This is first book I’ve finished in May after a longish slump caused, to some extent, by reading it. It’s my first encounter with Tokarczuk and my immThis is first book I’ve finished in May after a longish slump caused, to some extent, by reading it. It’s my first encounter with Tokarczuk and my immediate responses are:
1. I feel an immediate connection to her sensibility and I love the deliberateness of her style. 2. There is something removed about the emotions of the book, which is not to say it’s emotionless. Far from it, I thought it was very powerful, but that power comes from the writing rather than the characters. 3. This was the wrong book to read during a busy time at work. Read it when you have more headspace. ...more
I basically inhaled this in 24 hours and I have no regrets. I thought Scarlett Peckham’s debut was good but this second book was a cut above: quick wiI basically inhaled this in 24 hours and I have no regrets. I thought Scarlett Peckham’s debut was good but this second book was a cut above: quick witted writing, excellent characters, the streamiest sex scenes and a lovely ending. I’m only devastated that this means I’m up to date and have to wait for the third book in the Charlotte Street series. ...more
There are stories in here that I will carry with me for a long time, and others that slipped from my grasp as soon as I read them. Spines, Platform, MThere are stories in here that I will carry with me for a long time, and others that slipped from my grasp as soon as I read them. Spines, Platform, Mischief, Bulk and Fears and Confessions of an Ortolan Chef definitely fall into the former category. Formally inventive, linguistically playful and emotionally astute, they capture precisely the power of the short form. Williams is cavalier with language, connecting words and images in such startling and lovely ways. Several times I actually made a satisfied noise out loud.
But it’s the kind of inventiveness that can feel wearing, like an over inquisitive, precocious child who is always chasing something new. Some stories in the collection - I’m thinking of Rosette, Spins and Attrib particularly - feel overblown and frenzied, less controlled and purposeful.
You can see why and how it achieved acclaim though. Williams reminds me of Ali Smith, but edgier, without the gentility that marks all of Smith’s work. Rejection, death, disgust and cruelty are never far away in these stories. They’re as forensic of the human condition as of the language that shapes it....more
I have no idea what to say about this yet, except that I thought it was very good. It’s fragmented, or at least oddly shaped, like a novella that grewI have no idea what to say about this yet, except that I thought it was very good. It’s fragmented, or at least oddly shaped, like a novella that grew an extra limb or two (which, given the acknowledgements, sounds like exactly what happened). This makes it hard to get a handle on: it makes structural and thematic use of its lack of cohesion, its lack of synthesis. I read it avidly though, because it has an ease of movement that I remember from The Arrival of Missives. It isn’t as good as that in my view but it’s provocative in all the right ways. ...more
An absolute corker of an instalment in the Dublin Murder squad series from Tana French. I continue to admire the unflinching way that she confronts thAn absolute corker of an instalment in the Dublin Murder squad series from Tana French. I continue to admire the unflinching way that she confronts the consequences of murder for the detectives who investigate it. And the writing is entrancing. ...more
I’m afraid I found this novel a strange beast: fine prose that wouldn’t scorn Dickens used to tell a madcap children’s adventure story. It could have I’m afraid I found this novel a strange beast: fine prose that wouldn’t scorn Dickens used to tell a madcap children’s adventure story. It could have successfully been an adult fantasy novel (in the mode of Cathrynne Valente) or a children’s alternative-world romp but in the end was neither. Instead it got bogged down in portent and lost the brilliant easy charm of the first half a dozen chapters. I loved the first quarter but my interest gradually waned until I wasn’t sure I could finish. I did, if only for the descriptive flourishes - the writing can be exquisite - but not because I cared what happened to the characters....more
I’m rating this as I would rate it as a crime novel, not as a book longlisted for the Booker Prize. Obviously it can’t hold a candle to work like The I’m rating this as I would rate it as a crime novel, not as a book longlisted for the Booker Prize. Obviously it can’t hold a candle to work like The Overstory and Milkman; it’s unfair to put it in comparison and the judges have done Bauer a disservice by including it. It’s earned it an unfair number of 1 star reviews here.
