Having read positive reviews of Elena Ferrante's "My Brilliant Friend', when I saw her more recent "The Lying Life of Adults" in the bookshop I didn't hesitate to buy it - it was, I was told, also 'astonishing', 'irresistible', 'intense'. Well, I'm afraid the word that kept popping into my head was 'dull'. More than … Continue reading “The Lying Life of Adults”
Category: Reading
Always happy to read
I have always enjoyed reading my work aloud ever since my first experience of doing so when I was in my early twenties. Historically, being able to read to an audience usually requires an 'event' of some kind - such as a book festival - and then an invitation to do so. One of things … Continue reading Always happy to read
Watching Simon Armitage read…
Yesterday evening I attended the marque event of Ripon's fourth Poetry Festival, a reading by the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage. Being slightly ambivalent to Armitage's work, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Without any introduction, Armitage started by reading "Thank you for waiting" - and immediately had the audience in fits of laughter. The … Continue reading Watching Simon Armitage read…
“Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic”
Simon's Armitage's collection "Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic" is something of a smorgasbord in terms of theme, style, even seriousness. It could easily offer 'something for everybody', as the saying goes. What struck me most of all was a sense that I wasn't reading poetry as much as reviewing 'product'. Everything in this collection was commissioned, … Continue reading “Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic”
“Mayflies”
Andrew O'Hagan's "Mayflies" is unrelenting. During the first half of the book where we see a group of Scottish lads on 'the lash' in Manchester, he immerses us in their over-the-top hedonistic experience of drink, drugs and music without giving us a chance to come up for air. Then, in the second half of the … Continue reading “Mayflies”
“Girl, Woman, Other”
Bernadine Evaristo's "Girl, Woman, Other" is - quite simply - a triumph. I have no idea why it has taken me so long to read it. Perhaps I was put-off by its 450 pages, or the blurb, or the cover - the last two of these suggesting that somehow it wasn't going to be 'my … Continue reading “Girl, Woman, Other”
Substack: Nirvana or the Emperor’s New Clothes?
It seems lots of people are deserting WordPress for Substack, lured by the notion of creating 'newsletters' that people will pay to receive. That and knowing they'll be rubbing virtual shoulders with famous names and literary goliaths - and the fact that Substack is currently 'free'. So is it a good move? It's tempting, of … Continue reading Substack: Nirvana or the Emperor’s New Clothes?
“Galatea 2.2”
It was partly because I liked Richard Powers' "The Overstory" so much that I tried as hard as I could to get through "Galatea 2.2" - but I simply couldn't finish it, and gave up about a third of the way through. It has been a while since I last had to admit defeat like … Continue reading “Galatea 2.2”
“At Night All Blood Is Black”
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”
“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”
Ian Gouge - Writer 