Happy Holidays everyone who is celebrating this weekend ... May you receive many books and the time to read them! I have taken a quick break from my festivities to bring you Week 6 of our Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 longlist reviewing project. It has been quiet on the reviewing front this week, … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week December 18-24
Literature by period
Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week December 11-17
Week 5 of our Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 longlist reviewing project and we're moving along with quite a bumper crop of reviews this week ... Haruki Murakami's IQ84 (Japan) by Matt of A Novel Approach. Matt, a student of Japanese literature, has mixed feelings. He calls it unwieldy, though he also admits that … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week December 11-17
Anuradha Roy, The folded earth (Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011)
Anuradha Roy The folded earth London: MacLehose Press, 2011 257pp. ISBN: 9780857050441
Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Gothic (19th century)
A few months ago I wrote a post on Horace Walpole's The castle of Otranto which is regarded as a pioneer in the Gothic novel tradition. I thought then that it would be good to explore how the Gothic translated to Australia where we have no castles in which the supernatural can rattle and clang. … Continue reading Monday musings on Australian literature: Australian Gothic (19th century)
Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week November 27 to December 3
Week 3 of our Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011 longlist reviewing project brings you ... Mahmoud Dowlatabadi's The colonel (Iran) from Lisa of ANZLItLovers. This sounds quite different in style and structure, but worth reading, particularly since it's from a country whose literature is little known to me. Yan Lianke's Dream of Ding Village (China) from Matt … Continue reading Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011: Reviews from the week November 27 to December 3
Andrew O’Hagan, The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe
Andrew O'Hagan's The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe is a fun - though also serious - book, so I'm going to start with something trivial, just because it will provide a laugh to those who know me: Like all dogs, I take for granted a certain amount … Continue reading Andrew O’Hagan, The life and opinions of Maf the dog and of his friend Marilyn Monroe
Alice Pung, Her father’s daughter
Her father's daughter (2011) is Alice Pung's second memoir - if you can quite call this book a memoir. Unpolished gem (2006), her first, established Pung in the eyes of both critics and readers as a writer to watch. I agreed with them, but with some minor reservations. She certainly demonstrated the ability to write and … Continue reading Alice Pung, Her father’s daughter
Henry James, Paste
It's been a while since I've read any Henry James though, like many readers, I did a few years ago read Colm Toibin's The master and David Lodge's Author Author. I was pleased, therefore, to see James pop up as Library of America's author last week. The story is "Paste" and it is a bit of … Continue reading Henry James, Paste
Nigel Featherstone, Fall on me
Fall on me bookcover (Courtesy: Blemish Books) Nigel Featherstone is nearly a local writer for me - he lives in the country town an hour down the road - but I haven't read him before, even though he has published a goodly number of short stories and short fiction. How does this happen? Anyhow, Fall on me is … Continue reading Nigel Featherstone, Fall on me
Kyung-Sook Shin, Please look after mother (Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011)
Two of the Man Asian Literary Prize team have cheated! They read and reviewed Please Look After Mother by Kyung-Sook Shin before our team was formed, and are showing me up big-time. I bear no grudge though and happily point you to their reviews. We are, as they say, on our way! Matt's review at … Continue reading Kyung-Sook Shin, Please look after mother (Shadow Man Asian Literary Prize 2011)
Whispering Gums 