I really liked Benjamin Myers' "The Offing". It's a gentle, inoffensive coming-of-age tale; romantic with a small 'r'. Like most things, "The Offing" is far from perfect: perhaps it tries a little too hard early on before it gets into the swing of itself; and most sixteen-year-olds simply wouldn't have the nouse to do some … Continue reading “The Offing”
Category: Literature
“The Shell Collector”
I daresay a case could be made to argue that it is only when a novelist is writing short stories that you get a true measure of their abilities: the need to be economical but not too sparse; the creation of a plot that is coherent but not over-blown; the establishing of character without having … Continue reading “The Shell Collector”
Missing work already..?
Today is the first 'new Monday'; the first whole week where I can decide what I do with my time, how much I write. Staggeringly it is a month since I wrote The Daunting Prospect of Reinvention - and what's more bizarre is that it feels as if I have been footloose and fancy-free for more … Continue reading Missing work already..?
“Let the Great World Spin”
It bothered me that I took so long to finish reading Colum McCann's "Let the Great World Spin" - but in the end it was simply of question of 'it's me, not you'... I needn't have worried that it was a reflection on the quality of the book, because it isn't: "Let the Great World … Continue reading “Let the Great World Spin”
The Impossible Readers
I am a registered Goodreads.com author. I had hoped that membership of Goodreads would allow my work to reach a wider audience. In support of this ambition - and possibly naïvely - I have twice indulged in Goodreads' 'giveaway' promotions. The basic premise is that you offer 100 e-books to Goodreads members in what is … Continue reading The Impossible Readers
“Homie”
From its earliest origins in aural tradition, poetry has inevitably tracked the metamorphosis of language through time. You only have to reflect on the differences between Chaucer, Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Larkin to see how poetry maps not only the journey of a civilisation but its language and mores too. Perhaps poetry takes a little while … Continue reading “Homie”
The Daunting Prospect of Reinvention
At the end of this month I'm giving up work. More or less by choice. It is a step that has been labelled in various ways by various people, me included: 'retirement' seems the most common, with the upcoming period a 'glide-path to retirement' - after all, I'm not officially qualified to be there yet...! … Continue reading The Daunting Prospect of Reinvention
“The Human Stain”
There is a section toward the end of Philip Roth's "The Human Stain" where one of the book's characters, Ernestine, confronts the author/narrator about her life and the life of her family, African-Americans from New Jersey. What follows from Ernestine/Roth seems to me - a white, non-American - a brilliant and powerful exposé of racism, … Continue reading “The Human Stain”
Did you know this? Stunning…
According to the trade publication, The Bookseller, in the UK today - Thursday 3rd September 2020 - some 600 books are going to be published. Yes, 600! On one day! Books from 'big' publishing houses as well as the myriad of independent and Indie publishers. The suggestion is that this figure represents a catch-up from … Continue reading Did you know this? Stunning…
“In the Lateness of the World”
Carolyn Forché's "In the Lateness of the World" is a collection of poetry about which it's very easy to be ambivalent. Not because the work is insipid or dull - far from it! - but because for me it veers toward both extremes on the good-bad poetry continuum. If I start with the more negative … Continue reading “In the Lateness of the World”
Ian Gouge - Writer 