Because it’s a quick paced, entertaining, character driven crime romp, with a sense of humour and an eye for idiosyncrasy that makes it eminently readable. It’s mad as a box of frogs and wholly unlikely at times, but in a charming, beguiling way. It’s not great literary fiction - if you’re looking for that in a crime package may I recommend Ben Myers’ Turning Blue - but it’s just fine for a lazy weekend on the sofa....more
My extremely slow progress with this audiobook version of Kingsolver’s most recent novel should in no way be taken as reflecting my enjoyment of it. IMy extremely slow progress with this audiobook version of Kingsolver’s most recent novel should in no way be taken as reflecting my enjoyment of it. I found this an acute and humane story for our times, a reflection on the meaning of home and belonging at times of great intellectual and political upheaval. The nineteenth century narrative was particularly moving. ...more
Absolutely everything I wanted it to be, and capped off by some awesome acknowledgements at the end. Did I mention that I ADORE this series. Robin SteAbsolutely everything I wanted it to be, and capped off by some awesome acknowledgements at the end. Did I mention that I ADORE this series. Robin Stevens cannot write them fast enough. ...more
I enjoyed this a great deal, and don’t mean to be stingy with my three star rating. But this book wasn’t satisfactorily any one thing for me: not enouI enjoyed this a great deal, and don’t mean to be stingy with my three star rating. But this book wasn’t satisfactorily any one thing for me: not enough detail in the account of the walk, not enough political commentary, not enough social and historical narrative. It was little bits of all these things, and highly readable, without quite grasping the fullest potential of the idea. ...more
I read this mostly for work, given the alignment of the subject matter with my current research. And I enjoyed and admired it in many ways, but it felI read this mostly for work, given the alignment of the subject matter with my current research. And I enjoyed and admired it in many ways, but it felt very partial. If I’m honest I was bored by some of the repetitive gardening bits and I felt that the fragmentation of the parallel narrative about the author’s childhood was a little too difficult to follow in places. ...more
Kate Atkinson is always a joy to read and I enjoyed Transcription immensely. Here, as always, she combines surgically sharp prose with wit and charm aKate Atkinson is always a joy to read and I enjoyed Transcription immensely. Here, as always, she combines surgically sharp prose with wit and charm and an underlying seriousness that stretches the surface of the plot. But in the context of her other work it feels relatively slight, a pick and mix of archival research and biographical vignettes that have piqued Atkinson’s interest....more
The Black Prince is dazzling, challenging, experimental historical fiction. In its cacophony of voice and play with form it reminds me of George SaundThe Black Prince is dazzling, challenging, experimental historical fiction. In its cacophony of voice and play with form it reminds me of George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo, but coupled with an elegant brutality that makes it something entirely its own.
It’s a novel of broad scope. We loosely follow Edward of Woodstock, the eldest son of Edward III, during his campaigns in France and Spain between 1346 and 1370 but his perspective is fragmented and broken by the voices of many others. We slip into their lives briefly, either once or repeatedly, glimpsing different socio-economic and religious experiences. Black George, for example, is a lifelong soldier who, having fought at Crécy, becomes a siege engineer and then a mercenary. Joan of Kent is a beautiful but unfathomable noblewoman, passed around the beds of three men claiming to be her husband on the whim of the Pope.
There is also Brian of Bower, a serf farming chickens for his lord; John the Blind, King of Bohemia; the midwife Alice of Henley; and the preacher Wyclif, amongst many others. Their stories are interspersed with snippets of ‘Newsreels’ - headlines and ephemera of the day turned into 21st century media content - and the camera eye perspective, an omniscient viewpoint that descends briefly on scenes and people from above.
In speaking all these varied parts the novel reflects on the social, ideological and spiritual relations between people, and between the mundane and the profound experiences of the body and the spirit. It definitely riffs off the current political turmoil - it’s a novel about historical conflicts between England and almost everywhere else. How could it not be a little bit about Brexit? But it isn’t a parable of national character, even if it has fun playing with stereotypes. It has wider, deeper currents about the universality of cruelty and the quality of mercy. This latter makes it at once a very medieval book - in its themes if not its style - and an achingly modern one. What could be more relevant than a book about collective and individual recompense in the face of atrocity? Not that Roberts provides any answers, only eloquently put questions.
