The Bostonians
I read The Bostonians coming fresh off of reading Cloud Cuckoo Land and I am a bit astonished at the contrast. The latter is a contemporary novel with an obvious underlying ethos which I am predominantly in line with, but...
historical
Babel
There is a bit here of the young-adult, which of course is nothing to be ashamed of, but means that it is a bit simplistic, a bit stilted, and a bit preoccupied by its own project. Which like, it’s a...
Against The Day
Trust
The Remains Of The Day
The Books Of Jacob
A favorite trope of mine is the sprawling geneological novel, painting a picture of a culture and its transformation over time through the story of a particular family throughout several generations - it is a trope I don’t have many...
If Beale Street Could Talk
Most books I read which strive to be about the Black experience living in America are ultimately about trauma, for obvious reasons. If Beale Street Could Talk also has its fair share of trauma and no happy ending - but...
Shadow Country
The term shadow cousins refers to family members that are excommunicated, not spoken of and ignored. At least in the parlance of the book; I suppose in real life as well, although I have not heard of it elsewhere. The...
A Gentleman In Moscow
It is a bit suspicious that this was published after Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel came out, but as much of a Anderson fanboy as I am, I think this may have done it better. Declining customs of an...
Red Sorgum
There is I think probably a thread of brilliance that winds its way though this novel - but I was rarely quite able to grasp it. I am a bit suspicious of the translation; the writing has a kind of...