It is easy to see why David Diop's relentlessly dark "At Night All Blood Is Black" won the 2021 International Booker Prize. The novel is suitably dark and brooding, an examination of one man's decline into madness as he and his French compatriots fight in the trenches of World War One. Alfa's Senegalese roots permeates … Continue reading “At Night All Blood Is Black”
Category: Blog
The Binding of the Sea
The Binding of the Sea would the tide never stop coming in inching ever higher as the months passed there were only two roads out each burdened with over-familiarity all novelty quagmire-sunk as if the peninsula had capitulated and the sea invaded the land going further afield they sought pubs in out-of-the-way locations explorers for … Continue reading The Binding of the Sea
Holding on or letting go? The Worthwhile Life: 2
I went for a run first thing this morning. Nothing too dramatic. A gentle jog to test out my aching left achilles' tendon. Or is it the calf muscle? And I was reminded - inevitably - how my running used to be... My best ever time for 10k was a little over 46 minutes; I … Continue reading Holding on or letting go? The Worthwhile Life: 2
Has it been a worthwhile life..?
How do you know if you have lived a 'worthwhile' life? When you look back on how you have spent the time gifted you, how do you judge if it has been time 'well-spent', 'worthy', 'good', virtuous', 'positive'...? You pick the adjective because the supply is almost endless! Which ones you choose will depend on … Continue reading Has it been a worthwhile life..?
“Le Grand Meaulnes”
Elsewhere I have observed how - to my palette at least - some books have not aged well in terms of their writing style. In the case of Alain-Fournier's "Le Grand Meaulnes" I find a novel that has not travelled well both in terms of style and plot. Indeed, I was most struck by how … Continue reading “Le Grand Meaulnes”
“Songdogs”
Having already read three novels by Colum McCann, perhaps one of the best compliments I can pay "Songdogs" is to say that it simply doesn't read like a debut novel. It is inevitable that in many first novels Authors are finding their feet, only growing into themselves and establishing their voice and presence as they … Continue reading “Songdogs”
“Call me Ishmael….”
Like many thousands of other young people in the UK, today my son has received his A-level exam grades and had it confirmed that he is going off to the university of his choice. I am - of course - proud of him. Thinking back to my own time at university, the thing for which … Continue reading “Call me Ishmael….”
Why I love making people…
If you were to ask me what I like best about writing prose then the answer is simple: making people. There is nothing quite like that feeling of giving life to a previously non-existent character, of forming them, building their history, giving them emotions, ambitions, plans. For each and every one of them the potential … Continue reading Why I love making people…
“Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead”
"By no means a conventional crime story" - according to the blurb on my copy of Olga Tokarczuk's "Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead". Let's face it, a conventional crime story is the last thing you'd expect to emerge from the slightly surreal worlds of the Nobel Prize winning Tokarczuk. And in … Continue reading “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead”
“The Death of Francis Bacon”
If Max Porter's "The Death of Francis Bacon" is intended to represent the ravings of a dying man, then job done. Tick. The danger - from a reader's perspective, however - is that you're not entirely sure exactly what's going on. There is a balance to be struck, of course, a tightrope to be walked, … Continue reading “The Death of Francis Bacon”
Ian Gouge - Writer 