I probably shouldn’t have been surprised that a book called My Hundred Lovers didn’t include spiritual love or love of God among its tributes. Most other loves were covered off: love of country, a child, a grandmother, same and opposite sex, love of wine, husband, gelato, love of hands, love of friends and more exotic
One reason I love Richard Ford’s writing is that every word is intentional but nothing seems forced. For example, take the name of his latest novel: Ford says it’s called Canada because that’s a place where the “pummelling” that comes from being American relents. “America beats on you so hard the whole time” — and
“I love it in books when time is unhooked from the clock — it’s one of the great things fiction can do.” These are the words of New Zealand author Emily Perkins from an interview about her latest book The Forrests with blogger Angela Meyer. The Forrests creates the sense of timelessness well: ranging across
I’ve read most of Sue Woolfe’s novels and non-fiction works and admired them. She researches thoroughly, expresses complex matters deftly and weaves stories that are worth taking the time to unravel. Sadly, The Oldest Song in the World, didn’t quite cut it for me. The writing was strained, the characters implausible and the story forced.
John Freeman has my dream job. As editor in chief of the well-regarded UK literary journal, Granta, he interviews seminal writers the world over about the nature of their work and their ideas. How to Read a Novelist, ipso facto, is a dream of a book. It’s a well-produced compendium of fine pieces about literary
I was gobsmacked by Interferon Psalms so I’m glad it has won the inaugural Prime Minister’s Award for Poetry announced in late July. For months I’d been wondering why these Psalms, which very deliberately use mock biblical language and tell of Davies’ treatment of his hepatitis with the drug Interferon, got under my skin so
Here’s a novel to whet your theological appetite. Why? Varieties of religious experience is the book’s theme. Daniel Stein, the book’s hero, is a Polish Jew who survives the horrors of Nazism and converts to Catholicism after the war. During the war he managed to hide his origins and work as an interpreter — risking
These “bests” kept my reading fires burning in an uncharacteristically cool month. They gave me hours of intrigue but I’ll cut to the chase here by commenting only on the best of the best. There’s one codicil: You should really read the books and choose your own favourites! Best story — Louis Nowra’s “The Index
Trust no-one! This is a key message of The Betrayal — an intriguing novel about a couple born shortly after the Russian Revolution and who came to adulthood during the Great Terror of the 1930s. Anna and Andrei lived through the Siege of Leningrad and had high hopes afterwards that everything would settle and be
This novel’s an intriguing ride for those who want an intergenerational Australian family story set in a rural setting. It’s jaunty as a show pony and dappled with striking characters — some larrikins, some lovable — all adding flavour to this pre-WWII tale of show-jumping and falls from form and grace. At its heart Foal’s
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