Did you know socialism was bad? You did? Good. Because it is, you know. Bad, that is – not good. Just thought you might need straightening out on that point, the one about socialism being bad. A lot of you westerners think it’s good, you see. But it’s not. It’s bad. This kind of preaching […]
Picador are giving away a proof copy of John Banville’s latest novel The Infinities http://bit.ly/10zA98 # Raymond Chandler’s gin gimlet (an approximation): http://bit.ly/RhFxA RT @MaudNewton # Man Booker longlist announced http://bit.ly/OYbcV # Are the Booker judges an ‘ethnicaly pure, upper middle class cartel’? http://bit.ly/Z2JRG # Giles Coren doesn’t hit back angrily at Mr Barry’s review? […]
‘Tragic’ was always one of those easy-to-reach for words used to describe Northern Ireland’s ‘troubles’. It managed to avoid picking sides, and recognised that things were more complicated on the ground than the simple catholic vs protestant / irish vs british equations. Not such a bad thing, but more often than not it was also […]
An astounding series of peaks across North-West Spain are reified in folklore as instantly recognisable landmarks nefarious conquistadors and regular Joes all fixed upon as they finally sailed into the serenity of home waters. Anabel Santiago’s 2007 album Desnuda is in effect a rejuvenation of a musical heritage which sails between those many Spanish traditions, the ghosts of imperialism, the […]
“I mean it really should be as close to idling as possible.” Joseph O’Neill on writing http://bit.ly/UOVIU # We like the sound of Bolano’s By Night in Chile http://bit.ly/XB76T # Which UK politician is the obvious choice for novelisation? http://bit.ly/M0XXP # More comments on the ‘Towards a Poetics of Anger’ essay http://bit.ly/sF04g # Unfinished Graham […]
writing has become a weapon http://bit.ly/10vEmi # 10 guidelines for structuring a short story http://bit.ly/xF2Cx # Reviewing the reviewers – the debate continues http://bit.ly/YXDcY # Off now to finish ‘Last train to liguria’ by Christine Dwyer Hickey # that should have been ‘from liguria’ of course – apologies # Extract from Leviathan, winner of the […]
It’s refreshing to hear an author declare in no uncertain terms that they don’t like the cover of their novel. M.J. Hyland did exactly that on a recent radio interview when asked about her latest novel This is How. Not, presumably because there’s anything wrong with the cover per se – it’s an elegant and […]
Amazon now in tax dispute with Japan. http://bit.ly/vwb08 RT @roncharles # extract from Mausolée Rouja Lazarova looks back at three generations of women under communism http://bit.ly/Rp48n # July issue of Words Without Borders is on Memory and Lies http://bit.ly/yd1fW # Humble yourself and take the GCSE literature quiz at the BBC http://bit.ly/WC6V0 # Google.it celebrate […]
Hemingway’s “Feast” more moveable than first realized http://bitly.com/jwaKJ # Faulkner trivia – he wanted to use coloured inks in ‘The Sound and the Fury’ to delineate multiple time periods http://bitly.com/S9B0N # William Burroughs and Susan Sontag on meeting Beckett http://bitly.com/i5XoM # Irish novelist Sean O’Reilly interviewed in TMO http://bitly.com/mYAx2 # On MATG, Niven Govinden wants […]