The Strangler Vine is an interesting novel – part road-trip, part examination of British-Indian relations in the 1800’s and part detective story starring an opium addicted poet, a by-the-book soldier, a shady mercenary and a bloodthirsty cult. If all that sounds like a bit much to take in, it’s not as Tarantino as described! It’s a carefully plotted novel, slowly dropping plot-points like breadcrumbs along the road at regular intervals. The story follows the mismatched duo of William Avery, a self-important junior officer in the East […]
A strange novel filled with creeping visions and woozy memories – a purgatory on earth filled with nightmares.
The story is narrated in journal form by a biologist sent as part of a team to a contaminated coastal zone known as Area X, a mysterious location seemingly unbridled by the rules of the natural world. We are not introduced to the members of the party by name, each character is instead clinically referred to only by their role. Eleven previous teams were sent, all of which never returned, died shortly after or came back different. This theme of transmutation permeates through the whole […]
An uplifting and poetic ode to literature.
Set in a Japanese prison during the Second World War, The Investigation is the story of two prison guards and their separate dealings with a young prisoner – a fictionalised version of the well-respected Korean poet Yun Dong-ju. The novel is inspired by his life, works and death, placing his wistful and hopeful poems within the text for both us and the characters to discover. The novel begins with a well-educated young guard called Watanabe taking up the role of censor in the prison, as well as […]
Please do not enter
I’ve read a few other Matthew Pearl books before. They’re decent historical mysteries, for what they are. Pearl’s writing is fine, for what it is. But then there comes a point where one has to say “enough.” I pretty much always read every book to the end, no matter how bad it is. Not this time. Observe: Hammie’s jet-black hair was parted smartly, impervious to the breeze, but his bulbous forehead and gourdlike chin, inexpertly shaved, overshadowed his otherwise bland facial features, which seemed to have […]