What goes on...: Hello out there.

I can't promise these will come thick and fast but I certainly intend to bung out there a short story fairly frequently. I'm even intending them to be funny.

The Book Club of Me

Surface Detail: Iain M Banks (Kindle for Android)
A Banks culture novel, bloody brilliant, hugely inventive yet at the same time a pragmatic and imaginative analysis of what the concept of hell could lead to, and as usual everything is nicely sewn up at the end.

One Day: David Nicholls: (Proper paperback)
Likeably written but I'm finding the the two main characters a bit dull, the relationship building via letters thing has been done before, but then, this book is up against Banks. But NOW, having read it all I think I approached it too cynically. It turned out to be a sweet story, warmly told, and I really enjoyed it.

The Kilburn Social Club: Robert Hudson (Kindle Android - sample) I've twice tried to buy this because the prologue is a stunner, but I'm turned off by the football thing - you can say it's not really about football, but it's undeniably about football, and I have stoically refused to develop a personal point of reference with that. I'll try his next one instead.

Self portrait in a convex mirror: John Ashbery
A poem not a book, but I love it. No really, I love it. Ignore all idiots who complain it is too long. It's about time, time and the self, so it has to be too long, and at the same time, never long enough.

Wolf Hall: Hillary Mantel
I've really liked this author's books for ages, her characters are so solidly written you feel as if she grabs them by the scruff of their necks. I really enjoyed this book. It brought the Tudor age alive visually, vocally and sometimes I could even smell it.

What goes on...

04/09/2010

Hello out there.

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