The title of this series of novels, at least in its trilogy form comes from the Tennyson poem “Ulyesses,” which is famously about the Greek hero looking back on his legacy and seeing how it has stripped him of her personal identity and value. I primarily know Anthony Burgess the same way that most of you (the Americans specifically) as the author of A Clockwork Orange, and if we’re being very honest from having watched the Stanley Kubrick film way too many time. But I […]
This is a terrible country. My Yolka took you to America. Why did you come back?” She seemed angry.
CBR10Bingo – Shiny! 2018 book I liked this book a lot. So much so that I almost gave it five stars. It’s more flawed than that would otherwise suggest, occasionally feeling repetitive or digressive. But the tone is incredibly infectious, the narrator is so succinct, and it’s so obvious that the author has a complete command over the subject matter. The novel is about a Russian scholar who has just come off his third unsuccessful turn on the academic job market, suffering from being too […]
‘Well, daughter, you can’t disappoint me anymore than you’ve already disappointed me, so tell me –what did you procure and which of them drab aunts did you procure it of?
CBR10Bingo – Snubbed Maybe this is a cheat, but I didn’t feel like waiting until September for the shortlist or October for the final prize awarding. Both of these book were longlisted for the Booker Prize this year, and since I had already read a few from the list (Warlight by Michael Ondaatje, The Overstory by Richard Powers, Sabrina by Nick Drnaso, and The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner) none of which I think will win (though Richard Power’s novel is very good, but it’s […]
I’m probably the only one.
Y’all I spent so much time at The Toast! I loved, loved, loved it. Enough that I go back and read my favourite posts over and over again—especially the art history ones, like this one. So, I’m just gonna say it. I did not like The Merry Spinster very much. Oooof, that hurt. This book was on everyone’s radar, and every review has praised its inventiveness. I get it. But it was fine. It was just, fine. I didn’t finish it all that long ago, but I honestly […]