Tag: book-review

Since Iris Murdoch we no longer have the right to centre our narratives on questions about a morally good person, for that demands consistency. Lets’s instead show how a satifying person in fiction is one who bears their inconsistency. On Edith Hall (2026) ‘Medea: A life’.

October 6, 2026

What does it mean to be a good person? View all responses Since Iris Murdoch we no longer have the right to centre our narratives on questions about a morally good person, for that demands consistency. Lets’s instead show how a satifying person in fiction is one who bears their inconsistency. ‘… determined to make … More Since Iris Murdoch we no longer have the right to centre our narratives on questions about a morally good person, for that demands consistency. Lets’s instead show how a satifying person in fiction is one who bears their inconsistency. On Edith Hall (2026) ‘Medea: A life’.

The most underrated skill is that which creates poly-mytho-factive worlds using the skills of curation, collage and, sometimes, the best of scholarship. A first blog on the joy of beginning to read Edith Hall, ‘Medea: A Life’, taking as an example Medea’s plea to help from her goddess-mother, Eidyia.

October 2, 2026

What’s the most underrated life skill? View all responses The most underrated skill is that which creates poly-mytho-factive worlds using the skills of curation, collage and, sometimes, the best of scholarship. A first blog on the joy of beginning to read Edith Hall (2026) Medea: A Life, New Haven & London, Yale University Press, taking … More The most underrated skill is that which creates poly-mytho-factive worlds using the skills of curation, collage and, sometimes, the best of scholarship. A first blog on the joy of beginning to read Edith Hall, ‘Medea: A Life’, taking as an example Medea’s plea to help from her goddess-mother, Eidyia.

How can a drama about men and their relation to work take on, and does it need to, the belief of its central character that a ‘man who is not married is living an unnatural life.’[1] Some personal, and otherwise, reflection on reading Robert Tressell before seeing the Ensemble ’84 production of ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’: Part Two, being on homosocial groups and heterosexual marriage.

October 1, 2026

The genie grants you a wish. What is it? View all responses How can a drama about men and their relation to work take on, and does it need to, the belief of its central character that a ‘man who is not married is living an unnatural life.’[1] Some personal and otherwise reflection on reading … More How can a drama about men and their relation to work take on, and does it need to, the belief of its central character that a ‘man who is not married is living an unnatural life.’[1] Some personal, and otherwise, reflection on reading Robert Tressell before seeing the Ensemble ’84 production of ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’: Part Two, being on homosocial groups and heterosexual marriage.

Should we start much earlier than we do learning about ‘Life, the littleness of it’. Do little books about littleness in enlarged contexts need prizes or forgetting? This is a blog on Emma Cline (2026) ‘Switzy’.

September 20, 2026

Should we start much earlier than we do learning about ‘Life, the littleness of it’.[1] Do little books about littleness in enlarged contexts need prizes or forgetting? Do little books about littleness in enlarged contexts need prizes? This is a blog on Emma Cline (2026) Switzy London, London, Chatto & Windus (Penguin). In a final … More Should we start much earlier than we do learning about ‘Life, the littleness of it’. Do little books about littleness in enlarged contexts need prizes or forgetting? This is a blog on Emma Cline (2026) ‘Switzy’.

As I said in an earlier blog, some books say we are already switching lives with a ‘fictional character’ in order to survive. The absolute best and most comprehensive writing of our time must ask, as Marlon James allows his characters to do, ‘Why am I writing this shit?’ Is it because our characters switch to fictional form so often? This is a blog on Marlon James (2026) ‘The Disappearers’.

September 18, 2026

As I said in an earlier blog, some books say we are already switching lives with a ‘fictional character’ in order to survive. The absolute best and most comprehensive writing of our time must ask, as Marlon James allows his characters to do, ‘Why am I writing this shit?’1 Is it because our characters switch … More As I said in an earlier blog, some books say we are already switching lives with a ‘fictional character’ in order to survive. The absolute best and most comprehensive writing of our time must ask, as Marlon James allows his characters to do, ‘Why am I writing this shit?’ Is it because our characters switch to fictional form so often? This is a blog on Marlon James (2026) ‘The Disappearers’.

‘Don’t get me into some philosophical bullshit about lie versus fiction. Fiction is creation. Lie is distortion. One don’t have a fucking thing to do with the other’. Words from Marlon James ‘The Disappearers’ (2026).

