Book Reviews & Essays on Literature
Musician Chilly Gonzales (born Jason Charles Beck) hates bananas. I’m not that fond of bananas myself. It’s that sticky, doughyContinue Reading
Looking at the stats on this blog for this year, our Annus Horribilis II, the previous horrible year being 2020,Continue Reading
Later was published on March 2, 2021, as a paperback Hard Case Crime edition from Titan Books, London, UK. ItContinue Reading
I got news this morning from one of my favourite television writers, Brent Butt – and I just had toContinue Reading
David Sedaris keeps a diary, for the same reasons, I suspect, as do other high-profile social commentators and journalists, likeContinue Reading
Over the years I have discovered that people, for many reasons, give their services or creative products away for free,Continue Reading
Poetry within Fiction: sometimes, for the sake of fully portraying a character, a writer may invent the poetry, stories orContinue Reading
Today was the first snowfall of the Winter, and we woke up to the brightness of snow blanketing everything outsideContinue Reading
Because I absolutely loved Lampedusa, by Steven Price, I had to go back to the novel which caused all theContinue Reading
It’s book awards season again, alas. I used to be one of those tail-wagging puppies that practically did zoomies whenContinue Reading
There’s a thing that really good authors do – and I don’t know what’s the word for it – theyContinue Reading
Andy Weir’s latest Sci-Fi novel is on the subject of the end of the world: the sun is cooling downContinue Reading
Here are my final thoughts about The Apollo Murders, by Chris Hadfield: would using Cyrillic in the text have beenContinue Reading
So, if you had to pick someone to write a Crime Thriller about astronauts and space missions in the lateContinue Reading
My guilty pleasure is reading bad writing and then making savage but unspoken criticisms of it. It’s easy to lambastContinue Reading
I thunk me a thought these past few days, which was this: people were telling huge fibs about poetry, judgingContinue Reading
Wolf Hall is 672 pages long. It is 672 pages in which every single line and every single word haveContinue Reading
This post concludes with my findings on what to do about my WordPress blogs, considering all the changes in technology.Continue Reading
Humour and comedy, these days, are minefields – full of potential explosions of public vitriol and outrage. One minute aContinue Reading
When you are waiting for someone to say something that you really, really want to hear, even the softest whisperContinue Reading
John Seabrook’s non-fiction writing is the manifestation of his public image. The websites I have found that are dedicated toContinue Reading
After my wee bit of silliness last week, here is my actual review of Once Upon a Time in HollywoodContinue Reading
On WordPress, that is. Here follow the confessions of a cynic. As of October, there will be a hiatus onContinue Reading
A review to suit a modern fairytale Once upon a time… Once upon a time, in a big, shiny cityContinue Reading
I am a fan of Nick Cave, and subscribe to his Red Hand Files communiques in which he answers questionsContinue Reading
As someone who has taken to making music using Logic Pro, John Seabrook’s book about song factories fascinated me. IContinue Reading
Anyone who is a musician will recognize the image on the cover of John Seabrook’s book: it is a quaverContinue Reading
Seven Circumstances investigates People in my family like to say “the people are revolting” whenever we see a riot orContinue Reading
One of the artists to whom Leila Marshy refers in her novel The Philistine, which I recently reviewed, is theContinue Reading
When I first had this novel in my hands, I looked at the decidedly odd cover design (thinking “What’s thisContinue Reading
Uncomfortable truths aplenty come to mind when you read and absorb J.M. Coetzee’s famous dystopian narrative, Waiting for the Barbarians.Continue Reading
On the subscription film channel, MUBI, there’s a documentary about the writer Charles Bukowski (1920 – 1994), who wrote acerbic,Continue Reading
The catch in Klara and the Sun, the latest, highly-anticipated novel by acclaimed British author Kazuo Ishiguro, is that theContinue Reading
While looking at First Person Singular, by acclaimed Japanese author Haruki Murakami, I asked myself three questions in order toContinue Reading
I was baking and heard the birds through the open window, and thought, these things mean it’s Spring. SIGNS TheContinue Reading
If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be Jenny Lawson, the witty author and “Bloggess“, this book will explainContinue Reading
Trying to make sense of the new collection of stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, I asked the question: WhatContinue Reading
Acclaimed Fantasy author Neil Gaiman teaches in his Masterclass course on The Art of Storytelling, that a writer and aContinue Reading
