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”
Category: Reading
“If We Were Villains”
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”
“playtime”
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”
Having a bad week…
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…
Wake up and smell the Kindle…
I'm a snob. There, I said it. I have a prejudice towards books; real, physical - wonderful! - things you can hold in your hands, flick through, weigh, sniff... Books are one of the vessels through which people open doors onto the world, their ideas, their souls. I love books. Which means - doesn't it? … Continue reading Wake up and smell the Kindle…
“The Bedlam Stacks”
As a writer, Natasha Pulley's "The Bedlam Stacks" annoys me - because it's so good. As a reader, I love it. I hope that contradiction is permissible... She has a talent of effortlessly taking you on a journey in such a way as to let you know that you are safe in her hands. Her … Continue reading “The Bedlam Stacks”
FREE BOOK to say ‘Thank you’
In order to say 'Thank you' to those of you who have read and followed Writeral.com and my blog over the past two years or so, I would like to offer you a free copy of one of my books in ebook format. The choices are either my collection of short stories, "Secrets & Wisdom", … Continue reading FREE BOOK to say ‘Thank you’
It’s been far too long…
...since I updated some of the pages on my site. With that in mind, I set myself the task to do so this weekend. Here's a summary of the updates: My Writing Diary It has been far too long since I updated this page. Indeed, since I updated a number of my pages. A job … Continue reading It’s been far too long…
“The History of Bees”
When I started reading Maja Lunde's "The History of Bees" I immediately took against it. 'Here we go again,' I thought, 'another book that goes: excerpt from story A, then B, then C. Then back to A...' But a number of things redeemed it for me: it was never always A,B,C, A,B,C. Lunde mixes it … Continue reading “The History of Bees”
Not quite the winter of discontent…
September 1st. The first day of autumn, at least for us in the northern hemisphere. Where I live they say it will be warm again next week. Kids back to school, of course... As time gets shorter - both in the sense that it seems to travel faster, and that there's inevitably always less of … Continue reading Not quite the winter of discontent…
Ian Gouge - Writer 