Another excellent work by Robert Harris. He has written a fully-researched but fictionalised account of the “Dreyfus affair” which split French society around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In his introduction Harris writes: “None of the characters … Continue reading →
What can I say about this seminal book that hasn’t already been said? It’s one of the founding texts of socialism, describing the plight of the working classes in the early 20th century when having a job meant you could … Continue reading →
A series of detective novels of varying merit by a French/American academic living in the city. Titles in order, with date read. Death at La Fenice (07.99) Death in a Strange Country (09.99) The Anonymous Venetian (10.99) A Venetian Reckoning … Continue reading →
I think this is the first book by Ian Rankin I’ve read, and my first Rebus novel. So what better than to start with the last one, set after Rebus has retired from the police force? Anyway, he’s back and … Continue reading →
Whatever else, this book is an amazing achievement. It is really three stories, separate but intertwined; each could be a book in its own right. Set between 1867 and 1909, the Stone of the title is a powerful and wealthy … Continue reading →
As you’d expect from Julian Barnes, an intriguing story which explores memories and how we interpret them. How can we tell true memories from false ones, and how does our interpretation change as time passes and other information comes to … Continue reading →
"It’s the new Sherlock Holmes book.""Really?""Yes, really! Well, not by Conan Doyle obviously but written by Dr Watson. Or rather, Anthony Horowitz pretending to be Dr Watson.""So is it any good, or some kind of joke thing?""Well …." It’s a … Continue reading →
A story about story-telling and the butterfly effect. Lively’s tale about the effects of a single random act on her half-dozen or so characters lifts them off into a chaotic swirl before subsiding and setting them back down in circumstances … Continue reading →
As my recent experience of prize-winning books has been a bit mixed I’m glad to say that I enjoyed this 2011 Costa Book of the Year. Set in late 18th century Paris it tells the story of a young engineer … Continue reading →
Quite a few people rate this book highly but I am not one of them. It’s tedious, dull, unconvincing and verging on pretentious. Trying to understand the enthusiasm, I even tried to see it as allegory but failed there too. … Continue reading →