Steve’s Bookers – Wyl Menmuir THE MANY Friday, 12 Aug 2016, 20:44Visible to anyone in the world- Edited by Steve Bamlett, Friday, 12 Aug 2016, 20:45 This was a strange choice for the Booker Longlist. It opens as with echoes of The Wicker Man – ordinary ‘urban’ middle class couple enter a remote fishing village. One expects their … More Can male fertility-anxiety make a novel? Steve’s 2016 Bookers – Wyl Menmuir THE MANY

Steve’s Bookers: Paul Beatty THE SELLOUT Tuesday, 9 Aug 2016, 15:01Visible to anyone in the world- Edited by Steve Bamlett, Tuesday, 9 Aug 2016, 15:06 This is difficult, because despite my total agreement with the critical positivity surrounding this book, I found it hard to read. That may be, I think, either because I have a … More On reading racism and self: Steve’s 2016 Bookers: Paul Beatty THE SELLOUT

Steve’s Bookers: Ottessa Mossfegh EILEEN Thursday, 11 Aug 2016, 20:06Visible to anyone in the world- Edited by Steve Bamlett, Thursday, 11 Aug 2016, 20:07 Sometimes you come across a novel so stunning that words fail you. This is such a novel. It can’t be said to be a joy to read – it has that quality … More On false Christmases: Steve’s 2016 Bookers: Ottessa Mossfegh EILEEN

Steve’s Bookers – Ian McGuire THE NORTH WATER Thursday, 18 Aug 2016, 13:58Visible to anyone in the world- Edited by Steve Bamlett, Thursday, 18 Aug 2016, 14:02– Edited by Steve Bamlett, Thursday, 18 Aug 2016, 14:01 Following a 2nd read of this novel, I still want to predict a winner, although its nearest rival must be Eileen. The book … More Steve’s Bookers 2016– Ian McGuire THE NORTH WATER

Steve’s Bookers – J.M. Coetzee THE SCHOOLDAYS OF JESUS (TSOJ). For review of third book in trilogy use this link: https://stevebamlett.home.blog/2020/01/01/reflecting-on-the-death-of-jesus-2020-by-j-m-coetzee-london-harvill-secker-the-third-and-final-book-of-his-jesus-trilogy/ Friday, 26 Aug 2016, 10:53Visible to anyone in the world- Edited by Steve Bamlett, Friday, 26 Aug 2016, 11:06 I have read every Coetzee novel as it appeared but I cannot find, as recent reviewers … More Steve’s Bookers 2016 – J.M. Coetzee THE SCHOOLDAYS OF JESUS (TSOJ).

Reflecting on The Freedom to Think Kurdistan (2019) by James Kelman, Glasgow, thi wurd. The impenetrability of this, seeking the entry and if this entry was to be discovered I could not discover it it was outside myself beyond myself, it was, I not discover it, could not. Kelman (2001:14) Translated Accounts: a novel  London, … More Reflecting on ‘The Freedom to Think Kurdistan’ (2019) by James Kelman, Glasgow, thi wurd.

Steve’s Ought-To-BE-Bookers – James Kelman DIRT ROAD Tuesday, 23 Aug 2016, 10:53Visible to anyone in the world- Edited by Steve Bamlett, Tuesday, 6 Sep 2016, 09:27– Edited by Steve Bamlett, Tuesday, 23 Aug 2016, 11:01 I am a dedicated fan of the writing of James Kelman and inclined to agree with his assessment that he is marginalised … More James Kelman DIRT ROAD and the 2016 Booker.

Approaching the sonnet sequence/cycle as a narrative: A case-study of Vidyan Ravinthiran (2019) The Million-Petalled Flower Of Being Here Hexham, Bloodaxe Books. This is a revised version following useful contact on Twitter (see Comments) with Christine Mcgregor, Publicity Officer at Bloodaxe Books. She kindly pointed out that I had mistaken the identification of the poet … More REVISED. Vidyan Ravinthiran (2019) – Approaching the sonnet sequence/cycle as a narrative: A case-study of ‘The Million-Petalled Flower Of Being Here’.