As my reward for having gotten through 2020 without any major ructions, while at the same time staying productive, IContinue Reading
The plot, settings and characters of Star trek Picard – The Last Best Hope, were predetermined, and only needed toContinue Reading
The latest novel by Isabel Allende is a family saga that depicts the modern history of Chile as well asContinue Reading
Fredrik Backman’s latest novel, Anxious People, published in Sept. 2020, is well-timed, written for people who feel anxious in theseContinue Reading
My discovery of the Google Doodle which celebrated the music of Johann Sebastian Bach started me on the road toContinue Reading
Pondering creativity When you have read and reviewed many books, as I have done, you eventually realize that even theContinue Reading
Here’s a new poem I’ve written, called “Rooted”. I saw these tangled, blood-red tree roots while we were out onContinue Reading
In the previous three posts, I looked deeper into the third and last part of Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy.Continue Reading
Blogging about books and literature is something that I’ve been doing for more than a decade and may perhaps continueContinue Reading
Larry McMurtry has died. He passed away on March 25, 2021, in Archer City, Texas,US, at the age of 84Continue Reading
Review In the previous post, I showed my appreciation for the third and last part in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf HallContinue Reading
In this post I continue to analyze the long and deeply nuanced historical novel, The Mirror and the Light. Previously,Continue Reading
This is a post in which I continue to analyze the impressively long and deeply nuanced historical novel, The MirrorContinue Reading
Having read every single page in the 883-page long historical novel The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel, IContinue Reading
Continuing with the theme of biographies and literary biographies of megalomaniac monarchs and leaders of nations, here is the fourthContinue Reading
The Last Empress, by Anchee Min, is the second in a set of two novels about the Chinese Qing DynastyContinue Reading
In this post, I continue looking at a select few biographies about mad, bad and dangerous monarchs and masters ofContinue Reading
In the last years of the 19th century and the first 20 or so years of the 20th century, AsiaContinue Reading
I was thinking about a comment that Fran, one of the bloggers whom I follow, made the other day aboutContinue Reading
An elegantly worded, thoughtful and compelling novel about travellers in outer space who face a worse choice than life-or-death. ReviewContinue Reading
Nick Cave has become a writer of note in addition to being a celebrated musician, lyricist and composer. His blog,Continue Reading
Here is the sad tale of a quite discombobulated radio interview. In the post before this one I discussed theContinue Reading
The use of videotelephony software, such as Zoom, Facebook Live, Skype or Teams, for video and audio streaming of whatContinue Reading
A few months ago, I wrote a piece about three novels that have as their subjects the former President ofContinue Reading
I know from personal experience how tiresome and aggravating it is to pick up mistakes in something you’ve made afterContinue Reading
Seven Circumstances grew some more this year – the 10th year of its existence. Yes, it’s been ten years sinceContinue Reading
Here’s a less than 2-minute review of Jon Gliddon’s latest novel, The Forbidden Zone. It was easy to add graphicsContinue Reading
L.E. Modesitt Jr. is world-famous and has written a formidable list of Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, so long thatContinue Reading
For the first time in a very long while, I could feel tears coming to my eyes while I wasContinue Reading
Ray Bradbury is regarded as the most famous and most celebrated writer of Science Fiction in the world. On JuneContinue Reading
Radio interview with Jon Gliddon about The Forbidden Zone Becca · Jon Gliddon Interview Review There’s a reason whyContinue Reading
If you look up Paraguay on a map, like I had to, you will see that it is a countryContinue Reading
Sometimes a new book comes out of which the plot or theme feels unimportant or irrelevant. But sometimes global eventsContinue Reading
The Welcome to Night Vale (WTNV) phenomenon is now so well known that the listeners to the podcast are actuallyContinue Reading
Way back in 1967 John Cleese and Marty Feldman produced a hilarious sketch called The Bookshop. (It was not subtitledContinue Reading
What is Stephen King known for? Horror Fiction. Suspenseful mysteries. I bought If It Bleeds in the hope that IContinue Reading
This small book, with the tremendously long title printed in gold letters on the cover, is classified as a LiteraryContinue Reading
One of the books I’m reading now is William Shakespeare’s Get Thee…Back to the Future, by Ian Doescher, which isContinue Reading
