#26 Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga

Posted by on Jan 31, 2016 in book review, novel review, Uncategorised | No Comments

  In Kittur, a fictional small town very much like many South Indian coastal towns, the usual hive of Indian life takes place. Aravind Adiga takes the reader on a dual tour – of the town itself in sententious guidebook excerpts which are supposed to introduce us to the highlights of the place but actually […]

#25 Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon

Posted by on Jan 16, 2016 in #100reviews, book review, novel review | No Comments

  I have always understood Pynchon to be inaccessible, so in choosing Inherent Vice as my first Pynchon I was deliberately opting for the most accessible of his novels. Perhaps it’s not at all representative – Gravity’s Rainbow is described as ‘sweeping’, ‘complex’, and even ‘mysterious’ – but Inherent Vice is more of a romp […]

#24 The Sacrifice by Joyce Carol Oates

Posted by on Jan 2, 2016 in book review, novel review | No Comments

One of the most powerful books I ever read was Blonde – a searing account of the imagined interior life of Marilyn Monroe. Whilst Oates insists that this work, like The Sacrifice, must be seen as a product of the imagination, not an account of history, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that in both cases. […]