Topic: Male authors
New with Topic: Male authors
higgis posted a blog entry
Rabbit Redux by John Updike (James’s book 50, 2009)
Rabbit Redux is the second instalment in John Updike’s quartet of novels centred on Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom....
Rabbit Redux is the second instalment in John Updike’s quartet of novels centred on Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom....
higgis posted a blog entry
Rabbit, Run by John Updike (James’s book 49, 2009)
Updike’s Rabbit novels are his most famous and highly regarded books. He started Rabbit, Run, the first of the four...
Updike’s Rabbit novels are his most famous and highly regarded books. He started Rabbit, Run, the first of the four...
higgis posted a blog entry
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (James’s book 48, 2009)
Colm Tóibín is a wonderful writer, and Brooklyn appeared to a rapturous critical reception. It was rumoured to be a strong...
Colm Tóibín is a wonderful writer, and Brooklyn appeared to a rapturous critical reception. It was rumoured to be a strong...
higgis posted a blog entry
Cold Calls by Christopher Logue (James’s book 47, 2009)
Cold Calls is the penultimate volume in Logue’s reworking of Homer’s Iliad, which he collectively calls War Music....
Cold Calls is the penultimate volume in Logue’s reworking of Homer’s Iliad, which he collectively calls War Music....
higgis posted a blog entry
The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy (James’s book 46, 2009)
I sat down to read this collection of Tolstoy’s (mainly) later stories, and immediately felt as if I was in the company...
I sat down to read this collection of Tolstoy’s (mainly) later stories, and immediately felt as if I was in the company...
higgis posted a blog entry
Carry On, Jeeves by PG Wodehouse (Shane’s book 31, 2009)
I’ve never read any Wodehouse. The idea of a posh twit gadding about town with his servant just didn’t appeal to...
I’ve never read any Wodehouse. The idea of a posh twit gadding about town with his servant just didn’t appeal to...
higgis posted a blog entry
Nothing to be Frightened of by Julian Barnes (James’s book 45, 2009)
Julian Barnes is a wonderfully elegant writer, and one never finds a sentence of his with even the slightest flaw in it. In...
Julian Barnes is a wonderfully elegant writer, and one never finds a sentence of his with even the slightest flaw in it. In...
higgis posted a blog entry
The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe (Shane’s book 30, 2009)
This is another of my delves back into the history of detective fiction. Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue is...
This is another of my delves back into the history of detective fiction. Edgar Allan Poe’s Murders in the Rue Morgue is...
higgis posted a blog entry
John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead (Shane’s book 29, 2009)
Shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in 2002, this excellent novel by Colson Whitehead is concerned with race, tradition and the...
Shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in 2002, this excellent novel by Colson Whitehead is concerned with race, tradition and the...
higgis posted a blog entry
Epitaph for a Spy by Eric Ambler (James’s book 43, 2009)
Eric Ambler would have been 100 years old this year. To celebrate, Penguin have published five of his pre-war thrillers, novels...
Eric Ambler would have been 100 years old this year. To celebrate, Penguin have published five of his pre-war thrillers, novels...
higgis posted a blog entry
Trotsky by Robert Service (James’s book 42, 2009)
Trotsky has always intrigued me. He was an intellectual, a superb writer, but also a brutal proponent of terror, an ideologue...
Trotsky has always intrigued me. He was an intellectual, a superb writer, but also a brutal proponent of terror, an ideologue...
higgis posted a blog entry
The Original of Laura by Vladimir Nabokov (James’s book 41, 2009)
Vladimir Nabokov is one of the few writers to have written his greatest novels in a language other than his mother tongue. He...
Vladimir Nabokov is one of the few writers to have written his greatest novels in a language other than his mother tongue. He...
higgis posted a blog entry
The Wages of Wins by David Berri, Martin Schmidt, Stacey Brook (Shane’s book 28, 2009)
This is something of a niche title, I admit. If you’re not interested in American sports and economics, you’re...
This is something of a niche title, I admit. If you’re not interested in American sports and economics, you’re...
higgis posted a blog entry
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada (James’s book 39, 2009)
Alone in Berlin imagines a resistance to Hitler consisting of a husband and wife team who write and distribute handwritten...
