Category Archives: Book and film reviews

I was flummoxed by Camille Bordas short story “The State of Nature” in April 9 2018 The New Yorker. It is clearly a very formal exercise. There is something about the syntax or the paragraph construction that could be understood … Continue reading →

Wait, I thought, the broken wine glass! Or could it be a water glass? At any rate, it is one of the movie’s more famous riddles. The moment is so deliberate and messy and startling — the hotel sequence is … Continue reading →

La Tabla Esmeralda, by Carla Montero. I wanted to read a big fat novel in Spanish, and this one certainly did the trick.  A rehash of Possession. Vie et ensignement de Tierno Bokar, by Amadou Hampate Ba. Tremendously interesting short … Continue reading →

This movie was so intimate and painful to watch finally I gave up and turned it off. Despite a career spanning nearly three decades, Yukiko Mishima hasn’t appeared on many lists of up-and-coming Japanese female directors, mine included. One reason: … Continue reading →

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie is a fantastic sprawling sci-fi story, set in the far future, with an AI as the central character. The character development is superb, and I especially appreciated the spot-on nuance about how AI might operate. … Continue reading →

I picked up a copy of Contes du jour et de la nuit at our local San Jose second-hand bookstore, Recycle Books, and have been enjoying reading one of the early masters of the short story form. In some ways … Continue reading →

Actually gone skiing, in the miserable snow of Bear Valley… what’s that you said about global climate change Donald Trump? C’est faux! And anyway, gone fishing? I’m a vegetarian. So not likely.  But it is just an expression. And I … Continue reading →

For recent leisure reading lately I read four novels/novellas/collections/YA. China Miéville, The Census Taker.  While I did not enjoy the novella, it was like a good workout, following along with an excellent writer a concept, “What would a novel be … Continue reading →

I occasionally read young adult fiction, sometimes because my kids are reading something, sometimes because I like to imagine what such fiction would be like for French West African readers.  I finished Every Day by David Levithan over a couple … Continue reading →

I actually enjoyed, somewhat Anathem by Neal Stephenson, but Seveneves was flat out bad after about 300 pages… and it continued until 800 something.  I slogged, skimming.  Burst out laughing at the explanation for genetic engineering of Neanderthals in cramped … Continue reading →

“Never Let Me Go” is an amazing novel.  Poignant and urgent.  From The New York Times: Mr. Ishiguro, 62, is best known for his novels “The Remains of the Day,” about a butler serving an English lord in the years … Continue reading →

On the flight back from Burkina Faso I got to read three short stories from old issues of The New Yorker that I found in the FAVL office, leftovers from 2014! “Story with Bird” by Kevin Canty is an amazing … Continue reading →

Last year I start to read Wasp Factory by Iain Banks but I could not finish it: too bleak, too violent, too disturbing.  But I saw a mention of Feersum Endjinn somewhere, and so requested it through interlibrary loan.  What … Continue reading →

Arcadia, by Iain Pears.  Superb sci-fi/fantasy novel.  If you liked The Magicians by Lev Grossman, or Jo Walton’s Among Others, then good news: this is much better!  It really is almost perfect.  And it deliberately mashes in As You Like … Continue reading →

On Netflix.  Interesting.  I think OK to fast-forward through the beginning, which indeed is very slow. On his way home, the unexpected happens. At the train station, on the other side of the tracks, a distinguished looking man in glasses … Continue reading →

“Save a Horse Ride a Cowgirl” by Ann Beattie appeared in the November 23, 2015 issue of The New Yorker.  Another story about growing older. This one with a deliberate nod to Chekhov and the seagull… Does Bree destroy Ryall, … Continue reading →

While on vacation last week I read a bunch of short stories from the past couple years from The New Yorker.  Sorry to say that many were not very good.  I don’t expect perfection, and it is nice to read … Continue reading →