Here’s news from one of the writers I admire – Jenny Lawson, who made me laugh long and loud atContinue Reading
What are my favourite authors doing next? My favourite authors have new works in the works, pardon the pun, soContinue Reading
*Made-up word!! Blogger, book lover, writer and member of the Rebusfontein writing collective, “Tannie Frannie”, meaning Auntie Frannie, posted thisContinue Reading
It’s the end of the first half of the year, and so far my reading time has been reduced byContinue Reading
All the Aging Groovies like me out there would know the name Pete Townshend, the Pete Townshend – a.k.a. Peter DennisContinue Reading
Do you where Lampedusa is? Or what it is? Steven Price’s historical novel, Lampedusa, is not actually about the islandContinue Reading
If you enjoy poetry as well as Science Fiction, you will appreciate Dead Astronauts. The novel has elements of both.Continue Reading
In this post I continue looking into the subject of factual accuracy in Fiction, and specifically Realistic Fiction and theContinue Reading
In this post I continue looking into the subject of factual accuracy in Fiction, and specifically Realistic Fiction and theContinue Reading
This month’s site header (below) is of a painting called The Tooth Extractor, by Dutch artist Theodoor Rombouts (1597–1637), in theContinue Reading
In my review of Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon, I wrote that season 1 of the TV version of the bookContinue Reading
Writers could encounter two problems specific to their profession: One is finding the right line or the right word, andContinue Reading
The concept on which Altered Carbon is based is ingenious – it was futuristic and fantastical when Richard Morgan wrote theContinue Reading
To alleviate the “morbs” that might have descended on you from reading those books with pandemic and epidemics as themes,Continue Reading
Staying at home and feeling trapped or bored? Not in the mood for your usual type of book? Have aContinue Reading
Frankissstein (with 3 s’es) is a collection of interwoven love stories that takes place from the mid 1800s to theContinue Reading
Sad news – Albert Uderzo has died. He passed away on 24 March 2020 at the age of 92 at hisContinue Reading
Poor Elton John had to leave the stage during his show in New Zealand this week because he has walkingContinue Reading
Reading the screenplay of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs by Joel and Ethan Coen led me to the real artistContinue Reading
One of the enjoyable aspects of reading, is that in the process of sniffing out a particular book or authorContinue Reading
A website like this can be difficult to negotiate because of its size – currently there are more than 3,000Continue Reading
We’re going backwards. Back to print. First there was print. Then came the Internet, and there was JavaScript. And pdfs.Continue Reading
My journey through books this year It has been a very pleasant year in books for me. The activities onContinue Reading
The Strange Bird is a little gem of a novel. Every carefully chosen word is just right. Each image isContinue Reading
Which Sci-Fi devotee is not looking forward to the debut of Star Trek: Picard? (Roll on, January 23, 2020!) IContinue Reading
A big name in the world of literature, Clive James, died on November 24, 2019, in Cambridge, UK. He wasContinue Reading
After having enjoyed Patrick deWitt’s Undermajordomo Minor (2015) his most recent novel, French Exit, was a must-read. A “French exit” isContinue Reading
I have often pointed out in these posts, that I favour brevity and carefully chosen words over flowery writing. ItContinue Reading
This post from Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files is too good not to share. From: Nick Cave Date: October 22,Continue Reading
I saw the cartoon, “Things Book Lovers Do”, on Facebook, reposted by a UK company called forReadingAddicts, and for onceContinue Reading
A recent comment from an author on one of my book reviews got me thinking. I was pleased at theContinue Reading
The Booker Award was announced on October 14, 2019, and for the first time they had two winners: The Testaments, by MargaretContinue Reading
Some books have exotic contexts – there is a story about the story, and it helps the promotion of theContinue Reading
LIU Cixin, or Cixin Liu as he is known in English, is the author of the famous Science Fiction trilogyContinue Reading
On the subject of fictional worlds: I’d like to introduce you to “Rebusfontein”. Rebusfontein (pronounced rhéá-booz-fonteyn) is an Afrikaans name meaningContinue Reading
“Anonymous”, also known as “Hendrik Groen” (a pseudonym) is famous for his creation of a gang of crotchety old folksContinue Reading
In the last of this series of posts on Fictional Fiction, I look into those famous authors whose invented booksContinue Reading
When I read Denis Coupal’s thriller Blindshot, my overall impression of it was of competence – he had done allContinue Reading
