Showing 1-16 of 19 Results.
Salter’s first novel in decades is further assurance of his deserved stature in American letters. All That Is tells the story of Philip Bowman, a naval officer who enters the world of publishing in New York in the 1950s. As his career advances, Philip embarks on a series of relationships that take him to Europe and back again, in and out of marriage and love. Known for his controlled and precise prose, the author’s sentences are understated yet evocative, perfectly capturing the quiet joys and sorrows of life. This is a great, intelligent read for the (hopefully long and hot) summer months. - Ed |
A Nigerian man wanders the streets of New York; partly an escape from the strictures of his work, it nevertheless does little to assuage his sense of alienation from the city he now lives in. By traversing the physical and cultural world of the city he tries to comprehend his place in it and understand other people's perceptions at the same time. - Edward |
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Veering between the comic and tragic, the self-contemptuous and the inspired, this is a dazzling introduction to one of the smartest, funniest and most audacious writers of a generation. - Edward |
Tolle’s immensely popular book helps the reader to refocus on something which is actually very simple but which gets lost in the speed or routine of everyday activities. He encourages living in the present, valuing now and the happiness that is to be found in this more centred. Open approach to life. In this sense it’s spiritual and meditative but very readable.
- Louisa |
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Carson McCullers’ work is timeless and deals with somewhat obscure and grotesque characters. Or are they, really? What does it mean to be different and how does society receive individuals? Probably the most well known story is ‘The Ballad of the Sad Café’, which tells of Miss Amelia, who was once married to violent Marvin Macy. She leads a solitary life until the hunchback Lymon enters her world, claiming to be her cousin. Without giving away too much, this is a story that beautifully demonstrates the frailty of humanity, the fickleness of love and the crushing pain of rejection. - Telka |
Haruki Murakami; Jay Rubin Toru Okada lives alone, his wife increasingly estranged. After the cat leaves too, his life becomes more and more unreal as he meets a host of characters from a soldier to the rebellious teenager next door who begin to expose the crushing banality of his life so far. - Edward |
The rise and fall and rise again of Lev, a man searching for a new life and opportunities in Britain straight from Eastern Europe. A very humane portrait of a modern immigrant, tenderly drawn, funny and much like a modern fable. One of the best novels I read in 2008.
- Rachael |
Mikhail Bulgakov; Andrey Kurkov;... When the brilliant professor Philip Philipovich befriends a stray dog Sharik, he has all ingredients to conduct his most groundbreaking operation. He implants human testicles on Sharik, which results in an appalling and intolerable human being who has a penchant for chasing cats. If you can’t make a man out of a human, how do you expect to make a man out of a dog? Inventive and experimental, this book is both entertaining and politically and socially critical, in a proper Bulgakovian style. - Telka |
Tove Jansson; Ali Smith; Thomas Teal Tove Jansson is a Finnish author mainly known for writing the Moomin stories. However, I would like to direct your attention towards her fiction. I loved this book because it paints a perfect and intriguing portrait of Scandinavia. Cool and quiet as falling snow, it’s full of nature; it’s so daunting, and yet so inviting as Scandinavia itself. - Telka |
A weighty-but-worth-it book from the man who brought hit TV show The Wire into the world. Following the case load of the over-worked homicide detectives in America’s Baltimore and uncovering untold amounts of violence and intrigue. |
A classic bildungsroman, this follows the fortunes of Philip Carey, an orphan brought up by his Aunt and Uncle who struggles to break free from the conventions placed upon him and pursue a life enamoured with the freedom he so desires. Often seen as reflective of Maugham's early years, this is heartfelt and always concerned with the central questions of life. - Edward |
Diaz's stories focus on young narrators living in the Dominican Republic and New Jersey, trying to come up with their own rules for living as they negotiate immigration, family and their burgeoning hopes and dreams for their own lives. - Edward |
Yoko Ogawa; Stephen Snyder These dark, elegant and disturbing three novellas posses strange beauty which draw you in and don't let go. First they introduce you to a teenager who falls for her foster brother and secretly indulges in cruelty, then continues to journey through peculiar pregnancy and finally climaxes with a story as dark and teasing as the first two novellas. Nothing is as it seems and the sublime beauty of the writing gives you a pleasurable read which tingles in the mind long after.
- Telka |
The protagonist or protagonists of this story drift between cities, engaged in riotous bout of drinking and very little work. When one meets an enigmatic and beautiful woman, he wonders if he can have it all or whether everything will just collapse around him. - Edward |