Monthly Archives: January 2012
Dried stains on sheets.
Three, by Ann Quin Ann Quin’s second novel, three, is superbly written. It’s a book as much about its own form and structure as it is about story, although here form and story cannot be separated. It’s less than 150 … Continue reading
Filed under Dalkey Archive Press, Modernist Fiction, Quin, Ann
Buying less
The TBR pile Like many people who enjoy reading I have a TBR (to be read) pile. In my case it’s a large pile, even though when I moved home in December 2010 I got rid of an awful lot … Continue reading
Filed under Personal posts
a case of chess poisoning
Chess, by Stefan Zweig and translated by Anthea Bell I loved Stefan Zweig’s novella Burning Secret. It was melodramatic, but successfully so with Zweig painting a subtle but intense psychological portrait of obsession and desire. I agree with Michael Hofmann … Continue reading
2011: That was the year that was
2011 was in many senses a frustrating reading year. I didn’t make the progress with Proust that I had hoped, and more than once I had to abandon good books not because I didn’t like them but because I was … Continue reading
Filed under Personal posts
We thought he would enter from the right…
Comedy in a Minor Key, by Hans Keilson and translated by Damion Searls The trouble with realism in fiction is that reality is often distinctly undramatic, and indifferent to the importance of consistent theme and genre. A cop show aiming … Continue reading
Filed under German Literature, Hesperus Press, Keilson, Hans, Novellas, Translation
It comes tight-packed
Sea Level, by Angela Leighton Like most people who don’t read a lot of poetry I find it incredibly hard to write about. It’s so personal. The usual analogy, one I often make myself, is to say that poetry is … Continue reading
Filed under Leighton, Angela, Poetry
