Category: Book Reviews

The force of Joan Didion’s writing astounds me. I think her secret lies in only telling what she knows, and telling it true, out of the corner of her eyes – “remember what it was to be me: that is always the point” – she never shies of laying bare her own feelings, her own…

Something that struck me about myself the other day was this: With music, I mostly listen to men’s voices. With books, I mostly listen to the voices of women. This summer I have spent a considerable amount of time reading some excellent female writers: How to Be Both by Ali Smith (4.5/5) This is a…

“The snow in the mountains was melting and Bunny had been dead for several weeks before we came to understand the gravity of our situation. […] and though once I thought I had left that ravine forever on an April afternoon long ago, now I am not so sure. Now the searchers have departed, and…

This novel’s set-out is simple: In Shaker Heights, everything is perfect. The city has been planned perfectly; the street lay-out is designed to eliminate traffic problems and there are rules for what shades of paint are allowed for each neighbourhood so that the houses look harmonious together – it’s a city where everything is planned…

“We must try to see one another in this way.” – roger bevins iii “As suffering, limited beings- “ – hans vollman “Perennially outmatched by circumstances, inadequately endowed with compensatory graces.” – roger bevins iii This novel is so strange in the way it’s told, so utterly unprecedented and special, I think one either loves…

I’ve started reading this book on a long train journey home. It was late in the evening and I almost couldn’t keep my eyes open but at the same time I just could. not. stop. reading. First of all: It’s about a boy. And a sick mother. And a yew tree, planted atop a hill…