I read this book about 30 years ago and loved it. It may be a pretty easy read, but Suzanne the protagonist is very witty and likeable and the dialogue is packed – packed! – with one-liners and profundities in equal measure.
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The Course of Love – Alain de Botton
This is an entertaining chronicle of a couple’s relationship, starting from the very beginning. There is a lot (a lot) of analysis behind the story, which might sound heavy going but is actually what makes it all so engaging. I am a big fan of Alain de Botton’s “voice” — you can tell that just by looking at my bookshelf.
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This review is about Alain de Botton, books, life, novels, psychology. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment
Old Men in Love – Alasdair Gray
This is a cornucopia of several different books, fiction, modern politics and ancient history, all thrown together into a cohesive and visually pleasing package. I love it.
Continue readingLet’s Explore Diabetes With Owls — David Sedaris
The more I read him, the more I like him. I read his Me Talk Pretty One Day before this book, and they’re quite similar. His autobiographical episodes are wry and amusing and contain a lot of truth even though there are a lot of embellishments. In short, he makes stuff up, but only in the interests of humour. Except that in the second-last story, he (reportedly) tells a terrible and callous lie – that struck a bum note and made me like him less. Still, perhaps he just made that up too.
The Pink Jumpsuit – Emma Neale
This is a collection of evocative, affecting, poetic, imaginative short stories. (Extremely short: microfiction, I think it’s called.) Some are slices of life, some are magical, some are funny, but they are all beautiful and satisfying to read.
This review is about books, Emma Neale, New Zealand, short stories. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment
Reservoir 13 — Jon McGregor
This wonderful novel opens on New Year’s Day, and a girl has gone missing: the whole village has turned out to search for her. It seems that we are in for a missing person mystery, or possibly a whodunit. As days go by we meet some of the inhabitants of the village and learn about their own stories. There is also a lot about the mundane happenings of village life, and a lot about the natural world of plants and animals too as the days turn to weeks and months.
Continue readingThe Flame of Reason — Christer Sturmark
This is quite a well-argued and eminently reasonable defence of atheism. It’s much more measured and even-handed than the likes of Christopher Hitchens or even Richard Dawkins. It may still be preaching to the choir, but at least it’s a much nicer choir.
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Reality+ — David Chalmers
Reality+ is a compendium of half-baked speculation: part science fiction, part wishful techno-utopianism. The whole book is based on one very contentious, if not indefensible, premise: that it is possible for a simulated consciousness to actually be conscious.
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This review is about books, David Chalmers, mind, philosophy. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment
The Imaginary Museum — Ben Eastham
This is an essential essay on contemporary art. The author takes us on a tour through a fictional contemporary art museum containing real artworks. He talks a bit about the works, offering insights that allow us to appreciate them more. It’s like wandering through a good art gallery, having a wide-ranging discussion with a hugely knowledgeable but somewhat cynical friend.
Continue reading300 Arguments – Sarah Manguso
Think of this as a short book composed entirely of what I hoped would be a long book’s quotable passages
That’s one of the “arguments”, which neatly describes the book. It’s easy to review a book like this: all I have to do is quote a few of the aphorisms.
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