Here is a reading of my poem, 'Coast'. I hope you like it. Comment
As someone who has read just about everything Haruki Murakami has written, Genki Kawamura's "If Cats Disappeared From The World" was on something of a loser from the start. As soon as I realised it was the kind of magic realism tale at which Murakami excels, then comparisons were inevitable - and were also never … Continue reading “If Cats Disappeared From The World”
A second reading from my new volume of poetry. "First-time Visions of Earth from Space" (1/1/2019) Comment
Colm Tóibín's "The Master" took far too long to read. Not that it's a bad book; it isn't. It's very well written, in fact; one might almost say meticulous, and in that way almost a homage to Henry James, it's subject. But what I struggled with was, I believe, tone. It is difficult to know … Continue reading “The Master”
For once the blurb on the cover of a book veers dangerously close to the heart of the matter, and, in the case of my edition of David Szalay's "Spring", the key word used is 'contemporary'. It is an unashamedly modern take on relationships - even if a little fanciful at times (who in their … Continue reading “Spring”
You can call me a little sad if you want to, but I have established a routine when - exactly as now - I'm having my breakfast: check my Author dashboard on Goodreads.com to see if there are any new reviews / scores for my books, and, when appropriate, update what I'm reading, like yesterday; … Continue reading Is it wrong to want to know who’s buying your books?
Extraordinary. Jon McGregor's "If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things" is a little bit like watching someone gradually pull an elastic band harder and harder. You know at some point it will snap, but all you can do is watch and feel the tension increase. When it does finally break, the relief is almost palpable. In … Continue reading “If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things”
A week ago I was having a bad time with two books. Funny how they turned out. One I gave really disliked and gave up on, the second - M.L.Rio's "If We Were Villains" - I not only managed to see through to the end, but eventually ended up quite liking. The original problem? After … Continue reading “If We Were Villains”
If you are going to be even remotely honest, you have to eschew reputation - and reputation as a poet is something Andrew McMillan is gaining in the UK. For my part, however, his collection "playtime" left me remarkably cold. So cold, in fact, that I have just given up reading it, unable to see … Continue reading “playtime”
Not me personally, you understand. Just in terms of what I'm reading. I have two books on the go - one fiction, one poetry - and when it comes to writing my short reviews here, I can already see they will pose a problem. I'm not naive or vain enough to think what I say … Continue reading Having a bad week…
Ian Gouge - Writer 