On August 18, 2019, at Worldcon 77 in Dublin, Mary Robinette Kowal was awarded the Hugo Award for the BestContinue Reading
In this series of posts, I’m looking into some examples of “fictional fiction”. I’ve already spoiled the fun about books in Dr.Continue Reading
Books associated with characters in a book or a film sometimes look real and are actual published books. But sometimesContinue Reading
In a world filled with loud, angry voices, there’s something to be said for the quiet, thoughtful voice. Nick Cave,Continue Reading
Rhyming is devilishly difficult. It’s a serious head-scratcher, as people who write poems, lyrics and rap well know. If youContinue Reading
There are authors whose restraint, clear vision and graceful expression make their novels a quiet joy to read. I haveContinue Reading
In the past few years, I have met quite a few authors, including self-published ones, who began writing late inContinue Reading
When you have a mashup between a medieval-sounding title and a modern forensic mystery and a choice of choice ofContinue Reading
When embarking on Greg Hickey’s novel, The Friar’s Lantern, you would be forgiven for thinking you are about to startContinue Reading
Today, July 1, is Canada Day. I am a Canadian, and this is what is means to me. Home byContinue Reading
Josiah Bancroft is one of those authors who has defined his creative process with care and can explain how heContinue Reading
It gives me great pleasure to re-post a review of E.L. James’ latest romance novel, The Mister, because I justContinue Reading
Game of Thrones has now ended, and amid the uproar about the storyline and perceived-as-unsatisfactory conclusion of the final season, despairingContinue Reading
Forget for a moment that Leonora Carrington, who died in 2011 at the age of 94, was one of theContinue Reading
“Künstlerromane” are fictional depictions of the coming-of-age of artists or art prodigies – real or imagined, and their personal andContinue Reading
Killing Commendatore was published in Japanese with the title 騎士団長殺し (Kishidancho Goroshi) in 2017, and the English translation came outContinue Reading
What is the Taiga? And what is the “Taiga Syndrome”? The Taiga is a snowy, fir-forested region in the highContinue Reading
The papers have been full with news of the death of Australia’s most world-famous poet, Les Murray. He died yesterdayContinue Reading
Some novels really lend themselves to being discussed in visual terms – either their subject or setting is dramatic orContinue Reading
Before you read White Out it is best that you know that this book is written somewhat in the styleContinue Reading
A reader should approach with caution any book that has won a whole bunch of awards. A reader should alsoContinue Reading
Every so often I discover a wonderful writer by some confluence of good fortune. In this case, I got myContinue Reading
I’m just such a sucker for a feel-good story and lovely gobs of happiness, which is why I so enjoyedContinue Reading
Since I’m a devoted Sjón fan, I duly sat down and ordered the novels on this Top 10 list ofContinue Reading
Here are four new rhymes; about the 13th of March when Facebook crashed, about someone who can’t sing, about catchingContinue Reading
It took four posts to finish saying what I wanted to say about CoDex 1962, the strange but marvellous novelContinue Reading
John Delacourt’s novel Butterfly is hard to read, not because of his writing style, but because of the subject matterContinue Reading
Some novels just cry out to be made into films. Undermajordomo Minor, by Patrick deWitt, is one of those. IContinue Reading
The Hod King, Bancroft’s third book in his Books of Babel tetralogy, is an exercise in exquisite torture through cliffhangers.Continue Reading
Writer Nicholas Tucker said about Richard Adams’ 50-hankie-bunny-weepie, Watership Down, “Adams … has bravely and successfully resurrected the big picaresque adventureContinue Reading
This is one those novels that will change the way you look at death and burial methods – and Beirut.Continue Reading
I work for a firm of consulting engineers in the oil & gas and mining industries (my day job, whichContinue Reading
Here is the fascinating first-hand exposé of how Julian Barnes wrote his first novel, Metroland, and got it published inContinue Reading
John Scalzi’s Science Fiction (SF) novel Head On was taken a step closer to being real when, in December 2018,Continue Reading
In a previous post, I commented on Helena Gunter’s recently published anthology of short stories called Tweespoor (meaning “Double Track”).Continue Reading
Here’s something entertaining: the appearance on The New Yorker magazine’s video channel of my favourite You-tubers, Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal,Continue Reading
Sometimes a new book comes out of which the plot or theme feels unimportant or irrelevant. But sometimes global eventsContinue Reading
SEVEN CIRCUMSTANCES