read; I attribute this characteristic to its sexual tension. Romantic tension… ? No; throw Mr Darcy in with modern readers, and sexual tension it is. It was … Continue reading »Emma
I was unsure whether I wanted to write about Nineteen Eighty-Four. I don’t feel like I’m really “qualified” for it. It’s one of those books that tends to be studied, and I read it… Well, I was going to say … Continue reading »Nineteen Eighty-Four
Junky takes a while to get into. No, that’s not right… It’s more that it takes a while to orient oneself within it. At any rate, once you have your bearings, it is magnificent. There’s a strange claustrophobia to the … Continue reading »Junky
Look at you. Sitting there with your beach novels. Blissfully, ignorantly happy with your paragraphs. You don’t know what I’ve seen. What I’ve suffered. This is a book that was made into a movie filmed in black and white. … Continue reading »Satantango
When people ask me my favourite book, I usually reply with a list. There will be disclaimers: “I like all the Discworld books but this is my favourite so it stands in for the whole” (Nightwatch); “This was my favourite … Continue reading »Favourite Books #1: Lolita
Bonjour Tristesse first grabbed my attention with its title. It had caught my eye when I was working in a bookshop a few years ago; one of a set of well-priced, slim books that came with their own cardboard shelf … Continue reading »Thoughts on Bonjour Tristesse