Brian Friel is known now to the world as one of Ireland’s preeminent playwrights. However, in the mid 1960’s he was more concerned with the short story. It was a brief dalliance as, by 1968, Friel had stopped writing short stories altogether, in favour of writing plays. It is said that Friel found the process…
Read more No 490 The Diviner by Brian Friel #readingirelandmonth20
Ablutions is my third time reading Patrick deWitt and he does not disappoint. I adored The Sisters Brothers and highly enjoyed French Exit, so was interested to see how his debut novel would measure up. Ablutions is told in the second person from the point of view of an unnamed young barman in LA…
I’ve long been a fan of Paul Auster’s work – since I was blown away by the New York Trilogy which I read – too many years ago – at university. For some unknown reason, I haven’t read any of his recent work so I was delighted to see the brilliant Annabel at Annabookbel introduce…
Read more No 496 Invisible by Paul Auster (for Paul Auster Reading Week)
Beside the Sea (Bord de Mer) is Véronique Olmi’s debut novel. First published in France in 2001, it went on to become a bestseller across Europe. This was the first book published by Peirene Press and it was a brave choice for a publisher that has now become synonymous with producing quality work in translation.…
Read more No 497 Beside the Sea by Véronique Olmi, translated by Adriana Hunter
Mother says there are rats in the rockery. ‘You’ll have to do something about them,’ she says, ‘or they’ll over-run the whole place.’ Ratman’s Notebooks was published in 1968 and was one of only four books that Stephen Gilbert wrote before he stopped writing altogether. The fact that it is still in print is probably…
Read more Northern Exposure: No 498 Ratman’s Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert
who knows if the moon’s a balloon coming out of a keen city in the sky–filled with pretty people? (and if you and I should get into it if they should take me and take you into their balloon, why then we’d go up higher with all the pretty people EE Cummings, The Moon’s…
Well, that’s it for another year. 20 Books of Summer ended yesterday and for myself, it has been a great success. All 5199 pages were read and then some! I read all 20 books – although a lot of those review were mini ones, which I had promised myself I would try to avoid. Time…
A few years ago, I read MJ Hyland’s masterful This Is How and was drawn to her controlled and confident style. Carry Me Down is another exceptional character study that draws the reader into a very particular and insular world – albeit a somewhat claustrophobic one. John Egan is 12 years old. Tall for his…
Read more No 523 Carry Me Down by MJ Hyland (Book 5 of #20booksofsummer)
Northern Exposure is my monthly series where I look at literature from Northern Ireland. I have three books by Northern Irish writers in my 20 Books of Summer stack and the first one up is Secrets and Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty. Secrets and Other Stories is Bernard MacLaverty’s first short story collection, originally published…
Read more No 525 Secrets and Other Stories by Bernard MacLaverty (Book 3 of #20booksofsummer)
