Category Archives: Book and film reviews

My Dad gave this to me to read after he had finished.  A good, serviceable, honest thriller.  Very earnest in some ways, but what can you expect from the snowy plains of Minnesota.  I enjoyed it, even as I longed … Continue reading →

Spoilers in this review. Sango Malo by Bassek ba Kobhio is one of my favorite films from Africa to use for introducing African economic development issues.  The film was released in the heady days of 1991 when a new generation … Continue reading →

Look Who’s Back – Excellent first hour, as Hitler suddenly reappears in contemporary Germany.  It grinds on as commentary on the media. Victoria – Two hour film, all one take, of a robbery gone awry. Technically it is wonderful to … Continue reading →

I arrived here last night, but so far all I have done for one day is talk about FAVL for about eight straight hours, and that is pretty boring for you blog readers, so instead I will give brief report … Continue reading →

Bill already gave this short novel by J.L. Carr the perfect short review, so there is not much I can add.  Makes you want to learn the names of plants and also become an art restorer, in your spare time.  … Continue reading →

I am about three years behind the times, but what a phenomenal novel.  Very small in its subject, the childhood friendship of two girls, from about ten to sixteen, growing up in Naples in the 1950s, the book nevetheless feels … Continue reading →

Over the weekend I read two Niq Mhlongo short novels, Dog Eat Dog and After Tears.  They are full of energy and vivid description.  Very sexually explicit. Gritty, dirty, occasionally funny, and of course very poignant.  The writing is not … Continue reading →

Over the past few weeks I have been reading very light fiction. Kate Atkinson’ Life After Life  is a “repeat time but not quite sure are repeating” alt-history English potboiler (mainly concentrating on the emotional ties within a family, and … Continue reading →

The novel is set in Jamaica and re-tells, through fiction, the attempted killing of Bob Marley in 1976. Great podcast interview in The Guardian. Here is the link.

I read This House is Not for Sale by E.C. Osondu over the weekend.  It is a collection of vignettes, organized around the conceit of “Grandpa’s house” on the outskirts of (maybe) Lagos, where misfits and miscreants share a common … Continue reading →

Geoff Ryman’s Was (a novel) is something that I saw mentioned or eventually linked to from a tweet by Susan Stinson.  From the blurb I knew this was my kind of novel, and it did not disappoint.  A complex overlapping … Continue reading →

Leslie grabbed Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke by chance at the university library’s pop reading shelves.  I remember seeing it and thinking, “Far too long.”  Leslie got several hundred pages into it and then stopped.  Idly, because … Continue reading →

On the flight to and back from Korea I saw some excellent films that I highly recommend.  Airplane film choices are now so excellent (for people like me who like obscure movies) that I am starting to look forward to … Continue reading →

I’ve taken a break from reading serious fiction, and have enjoyed reading light stuff over the summer so far. Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen is very light.  She is a Bay Area resident, apparently.  The novelty in the … Continue reading →

The humans use Arecibo to look for extraterrestrial intelligence. Their desire to make a connection is so strong that they’ve created an ear capable of hearing across the universe. But I and my fellow parrots are right here. Why aren’t … Continue reading →

I read “Please Look After Mom” and had intended to blog a few words about it.  For me it was hard to know how the novel would read in Korean, but the English translation made it come across as quite … Continue reading →

Recently on Twitter: In fairness to Jonathan Franzen, has there ever really been a good sex scene? — Michael Schaub (@michaelschaub) May 13, 2015 Michael Cunningham reads “Dumbness Is Everything” by Harold Brodkey suggests the answer may be yes, and … Continue reading →

He is such a good writer, his omissions can be forgiven, maybe?  I loved reading the book. It is short, sentences are well-crafted, anecdotes from his experiences told with gusto.  He experienced awful stuff.  But the omissions… I loved this … Continue reading →

One of my favorite authors.  And now he proves he could be writing for Harpers… a science fiction story in the style of an extended essay.  And you learn more about how to think about the technology of writing than … Continue reading →