Over Christmas, during one of my conversations with Son Gums, he commented how he tires of meaningless conversations, conversations, for example, in which people discuss a television series they've seen but say nothing of note. He mimicked the sort of conversation he meant ... well, imagine my surprise when, in one of those surprising synchronicities, … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: Louise Mack’s dialogue and satire
Satire
Louise Mack, The world is round (Review)
I've had Louise Mack's debut novel, The world is round, on my TBR for about 20 years. Published in 1896, when she was 26 years old, it's a fairly straightforward tragicomedy about a young well-to-do 21-year-old girl, Jean, who aspires to be a writer, and the two men who love her, the 30-plus-year-old self-confident, successful lawyer-and-writer Musgrave, and … Continue reading Louise Mack, The world is round (Review)
Mark Twain, A presidential candidate (Review)
Towards the end of his life, Mark Twain wrote, the Library of America (LOA) says, The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet. I'm not sure the US had/has a monopoly on this. However, let me get to the point. LOA published Twain's column, … Continue reading Mark Twain, A presidential candidate (Review)
Edith Wharton, Writing a war story (Review)
"Writing a war story" is quite different to the Edith Whartons I've read to date, and it was clear from the opening sentence - "Miss Ivy Spang of Cornwall-on-Hudson had published a little volume of verse before the war". It was the comic tone that did it. All the previous works of hers I've read, several novels and … Continue reading Edith Wharton, Writing a war story (Review)
William Makepeace Thackeray, The luck of Barry Lyndon (#Review)
By the time I reached about the 30% mark (on my Kindle) of William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel, The luck of Barry Lyndon, I was reminded of a monologue by English comedian Cyril Fletcher which my father had on an old gramophone record. It's about a "lunatic" (this was in less linguistically-sensitive times) who decided to write a … Continue reading William Makepeace Thackeray, The luck of Barry Lyndon (#Review)
Washington Irving, The adventure of the German student (Review)
Washington Irving (1783-1859) is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" and "The legend of Sleepy Hollow", but in fact he was a prolific writer and, according to Wikipedia, is often credited as being America's first "man of letters". I was fascinated to read in Wikipedia that, as well as being a writer, he … Continue reading Washington Irving, The adventure of the German student (Review)
Steve Toltz, Quicksand (Review)
Aldo Benjamin, the anti-hero of Quicksand, accuses wannabe-writer-friend Liam of having "such little imagination". You could not, however, accuse the novel's author, Steve Toltz, of this. Quicksand reads a bit like a 19th century satirical novel transplanted into the 21st century. It is big in size (though not as big as his first, A fraction of the whole), broad in subject … Continue reading Steve Toltz, Quicksand (Review)
Paul McDermott, Fragments of the hole (Review)
"Paul McDermott DAAS" by Canley. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons. If you're an Australian, you are sure to know who Paul McDermott is. If you are not Australian, you may not, and this book in fact would not enlighten you, because nowhere on the book is it made clear that "this" Paul McDermott … Continue reading Paul McDermott, Fragments of the hole (Review)
Hanif Kureishi, The buddha of suburbia (Review)
The first thing to say about Hanif Kureishi's 1990 Whitbread award-winning novel The buddha of suburbia is that it's pretty funny. It's a comic satire - over-the-top at times, confronting at others. It has its dark moments, but it's also brash, irreverent and ultimately warm-hearted towards its tangled band of not always admirable but mostly very human characters. I've come late … Continue reading Hanif Kureishi, The buddha of suburbia (Review)
Peter Carey, Amnesia (Review)
Somewhere sometime ago I read that serious reviewers should read the book they are reviewing at least twice. I think this is good advice, but I admit that with so many books I want to read I rarely follow it. Peter Carey's latest novel Amnesia is one that well warrants rereading. It assaults you with ideas and action that aren't easily … Continue reading Peter Carey, Amnesia (Review)
Whispering Gums 