I can see why Sebastian Barry's "Days Without End" has made it to the long-list for the Booker Prize. Once you get into the slightly strange arcane, slang language he uses, you stop noticing it and get swept along with a story that is powerful and moving. I started thinking out I wouldn't like it … Continue reading “Days Without End” →

Not for the faint-hearted, "A Horse Walks into a Bar" is a difficult read. Not in the sense of the structure or the language, but in the depiction of the main character, and the relationship - undoubtedly somewhat ambiguous - that you are forced to have with him. Yes, there are jokes there - the … Continue reading “A Horse Walks into a Bar” →

...one I've started, that is. It feels a bit like a failure; as if I wasn't up to the task somehow. Clearly doing so doesn't make it a 'bad book'; after all, "Do Not Say We Have Nothing" by Madeleine Thien is clearly not a bad book. Presumably you don't get shortlisted for the Booker … Continue reading I hate not reading a book… →

One of the things I like about Graham Swift is the way he handles time. Less so in "Mothering Sunday" perhaps, but he has the knack of being able to make you look at events as if through a kaleidoscope, the past / tale / story fragmented, the narrative refracting. Time is - as the … Continue reading “Mothering Sunday” →

A few weeks ago I started watching the Jeremy Irons led film of "Night Train to Lisbon". After about twenty or thirty minutes, I decided to stop, that I simply had the read the book before I finished watching the film. It seemed important somehow. I have just finished reading the book. It's quite a … Continue reading “Night Train to Lisbon” →

A little while ago I took out a subscription for "Granta". It's a great way to be encouraged every quarter to read something you might otherwise not. In #139, the theme was "Best of Young American Novelists (3)" - a series they produce about every 10 years or so. There's also a "Best of" for … Continue reading “Granta – 139” →

I have just finished reading "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher. I have to say that for the first time in a long time, I have come across a book that begs to be read in a single sitting. Where it would be fitting, indeed, in the context of the story, to do so; it … Continue reading “Thirteen Reasons Why” →

I have just finished reading Robert Seethaler's excellent little novel, "The Tobacconist". Highly recommended. Reading

Just finished the 2016 Booker-shortlisted work by David Szalay. I have to say that I'm not sure the people who made all the effusive comments on the front/back cover have actually read it: for a start it's a collection of short stories, not a novel... A small number of the stories are impeccably written, and … Continue reading “All That Man Is” →