I like Kazuo Ishiguro - and have read 5 of his 6 novels - so I was looking forward to reading Nocturnes, his first published collection of short stories. Nocturnes, as the subtitle describes, comprises five short stories, each focussing in some way on music, and on a day's end. The five stories - a … Continue reading Kazuo Ishiguro, Nocturnes: Five stories of music and nightfall
21st century literature
William Trevor, The woman of the house
[WARNING: SPOILERS, if you think it matters] According to Wikipedia,William Trevor's characters "are usually marginalised members of society: children, old people, single middle-aged men and women, or the unhappily married." This is certainly the case with Trevor's short story, The woman of the house, which was published last year in The New Yorker. All four … Continue reading William Trevor, The woman of the house
Arnold Zable, Sea of many returns
He leaps through centuries, tears apart myths, and reassembles them in his own way. These words that are said of one of the characters in Arnold Zable's Sea of many returns could just as easily be said of Zable himself - not only of this book, but of his earlier ones such as Cafe Sheherazade. Zable … Continue reading Arnold Zable, Sea of many returns
Markus Zusak, The book thief
In one moment, there was great kindness and great cruelty, and I saw it as the perfect story of our humans are. (Zusak on the Random House website) Zusak could hardly have chosen, for The book thief, a better setting to explore the best and worst of humanity than Germany during the Holocaust. The book … Continue reading Markus Zusak, The book thief
Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, 2009
Nam Le's The boat has won the fiction category in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Much deserved too I say! Interestingly, the non-fiction prize was shared by two books: Evelyn Juers' House of exile, and Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds' Drawing the global colour line. Lisa, at ANZLitLovers, recently wrote about Juers' book - you can … Continue reading Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, 2009
Tessa Hadley, Friendly fire
"Friendly fire", a short story by the English writer Tessa Hadley, is a simple story of two middle-aged women cleaners in an industrial warehouse, Pam who owns the cleaning business and her friend Shelley who is helping her out for the day. The story focuses on Shelley and nothing much really happens - it's more … Continue reading Tessa Hadley, Friendly fire
Murray Bail, The pages
It's not surprising that someone who calls herself Whispering Gums loved Murray Bail's previous novel, Eucalyptus, and so it was with some enthusiasm that I picked up his latest novel, The pages, a few days ago. My edition, unlike the one imaged here, is the hard cover one and, funnily enough, it looks like the … Continue reading Murray Bail, The pages
Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is illuminated
He invented stories so fantastic she had to believe. It's hard to know where to start writing about Jonathan Safran Foer's Everything is illuminated, so I'll just start with a brief description of the plot. It concerns a search in the Ukraine by "the hero" (aka Jonathan Safran Foer) for the woman (Augustine?) who, he … Continue reading Jonathan Safran Foer, Everything is illuminated
Booker Prize 2009
I received a voucher a couple of weeks ago for 25% off a 2009 Booker Prize shortlist book. What to buy? Hard choice as I hadn't read any of them - I know, I know, how can I call myself a reader but, really, I am not driven to read shortlists per se. Awards are … Continue reading Booker Prize 2009
Indie Book Award, 2009
The winner of this year's Indie Book of the Year Award was announced last week - and it is Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey, which I reviewed here recently. The Indie Book Awards are made by Australian independent booksellers, and this is their second year. The winners in the four sections are chosen by a … Continue reading Indie Book Award, 2009
Whispering Gums 