Category Archives: review

Alison Moore, The Lighthouse, and Cristoph Simon, Zbinden’s Progress

Posted on November 28, 2012 by

I seem to have been reading a lot about walking recently, but everything I read takes me back to a single text called In Praise of Walking. It was written by Thomas A Clark some years ago and, even though I … Continue reading →

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Andrés Neuman, Traveller of the Century

Posted on July 25, 2012 by

I first came across the name of Andrés Neuman a few months ago, when I got round to reading the number of Granta dedicated to young Spanish-language novelists.  Ostensibly about grief, his story – “After Helena” – is a brightly … Continue reading →

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Michel Tournier, The Erl-King (on normblog)

Posted on April 13, 2012 by

Just over a month ago, Norman Geras did me the honour of asking me to contribute a second time to his Writer’s Choice series on normblog. The first time I wrote about Christopher Isherwood‘s second novel, The Memorial, due to … Continue reading →

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Richard Gwyn, The Vagabond’s Breakfast

Posted on April 9, 2012 by

I was drawn to this book for a number of reasons. The first is that Richard Gwyn and I crossed paths briefly many years ago, in the council estates of East London, and – if I’m not confusing him with … Continue reading →

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Dreamhouse, by Alison Habens

Posted on January 22, 2012 by

What an odd book this is. And in the best possible sense. I came across it some time ago in a list made by Scott Pack of books that hadn’t attracted the attention they deserved – a subject dear to my bruised, neglected heart. … Continue reading →

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Sarah Salway: An Appreciation

Posted on December 8, 2011 by

This is another one of those posts that starts off with a disclaimer, I’m afraid. I first met Sarah Salway a few months ago when she bought me lunch at Waterstones in Piccadilly, but we’d been in touch for a … Continue reading →

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Out of Sight, by Isabelle Grey

Posted on September 28, 2011 by

First of all, a disclaimer. Isabelle Grey and I knew each other at university. We lost touch after that, and only made contact again last November, after 35 years, when Isabelle left a message on this very blog to say hello … Continue reading →

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Cleaver, by Tim Parks

Posted on September 19, 2011 by

I’m a fan of Tim Parks, not just the kind that buys and reads his books with pleasure, but the aspirational kind. It started years ago, when he was publishing his first novels and I was writing (and not publishing) … Continue reading →

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Siri Hustvedt, The Summer without Men

Posted on June 3, 2011 by

What must it be like to be left by one’s partner after years of marriage? It’s a subject that’s often addressed in novels, but my impression is that these novels tend to be written by women. (I’d like to be … Continue reading →

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David Mitchell, Black Swan Green

Posted on May 30, 2011 by

The first book I remember being given by anyone outside my immediate family was an end-of-year prize awarded by the local Sunday school - Enid Blyton’s The Land of Far Beyond. I was six years old and the prize was for attendance rather than … Continue reading →

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