Finally, a word on the prose which, at times, is painfully good. Good enough to make me exclaim out loud. I hope it finds an appreciative and wide audience and, honestly, a place on some of the mainstream prize lists. It would be a great fit for the Goldsmith....more
Benjamin Myers' fiction is powerfully evocative of place and heavily influenced by the brutal unforgiving landscapes of West Yorkshire. It's one of thBenjamin Myers' fiction is powerfully evocative of place and heavily influenced by the brutal unforgiving landscapes of West Yorkshire. It's one of the things that draws me back to his writing again and again. I'm hypnotised by the familiarity and otherworldliness of the places he describes, barely 10 miles from the place that I was born. Which makes Under the Rock precisely the book for me: a memoir of Myers' ten year relationship with Scout Rock, an escarpment that looms over Mytholmroyd in the Calder Valley.
Myers moved to the valley from London a decade ago and has never left, investing himself in knowing the place in spite of the rain, the lack of light and the ugly remnants of industry. Recounting the passing years and the passing seasons, in this latest book Myers refracts his writing and the events of the wider world through the lens of the Calder Valley, using the Rock as a kind of physical and mental touchstone. Exploring every inch of it with his dog Cliff he discovers both its natural beauty and its brutalised past. Although the Rock has been reclaimed by trees and wildlife it was formerly the town dump, where the local asbestos factory routinely buried its surplus product. Plastic toys, drinks cans and insulated wire poke out of the ground that deer, owls and foxes have returned to. Like the places and people of Myers' novels the Rock is both achingly lovely and thoroughly damaged. The writing is gorgeous; muscular and bold, journalistic even, at times (as when Myers' is writing about the Boxing Day 2015 floods that decimated the valley) but dreamy at others. The prose is interspersed with poetry - which I'm not the best judge of, but enjoyed - and photographs.
Most definitely one of my favourite books of the year so far, confirming Myers as my favourite writer of 2018....more
Such a powerful, perfectly contained story of familial, societal and historical violence. Moss writes with characteristic brilliance, every line in thSuch a powerful, perfectly contained story of familial, societal and historical violence. Moss writes with characteristic brilliance, every line in this short book shaped just so. It’s charming and funny at the same time as being horrifying and appalling. I read it in two breathless sittings on trains but it would lend itself to the luxury of a rainy weekend afternoon on the sofa....more
What an urgent, timely and yet timeless novel; concerned with faith, forgiveness, atrocity, violence and love in ways that are reminiscent of The EsseWhat an urgent, timely and yet timeless novel; concerned with faith, forgiveness, atrocity, violence and love in ways that are reminiscent of The Essex Serpent and yet so unlike it. Stylistically Melmoth is constructed to an 18th century blueprint, forcefully omniscient and instructive in its narration. It’s gothic and baroque in quite uncomfortable ways, repetitious in its symbolism (all those jackdaws) but never loses the fluency that I find so arresting in Perry’s writing. It’s a work in voices, moving between different fragments of writing - letters, diaries, memoir - from different time periods and cultures. Because of that it sometimes seems disjointed, but the power of each of the pieces is startling. Hoffman’s diary in particular held me spellbound. Together they form this extraordinary testimony on human frailty and a treatise on predestination and the possibility of hope. While Melmoth doesn’t seem as perfect to me as The Essex Serpent did, it seems wholly bigger, on a different scale thematically. ...more
My fourth Tessa Dare novel this week and another that I enjoyed very much. I thought the story was an improvement on the first Castles Ever After bookMy fourth Tessa Dare novel this week and another that I enjoyed very much. I thought the story was an improvement on the first Castles Ever After book, Romancing the Duke, and the conceit (though equally unlikely) was properly drawn out. There seemed less rushing into the bedroom and more space for exploring character, which I liked. The bit with the lobsters was pure daftness, but I can forgive that for some of the other scenes: getting stuck in the bog; visiting the tenants; Beltane night; reading the letter at dinner. ...more
I’ve read three Tessa Dare novels this week and I show no signs of stopping. She is exactly what my poor tired brain needs right now. Have to admit thI’ve read three Tessa Dare novels this week and I show no signs of stopping. She is exactly what my poor tired brain needs right now. Have to admit this wasn’t my favourite, although I thought it would be from the early chapters. The writing here is better, the dialogue is swift and the conceit is nicely done but the ending was a bit fairytale squirmy. Still, not in the least off putting and I’ve already bought another one... ...more
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