#21 The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Michael Chabon
It would be churlish to start with a complaint, but I am a churl. The only problem with this book, for me, was that it piled so many larger than life characters into the narrative that by the time we meet possibly the ultimate (or he may be the penultimate, if you consider unveiling […]
#20 Brewster by Mark Slouka
Many, many years ago, I wrote about ‘The Visible World’ and argued, somewhat contentiously I now think, that it was one of those novels that fails, but fails rather wonderfully. By ‘fail’ I mean that the reader, at the end of the novel, is left with a feeling of dissatisfaction about something (or somebody) instrumental […]
#19 Till Kingdom Come by Andrej Nikolaidis
I was offered an opportunity to review this novel by somebody who knew of my love for thrillers, novels with abrupt changes of focus, and the work of Eastern European writers in general. Let’s begin with that middle category – books with abrupt changes of focus. Two of my favourites, Peter Hoeg’s Miss Smilla’s […]
#18 Depths, by Henning Mankell
There seems to be a Scandinavian preoccupation with measurement. In Peter Hoeg’s novel, Borderliners, it is the measurement of time that is central to the narrative, in Depths, by Henning Mankell it is the distance between the surface of the ocean and the sea bed. Or at least, that’s how it begins. Lars Tobiasson-Svartman is […]
#15 The Rubbish-Picker’s Wife: an unlikely friendship in Kosovo, by Elizabeth Gowing
Elizabeth Gowing is a writer who is new to me and her current book is not my usual reading. I was sent a copy of The Rubbish-Picker’s Wife to review, which is my disclosure statement – and on my usual basis I said I’d read the book, write a review and ask the author if […]
#14 Amsterdam by Ian McEwan
I’m really not doing well with this book review project, am I? But I have my reasons – I published a novel with Amazon, at the same time as my wonderful agent retired from the business, and my new agent (also wonderful, am I not a lucky writer?) is trying to get said novel in […]
#11 The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
A reader recently compared my writing in Gatekeeper to Kingsolver’s. My agent was thrilled (what agent wouldn’t be?) while I am less convinced. I think it’s subject matter (Prodigal Summer) that prompted that linkage, rather than anything else. What strikes me most about Kingsolver’s work is the warmth – many characters start out less than […]
Book Review #5 – Titus Groan, Mervyn Peake
There are few trilogies more uneven, more challenging and frustrating than the Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake. Three books, clearly linked by a single character, but as different in nature and tone as chalk from cheese from Chablis, this massive master-work has suffered, in part, from the demands it makes on its readers, and that […]
Book Review #2 – A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Something of this novel reminded me of the work of Primo Levi – not the scope, which is definitely as Dickensian as many reviewers suggest – nor the subject matter, which is relatively remote from Levi’s preoccupations. I struggle to articulate the exact parallel, but perhaps its the unremitting sense of certain failure which dominates […]
After Before by Jemma Wayne – book review #1
After Before by Jemma Wayne – published by Legend Press Emily, Vera and Lynn: three women with very different backgrounds. Emily is a Rwandan refugee, scarred both emotionally and physically by the genocide there. Vera swings between memories of her drug and drink-laden past and a present in which she seeks redemption for her previous life through […]
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