First things first: The Lives of Others is a very good book. It is skilfully written, the imagery is vivid and the portrayals are, as far as I can tell from my limited experience with Indian culture, realistic and poignant. It is also, at times, an infuriating and frustrating read. Make no mistake: this is not a story about a quirky but essentially kind-hearted Indian Addams Family. If you’re looking for something to cheer you up, look elsewhere. The Lives of Others focuses on the […]
Ben Joe: Doesn’t Know Whether to Scratch His Watch or Wind His Butt
This is the first book that I have read by Anne Tyler: I picked it up on a whim having never heard of her because I came across many of her novels at a book sale and reviews of her work seemed good. I was not terribly impressed by this one, but after finding out this was her first novel, and she wrote it at 22 I may give her another whirl. Ben Joe is the only son in a house filled with women: mom, […]
Hamlet. But with dogs. And not as good.
I just now realized that I never reviewed this book that I finished at the beginning of September so this review is under some serious mental cobwebs. Suffice it to say if I had been fired up about the novel, I would have reviewed it at the time. Edgar, born mute, lives with his family on their farm breeding and raising dogs. It’s not an easy life, but it is a good one. When his estranged uncle returns and his father dies tragically, Edgar’s world […]
Nearly but not quite
Every year, there’s another attempt at writing The Great American Novel. And the latest instalment in that neverending series is David Gilbert’s latest novel, & Sons. Very early on, Gilbert sets out his stall with “Fathers start as gods and end as myths and in between whatever human form they take can be calamitous for their sons”. So we know what we’re dealing with. This is the story of A.N. Dyer, a Salinger-esque novelist, as reclusive as he is revered, and his three sons. The eldest is […]
A book about friendship, motherhood and pies
Veronica Russo lives in Boothbay Harbour in Maine. She’s a waitress at the local diner and also makes insanely delicious pies, that are very popular among the people in town. She even has pie-making classes. When she was sixteen, she got pregnant and had to give her baby up for adoption. She still feels as if some of the people she grew up with judge her for this, but is trying to get on with her life. She can’t help but think about the baby […]
Who could ever say you’re not simply wonderful?
So here’s a funny thing. I have a book by Matt Haig on my “to read” shelf over on Goodreads. It’s called The Dead Fathers Club and it’s on there because a) I am always up for reading modernised novels based on Shakespeare plays (I’m already beside myself about the Hogarth Shakespeare project, but that’s another story) and because b) my father died all too recently. That’s not really the funny thing. The funny thing is, since I bang on about books pretty much all the time […]