September 13, 2026

Sometimes our prompts invite us to validate a proposition that, to say the lest, is questionable and is, at the most a deliberate untruth. Look at this question, for instance: ‘If you had to switch lives with a fictional character for a week, who would you choose?’. It starts with a conditional phrase, ‘If you … More ‘Don’t get me into some philosophical bullshit about lie versus fiction. Fiction is creation. Lie is distortion. One don’t have a fucking thing to do with the other’. Words from Marlon James ‘The Disappearers’ (2026).

Although you never ever regret reading Colm Tóibín’s books, you may regret ‘The Bridge’ for raising the hope that ‘A Long Winter’ for his queer hero, Miquel (the finest of them all) never ends.

September 8, 2026

Colm Tóibín is a true writer of the heart but not from it, except in as much as hearts seem to beat on when there reasons for doing so, in the myth that the heart is the centre of emotional attachments or longing for such have not yet been initiated or have long gone. Later … More Although you never ever regret reading Colm Tóibín’s books, you may regret ‘The Bridge’ for raising the hope that ‘A Long Winter’ for his queer hero, Miquel (the finest of them all) never ends.

‘Stop saying words, my sister whispered back. I want to hear the story’. This is a blog  on Ali Smith (2024) ‘Gliff ‘.

August 28, 2026

‘Stop saying words, my sister whispered back. I want to hear the story’.[1] The paradox may be that we express our identity in words and names not in the process of telling and hearing our stories. I think Ali Smith thinks that may be true of the configuration of sex/gender too. This is a blog  … More ‘Stop saying words, my sister whispered back. I want to hear the story’. This is a blog  on Ali Smith (2024) ‘Gliff ‘.

This is a blog in preparation for an event in Edinburgh this coming Sunday as Colm Tóibín and Philippe Sands remember the Dirty Warriors that led the countries of Argentina and Chile and ‘disappeared’ their opponents. I want to know more about why all this matters so urgently again, now!

August 27, 2026

This is a blog in preparation for an event in Edinburgh this coming Sunday with Colm Tóibín and Philippe Sands. the essence of my interest lies in the following quotation. ‘The generals were in power then, and nobody stayed out late, even though the cafés and bars in the street around us remained open, eerily … More This is a blog in preparation for an event in Edinburgh this coming Sunday as Colm Tóibín and Philippe Sands remember the Dirty Warriors that led the countries of Argentina and Chile and ‘disappeared’ their opponents. I want to know more about why all this matters so urgently again, now!

‘The seams are pulled tight, the threads will surely begin to break. But is it, if they’re honest, not a little thrilling?’ This is a blog on Rebecca Perry (2026) ‘May We Feed The King’.

August 26, 2026

‘The seams are pulled tight, the threads will surely begin to break. But is it, if they’re honest, not a little thrilling?’[1] The threat of something excessive that will break through the fabric covering it, scattering every thread (even of narrative) that holds it together is only one of the indicators of worlds that fall … More ‘The seams are pulled tight, the threads will surely begin to break. But is it, if they’re honest, not a little thrilling?’ This is a blog on Rebecca Perry (2026) ‘May We Feed The King’.

Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July. Update.

August 23, 2026

Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July The question is open. Each year I set out to read at least some of the books. Here is the list for this year, which I will update as I progress through my reading and responses: 2026 Booker Longlist … More Do Booker winners become so for a reason? The 2026 Longlist came out on 28 July. Update.

Agathe, the first-person narrator of ‘The Vivisectors’ tells us that she has ‘never been good at …bringing disparate events into a cohesive narrative’ , such that either its parts looked like statues standing independently, thus to be gazed at or mixed up as if they were an ‘inchoate mass’. This is a blog on Missouri Williams (2026) ‘The Vivisectors’.

August 23, 2026

Some books can be read till their end but still not be ‘finished’. Agathe, the first-person narrator of The Vivisectors tells us that she has ‘never been good at …bringing disparate events into a cohesive narrative’ , independently, thus to be gazed at or mixed up as if they were an ‘inchoate mass’. Perhaps you … More Agathe, the first-person narrator of ‘The Vivisectors’ tells us that she has ‘never been good at …bringing disparate events into a cohesive narrative’ , such that either its parts looked like statues standing independently, thus to be gazed at or mixed up as if they were an ‘inchoate mass’. This is a blog on Missouri Williams (2026) ‘The Vivisectors’.