There's an interesting debate about cross-sex writing, isn't there? It seems to me the popular wisdom is that a man can't write as a woman, but a woman can write as a man. No. That's too simplistic. Perhaps is should be qualified: it's easier for a woman to write as a first-person male narrator than … Continue reading “Rules of Civility”
Category: Blog
“Solar Cruise”
Not for me, I'm afraid. I managed about a third of Claire Crowther's "Solar Cruise". Perhaps the subject - being so scientific - doesn't lend itself to poetry; but I'm sure it isn't just words like 'nucleus' or 'electron' which put the breaks on the poetic. The layout of some of the pieces - you … Continue reading “Solar Cruise”
“The Journalist”
In many ways, Harry Matthews "The Journalist" is a remarkable achievement. Having said that, I suspect three-quarters of people who start to read the book may not make it all the way through to the end... "The Journalist" is not about someone who writes for newspapers or appears on television, but rather a man who … Continue reading “The Journalist”
A Pattern of Sorts
My new novel, "A Pattern of Sorts", is published early in August. We often encounter difficulty when trying to reconcile our memories of events with what actually happened. In the almost inevitable mis-match, our mind plays tricks on us, and what we have recently learned and how we have recently lived gets in the way … Continue reading A Pattern of Sorts
“Road Trip”
Sometimes volumes of poetry that focus on a single theme or issue seem to sacrifice the quality of the writing in favour of 'the cause'. Marvin Thompson's "Road Trip" is rooted in both place - Wales - and subject - being black in an essentially white environment - and succeeds by never making that sacrifice. … Continue reading “Road Trip”
“I Married a Communist”
If you wanted to call a book 'hard-hitting', then Philip Roth's "I Married a Communist" would be right up there. Not necessarily in the sense of the message it conveys - though that in itself is naked and raw - but in the unrelenting and merciless power of the language. At times you feel as … Continue reading “I Married a Communist”
“A Gentleman in Moscow”
Perhaps it is inevitable that a novel which relates the experiences of a man spending his life entirely ensconced in a Moscow hotel is somewhat episodic, at times reading more like a collection of little vignettes than anything else. If so, then the fact that Amor Towles' "A Gentleman in Moscow" is c.450 pages long … Continue reading “A Gentleman in Moscow”
“Rendang”
In spite of myself I actually liked Will Harris' "Rendang". 'In spite of myself'? Well, there's a lot in this volume which I would challenge as being poetry; perhaps it's prose poetry at best. Yet there is much that is poetic (if that's not paradoxical), and the lyric quality of the pieces - thoughtful, reminiscence, … Continue reading “Rendang”
“Tenth of December”
Perhaps to start with a caution. Even though "Tenth of December" is a collection of short stories, you are going to have to work at them. This is partly because of their gritty realism, and partly because of remarkably fluid style George Saunders chooses to write them in. Often you find a mixture of real … Continue reading “Tenth of December”
“Desire”
I can't quite decide whether or not I should recommend this small Vintage 'mini' as a suitable introduction to the work of Haruki Murakami. The stories in "Desire" are more or less typical of his style and - interestingly - they give each of his major into-English translators a run-out too. (Through experience, I've found … Continue reading “Desire”
Ian Gouge - Writer 