Part-travelogue, part-art history, part-personal reflection, Hisham Matar's "A Month in Siena" could easily be seen as something of an antidote if you have been reading too much fiction and are seeking something different just to break things up. Indeed, in a way that is how Matar sees his trip to Italy; an opportunity to fill-in … Continue reading “A Month in Siena”
Category: Blog
“Ravelstein”
There is something about Bellow's first person narrator / observer which draws you into "Ravelstein"; it seems to me that you are both 'inside' and 'outside' simultaneously. This elongated pen-picture of Ravelstein, laid out by his close friend Chick, is undoubtedly all sorts of things: colourful, expansive, amusing, ironic, submissive... Indeed, the list of adjectives … Continue reading “Ravelstein”
Free Kindle Book Promotion – the 3rd and final book!
The third book in my free three-book promotion is now available on Amazon: "Secrets & Wisdom" - 11th to 15th March A collection of short stories.
Forthcoming book – April publication
My sixth collection of poetry - "The Homelessness of a Child" - will be published on 10th April. Perhaps long overdue, a fair proportion is an exploration of the hardships and repercussions of my difficult childhood. As the intro says: "By the time Ian Gouge went to university he had already lived in seventeen different … Continue reading Forthcoming book – April publication
Free Kindle Book Promotion – the 2nd book!
The second book in my free three-book promotion is now available on Amazon: "Degrees of Separation" - 6th to 10th March This will be followed by "Secrets & Wisdom" - 11th to 15th March Both of these are collections of short stories.
“John Crow’s Devil”
You could be forgiven for wanting to stop reading Marlon James' "John Crow's Devil" fairly early on into the book. If so, it will be the Jamaican patois that will most likely get you. But my advice is to persevere. Try and get a 'voice' in your head against which you can process the language … Continue reading “John Crow’s Devil”
Time for a Poetry ‘sabbatical’?
I'm thinking of taking a sabbatical from poetry. Giving it up for a while. A bit of 'detox'. Why? Multiple reasons really. The easy one is to say that "I want to focus on my prose". Very little collateral damage in that one I suspect. And it also has the benefit of being true! I … Continue reading Time for a Poetry ‘sabbatical’?
‘The Language of Diamonds’
In one of Lawrence Durrell's poems there is a wonderful line: Give us the language of diamondsThe Death of General Uncebunke, Fourteen Carols (V) That simple phrase - "the language of diamonds" - has always seemed to me complex, profound, powerful, beautiful. The subtlety of it comes in the unpacking of it of course, and … Continue reading ‘The Language of Diamonds’
Free Kindle Book Promotion
I have a free Kindle book promotion running over the next two weeks on Amazon: "At Maunston Quay" - 1st to 5th March "Degrees of Separation" - 6th to 10th March "Secrets & Wisdom" - 11th to 15th March
“Primeval and Other Times”
Olga Tokarczuk's "Primeval and Other Times" is simply stunning; a plethora of literary squares woven together to make a quilt that lays bare what it means to be human. Unvarnished, all of life is here: the tragic, the mystical, the sad, the violent, the superstitious, the unavoidable. And - ultimately - the powerlessness. It seems … Continue reading “Primeval and Other Times”
Ian Gouge - Writer 