by Kerstin Hensel
A short novel published by the ever wonderful Peirene press.
This story is set in East Germany and tells the story of Gabriela. She was born into a family of privilege but also a troubled family. She never fit in and by the time we catch up with her she is living rough under a bridge in Leipzig. The story darts back and forwards in time as Gabriela tells us the story of her childhood at the same time as we discover what is happening to her in the present. It is a beautiful sad story 7/10
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
4321
by Paul Auster
A novel about an American called Archie Ferguson who shares my birthday!
The numbers in the title refer to the four lives that this character might have lived between his birth in 1947 and the early 1970's.
It is beautifully written with common links along the way in American history. It could have been a little bit cliched and forced but it wasn't. The final chapter of the book unlocks some of the secrets of what has been happening in the storytelling which just added to its pleasure. I will miss you Archie(s)! 8/10
A novel about an American called Archie Ferguson who shares my birthday!
The numbers in the title refer to the four lives that this character might have lived between his birth in 1947 and the early 1970's.
It is beautifully written with common links along the way in American history. It could have been a little bit cliched and forced but it wasn't. The final chapter of the book unlocks some of the secrets of what has been happening in the storytelling which just added to its pleasure. I will miss you Archie(s)! 8/10
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Elmet
by Fiona Mozley
This is a debut novel but what a novel. From the outset it throws you off balance.
The narrator, a teenage boy seems to be wandering through some future post apocalyptic landscape but it turns out he isn't.
He calls his father daddy throughout the book but this does not quite fit with the character we learn about as the book unfolds and we learn why the boy is wandering as he is.
The other character is his sister who turns out to be far from the quiet retiring sort we are lulled into thinking she might be. It is a compelling read and although I found the ending very difficult to read it was a novel that challenged our views of family, commitment and society. 8/10
This is a debut novel but what a novel. From the outset it throws you off balance.
The narrator, a teenage boy seems to be wandering through some future post apocalyptic landscape but it turns out he isn't.
He calls his father daddy throughout the book but this does not quite fit with the character we learn about as the book unfolds and we learn why the boy is wandering as he is.
The other character is his sister who turns out to be far from the quiet retiring sort we are lulled into thinking she might be. It is a compelling read and although I found the ending very difficult to read it was a novel that challenged our views of family, commitment and society. 8/10
Lincoln on the Bardo
by George Saunders
A remarkable novel told in an unusual way through a myriad of voices.
The basic construct is that on the night Abraham Lincoln's son dies he gets caught in the bardo(purgatory) and some well meaning souls also caught there try to help him along to paradise while at the same time the grieving father visits the grave to hold his son for one last time. The characters are at various times funny, horrific, coarse but all universally dead!
I got a bit bored with it by the end but I enjoyed the imagination 6/10
A remarkable novel told in an unusual way through a myriad of voices.
The basic construct is that on the night Abraham Lincoln's son dies he gets caught in the bardo(purgatory) and some well meaning souls also caught there try to help him along to paradise while at the same time the grieving father visits the grave to hold his son for one last time. The characters are at various times funny, horrific, coarse but all universally dead!
I got a bit bored with it by the end but I enjoyed the imagination 6/10
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