I read Kate Chopin's short story "Désireé's baby" (1893) back in March when Kirsty mentioned it in her comment on my last Chopin post, but I didn't blog it then. However, when it appeared a couple of weeks ago as a Library of America selection, I felt its time had come. But, what to say? … Continue reading Kate Chopin, Désireé’s baby
Review
Books into films
'Do you mind what they did to your book?' 'Well, they can't do anything to my book. They can't alter a single comma ... ' I came across the above in an article about P. D. James' in the September issue of goodreading magazine. The discussion relates to her non-crime novel The children of men which was adapted into … Continue reading Books into films
John Banville, The infinities
This is what Benny loves, what all the gods love, to eavesdrop on the secret lives of others. Hmm ... this is also, I think, what readers love! Readers after all are, surely, the ultimate voyeurs. And yet the god Hermes, who narrates John Banville's The infinities, also admits to the gods interfering in people's lives, which is, in … Continue reading John Banville, The infinities
Lionel Shriver, So much for that
Having had my own rather traumatic experience of the American healthcare system back in the 1980s I was rather keen to read Lionel Shriver's latest offering, So much for that. And, I wasn't disappointed - or, let me rephrase that, I found it an interesting and engaging page-turner though not a top-ten-of-the-year one. First a … Continue reading Lionel Shriver, So much for that
Kate Jennings, Snake
In her "fragmented autobiography", Trouble, Kate Jennings used excerpts from her first novel, Snake, to convey her childhood experience of growing up on a farm in the Riverina region of New South Wales. She had, she wrote, an "unhappy mother, diffident father". Snake is the story of such a mother and father. While the novel … Continue reading Kate Jennings, Snake
Jeremy Chambers, The vintage and the gleaning
There's something I haven't had an opportunity to share with you, until now that is - and that is that I love to visit wine regions. Not just because I like wine but also because I like the areas in which wine is made. The landscape is often beautiful, the wineries themselves vary so much … Continue reading Jeremy Chambers, The vintage and the gleaning
HL Mencken, The nature of liberty
I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again: I am enjoying being introduced to classic American writers of whom I've heard but not read through the Library of America. This week it is HL Mencken, and you can read his satirical piece, "The nature of liberty" (1920), online at LOA. Mencken (1880-1956), according … Continue reading HL Mencken, The nature of liberty
Peter Temple, Truth
I think that every novelist has a single ideal reader (Stephen King, On writing) As I was reading Peter Temple's Truth I wondered whether I was Temple's "ideal reader". Somehow I think not. I am not a crime novel reader, but I did read and greatly like Temple's previous book, The broken shore, so why … Continue reading Peter Temple, Truth
Arnold Jansen op de Haar, King of Tuzla
Translated works always represent a challenge. There is something slightly disconcerting about knowing that you are not reading the actual words of the author, but someone else's interpretation of them. There's been some discussion of this around the blogs and in the media this year, partly because of the publication of Why translation matters by award winning … Continue reading Arnold Jansen op de Haar, King of Tuzla
Dinaw Mengestu, An honest exit
There are, I suppose, two exits in Dinaw Mengestu's short story "An honest exit", which you can read at The New Yorker. One is the exit the father in the story made, when a young man, from his home in Ethiopia and the other is his final exit from life. (No spoiler here: we are … Continue reading Dinaw Mengestu, An honest exit
