Category Archives: Book and film reviews

A gorgeous morning.

A Cantinflas movie on the tv in our Airbnb in Madrid. I’m twelve years old again.

The paintings by Goya, Velasquez, Fortuny, and El Greco are amazing in the nearby Prado but you can’t take photos in the museum and really what can I add about Las Meninas, just a spectacularly amazing painting? The bonsai are … Continue reading →

Will write more about our very smooth travel later, but for now just want to say that it’s nice to be in Madrid!

I will be traveling in Spain for the next couple of weeks riding bicycles in the Galicia area. Very much looking forward to this break. We will be in the towns of Lugo, Orense, Pontevedra. will try to post pictures … Continue reading →

La casa verde, Mario Vargas LlosaWhat we can know: A novel, Ian McEwanI, Claudius, Robert GravesLa Hojarasca, Gabriel Garcia MarquezThe Dream Hotel, Leila LalamiSplendeurs et misères des courtisanes, Honoré de BalzacNives by Sacha NaspiniCatastrophe, Richard PosnerEl Amor en los tiempos … Continue reading →

Álvaro Enrigue, Tu sueño imperios han sidoCristina Rivera Garza, Autobiografía del algodón Christopher Priest, The Prestige Vladimir Nabokov, Pnin

Charles Burns, Final Cut. Appreciate it. Leaves you with fleeting emotion. Cinema and meta pretty nice. Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart. Things really do go rather badly for Okonkwo. Javier Marias, Todas las Almas. Gave up 1/2 way through. Just … Continue reading →

For some reason in leading up to the start of teaching classes in Sept. I did a lot of skim-reading in the last two months rather than complete book. But worthwhile a usual to keep track. Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains … Continue reading →

Henry James, Washington Square. I gave up about 2/3 way through. As usual with James, he just takes forever to advance the plot, and the long decriptions of character and motivations just make the reading tedious. Skimming to denouement, I … Continue reading →

Mostly light reading these two months, with Vila-Matas in reserve occasionally. Adrian Tchaikovsky, Made Things. Throwaway fantasy short novel. The usual. Fine for kids. At this point he must be able to write stuff like this in 2-3 days? Benjamin … Continue reading →

John Banville, The Sea. Highly literary fiction, with an unpleasant narrator, who spins a melodrama about aging and memory that definitely I will re-read someday. Had a great discussion about it with book club partner readers. Filled with details and … Continue reading →

Rachel Kushner, Creation Lake. Reminded me of Elizabeth Hand. A moody, philosophical novel, but on the whole meadering writing and for me not very inspiring. Eventually, I gave up about p. 270 with 100 pages left. At some point I … Continue reading →

Scott Alexander Howard, The Other Valley. Nicely done, sort of YA, regretful, and grim (like a woodcut!) time-travel story. Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Doors of Eden. Disappointing multi-earth multiverse story, a la Terry Pratchett. Some interesting evolution possibilities, but the plot … Continue reading →

I only use this blog to keep track of my book reading. Guy Gavriel Kay, A Brightness Long Ago. Excellent fictionalized novel with the Palio in Siena! Georges Simenon, Le passager du “Polarlys”. I was unimpressed. Enjoyed the French. I … Continue reading →