Alone in Berlin imagines a resistance to Hitler consisting of a husband and wife team who write and distribute handwritten...
higgis posted a blog entry
The Third Reich at War by Richard J. Evans (James’s book 38, 2009)
There are so many histories of the Third Reich that it’s impossible for the common reader to have read even a small...
There are so many histories of the Third Reich that it’s impossible for the common reader to have read even a small...
higgis posted a blog entry
Four Quartets by TS Eliot (Ian’s book 15, 2009)
The first thing to note here is the sheer intellectual achievement of these poems. I’ve dragged myself through many dry,...
The first thing to note here is the sheer intellectual achievement of these poems. I’ve dragged myself through many dry,...
NicoleBo posted a blog entry
The Carnivore, by Mark Sinnett
Ray Townes and his wife Mary have had a mostly antagonistic relationship over the fifty odd years of their marriage....
Ray Townes and his wife Mary have had a mostly antagonistic relationship over the fifty odd years of their marriage....
27 days ago
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Book Review, Books Set in..., Books Set in...
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Book Review, Books Set in..., Books Set in...higgis posted a blog entry
The File by Timothy Garton Ash (James’s book 36, 2009)
The File is Timothy Garton Ash’s attempt to understand how the Stasi worked, through examining the file that they kept on...
The File is Timothy Garton Ash’s attempt to understand how the Stasi worked, through examining the file that they kept on...
higgis posted a blog entry
Crabwalk by Günter Grass (James’s book 35, 2009)
Günter Grass is a wilfully difficult writer. Not in the same way that Joyce or Pynchon are, by using obscure vocabuary, or...
Günter Grass is a wilfully difficult writer. Not in the same way that Joyce or Pynchon are, by using obscure vocabuary, or...
higgis posted a blog entry
Nixon and Kissinger by Robert Dallek (James’s book 34, 2009)
Richard Nixon’s reputation, or what’s left of it, rests entirely on his foreign policy. Once Dallek has finished...
Richard Nixon’s reputation, or what’s left of it, rests entirely on his foreign policy. Once Dallek has finished...
higgis posted a blog entry
Hunger by Knut Hamsun (Shane’s book 27, 2009)
This 1890 novel, Hamsun’s first, is widely considered to be a major influence on 20th Century literature. Hamsun wanted...
This 1890 novel, Hamsun’s first, is widely considered to be a major influence on 20th Century literature. Hamsun wanted...
higgis posted a blog entry
Inner Workings by J.M. Coetzee (James’s book 32, 2009)
It’s all gone a bit Coetzee-tastic around here. He’s the kind of author – Philip Roth is another – who...
It’s all gone a bit Coetzee-tastic around here. He’s the kind of author – Philip Roth is another – who...
NicoleBo posted a blog entry
Green Books Campaign: Daniel O’Thunder, by Ian Weir
This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today more than 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 books printed in an...
This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today more than 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 books printed in an...
35 days ago
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Book Review, Books Set In..., Books with Multiple...
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Book Review, Books Set In..., Books with Multiple...NicoleBo posted a blog entry
The Story of A Marriage, by Andrew Sean Greer
Pearlie and Holland are childhood sweethearts from Kentucky who have found each other again after being separated when Holland...
Pearlie and Holland are childhood sweethearts from Kentucky who have found each other again after being separated when Holland...
35 days ago
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Andrew Sean..., Book Review, Books With A Female...
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Andrew Sean..., Book Review, Books With A Female...higgis posted a blog entry
Mexico Set by Len Deighton (Ian’s book 14, 2009)
There are more spoilers below. Go and read the books first if you’re going to, I’ll ruin it for you...
There are more spoilers below. Go and read the books first if you’re going to, I’ll ruin it for you...
higgis posted a blog entry
The Innocent by David Szalay (James’s book 31, 2009)
The Innocent received some rave reviews, so I decided to check it out. It’s the story of an NKVD officer who is forced to...
The Innocent received some rave reviews, so I decided to check it out. It’s the story of an NKVD officer who is forced to...
higgis posted a blog entry
The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry (Shane’s book 26, 2009)
This is an odd book that inhabits the intersection between detective noir and comic fantasy. It has its moments and contains...
This is an odd book that inhabits the intersection between detective noir and comic fantasy. It has its moments and contains...
higgis posted a blog entry
Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol (Shane’s book 24, 2009)
It may seem unlikely, given the title, but Dead Souls is a comedy. Envisaged as a trilogy, only the first part was published...
