Previous | Next My, but it has been a while since last I spoke about John Allison and Max Sarin's exceptional Giant Days series, hasn't it? Has a more charming slice-of-life tale ever been penned and drawn with such effortless skill? I've certainly never seen anything of the kind, though if you have, please let... Continue Reading →
https://youtu.be/kwXfu_iDL3I When I picked up Jane Yolen's Briar Rose, I did not fully realize how hard it hits. I knew I'd wanted to read this book for a long time, but I'd all but forgotten the conceit at its core--rather than your run of the mill retelling of Sleeping Beauty, Briar Rose frames the centuries-old... Continue Reading →
Previous | Next Hello, friends! Have you heard the word? No, it's not "bird," you brain-addled madperson, it's "brilliant" or "fun" or "stellar"--fine, fine, that's plenty of words. All of them, however, are perfect in encapsulating every single volume of Giant Days I've read thus far; the fourth volume is no exception. This volume opens... Continue Reading →
Stoner is one of the two books I've decided to write my thesis on, come next term. It's that rare thing, a work that perfectly encompases the full strengths of the novel as a form. It's worth deeper study. So, then, this will be a short review -- I'd hate to be caught plagiarising my... Continue Reading →
The lights blinked twice and went out. I strapped the safety belt on, conscious of the blinking lights, conscious, too, of the cry of the toddler several rows back. A long flight, with no end in sight. Next to me on the plane sat my creative writing instructor, a woman roughly the age of my... Continue Reading →
I finished Joseph Heller's Catch-22 many months ago -- I've kept pushing the review further and further off because this is one of the classics, it's loved by many, disliked by some, downright hated by a chosen few. I find myself decidedly in the camp of the first, as this novel illustrated the absurdism of... Continue Reading →
This review was originally published over at booknest.eu. Published by: HarperVoyager (2010 ed.)Genre: Sci-Fi, FantasyPages: 296Format: paperbackAwards: Hugo Award for Best Novel (1968)Copy: Picked up at my local library. Support your libraries, folks! His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and... Continue Reading →
I keep returning to Murakami's works, captivated by the prism through which he sees the world. His protagonists are a consistent type - alienated men, most often in their thirties. Something is missing in the lives they live, often to do with some personal tragedy in their late teenage years - in Norwegian Wood, it... Continue Reading →
I would like to take a few minutes and talk about one of the most interesting novels I've come across as of yet. Through its title, Cusk makes a thesis statement - the myth of characters, she might as well say, is holding the novel back. Faye, the novel's main character, is strangely absent from... Continue Reading →
I'm happy with the progress I've made with Haruki Murakami's books over these last few months. Kafka on the Shore in May, Norwegian Wood in September and just this last week, What I Talk About when I talk About Running. The last is freshest in my mind but I'll contain myself and instead turn to... Continue Reading →
