Often when I run, I’m listening to a podcast. It’s a nice distraction and one of the only times where I actually can do two things at once. This time, I was listening to ‘The History of Literature’, a show where the host, Jacke (that ‘e’ is not a typo) Wilson, rambles on about literature and poetry… Continue reading We Are As Clouds
Category: Books
All Of Us Strangers – directed by Andrew Haigh
I’ve been thinking about this film on and off, since we saw it last week. It is definitely one of those films that might get refined in your head on a second viewing. Not refined in the sense that you could answer all the questions it poses, but in the sense that the familiarity settles… Continue reading All Of Us Strangers – directed by Andrew Haigh
Burgh Island II
You couldn’t have written the script any more neatly. I didn’t read Anne’s message as I was finally getting my s**t together after feeling somewhat worse for wear from the night before. We had finally had our meal in the grand ballroom, after missing it the previous evening, and had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves dressing up… Continue reading Burgh Island II
Na No Wri Mo
I’m trying to write a novel. Just writing that sentence above gives me palpitations. I know that at some point last summer I began an attempt, but luckily, the second part of my MA kindly got in the way, and I’d parked my idea until now. Now we are in November, and as most aspiring novelists… Continue reading Na No Wri Mo
The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
I know what I should have done this morning. I should have got out of bed, and on my bike, and joined the PROBs group for a cycle ride. I would have really enjoyed it too. But I made the mistake of picking up the book that had been on my bedside table for about… Continue reading The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood
Shirley Jackson – The Lottery
This morning, I read a short story by Shirley Jackson. She’s famous for The Haunting of Hill House. Today’s story was called The Lottery. It apparently elicited the biggest post bag the New Yorker magazine had seen for a piece of fiction. Jackson said, later, that there were only a few positive ones, and they… Continue reading Shirley Jackson – The Lottery
Working – Robert A. Caro
This is one of the books I got for Christmas and it’s been a very quick read for me surprisingly, as I’m not a very fast reader, and this guy normally writes enormous books. Anne’s eldest gave it to me after he went through most of the tomes of Caro’s major work, The Years of… Continue reading Working – Robert A. Caro
The Island Of Missing Trees – Elif Shafak
There aren’t many books where a tree is one of the main protagonists. Normally, I’d find that kind of anthropomorphising a bit childish, but this is no Whomping Willow. The fig tree speaks mostly as a genuine actor in the story. Occasionally she dips into being a contrivance, but I didn’t mind those parts too… Continue reading The Island Of Missing Trees – Elif Shafak
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
I think that Murakami is an acquired taste. If you like surreal; if you like David Lynch movies; if you like Kafkaesque craziness, then you may like this. I’ve read a couple of his fiction books before: Norwegian Wood and 1Q84, and I remember the second one in particular being very strange indeed. It begins… Continue reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle – Haruki Murakami
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
I first read this book years ago when I lived in Liverpool and was in a book group. It was a great group, and most of the people actually read the books beforehand so the discussions were always interesting. This one got a general thumbs up, as I recall, because who doesn’t like a post-apocalyptic… Continue reading Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
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