It may seem unlikely, given the title, but Dead Souls is a comedy. Envisaged as a trilogy, only the first part was published...
higgis posted a blog entry
The White Hotel by D.M. Thomas (James’s book 29, 2009)
The White Hotel has been on my reading list for years and years. My English teacher at school in the 80s was always on about...
The White Hotel has been on my reading list for years and years. My English teacher at school in the 80s was always on about...
higgis posted a blog entry
Berlin Game by Len Deighton (Ian’s book 13, 2009)
Great book. To discuss it all I’m going to have to give away bits of the ending and things that happen along the way, and...
Great book. To discuss it all I’m going to have to give away bits of the ending and things that happen along the way, and...
higgis posted a blog entry
Summertime by J.M. Coetzee (James’s book 27, 2009)
Summertime is the final part of J.M. Coetzee’s semi-autobiographical trilogy that began with Boyhood and continued with...
Summertime is the final part of J.M. Coetzee’s semi-autobiographical trilogy that began with Boyhood and continued with...
higgis posted a blog entry
The Humbling by Philip Roth (James’s book 26, 2009)
Philip Roth is one of my very favourite authors, so it pains me to say that The Humbling is a catastrophic failure on almost...
Philip Roth is one of my very favourite authors, so it pains me to say that The Humbling is a catastrophic failure on almost...
NicoleBo posted a blog entry
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before, by David Yoo
Albert Kim starts the summer after his sophomore year of high school as someone who has given up on having any kind of social...
Albert Kim starts the summer after his sophomore year of high school as someone who has given up on having any kind of social...
54 days ago
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Books WIth A Male..., David Yoo, From My...
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Books WIth A Male..., David Yoo, From My...NicoleBo posted a blog entry
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before, by David Yoo
Albert Kim starts the summer after his sophomore year of high school as someone who has given up on having any kind of social...
Albert Kim starts the summer after his sophomore year of high school as someone who has given up on having any kind of social...
54 days ago
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Books WIth A Male..., David Yoo, From My...
Linus's Blanket
| Topics: My Thoughts On..., Books WIth A Male..., David Yoo, From My...higgis posted a blog entry
Youth by J.M. Coetzee (James’s book 25, 2009)
Youth is the second part of Coetzee’s fictionalised semi-autobiography, covering his early twenties. As with Boyhood, it...
Youth is the second part of Coetzee’s fictionalised semi-autobiography, covering his early twenties. As with Boyhood, it...
higgis posted a blog entry
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Shane’s book 23, 2009)
I’d read so many good things about this novel – in the press and from otherwise respectable people on Twitter...
I’d read so many good things about this novel – in the press and from otherwise respectable people on Twitter...
higgis posted a blog entry
2666 by Roberto Bolano (Shane’s book 22, 2009)
I felt a lot of pressure to consider this a masterpiece. After all, that’s how almost every critic has described it and...
I felt a lot of pressure to consider this a masterpiece. After all, that’s how almost every critic has described it and...
higgis posted a blog entry
Boyhood by J.M. Coetzee (James’s book 24, 2009)
J.M. Coetzee is possibly the greatest writer working in the English language at the moment. Unaccountably, his brilliant...
J.M. Coetzee is possibly the greatest writer working in the English language at the moment. Unaccountably, his brilliant...
higgis posted a blog entry
Rock Crystal by Adalbert Stifter (James’s book 23, 2009)
I picked up Rock Crystal because I saw somewhere – I can’t remember where – that it was W.G. Sebald’s...
I picked up Rock Crystal because I saw somewhere – I can’t remember where – that it was W.G. Sebald’s...
higgis posted a blog entry
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (Shane’s book 22, 2009)
The Kublai Khan sits in his garden while Marco Polo regales him with descriptions of the strange and wonderful cities he has...
The Kublai Khan sits in his garden while Marco Polo regales him with descriptions of the strange and wonderful cities he has...
NicoleBo posted a blog entry
Shutter Island, by Dennis Lehane
Son of a fisherman, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels has never been that comfortable on the water, yet on the water is where he finds...
Son of a fisherman, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels has never been that comfortable on the water, yet on the water is where he finds...
