I’ve been stuck on Harlan Coben since his Myron Bolitar days, but I have to say that even though I miss the funny give-and-take dialogue his novels keep getting better, more along the lines of his marvelous Tell No One. Coben likes dealing in flawed characters and in delving into the emotion of loss, which colors most of his novels of late. This was the driving force of Missing You, in which there are not one, but two missing people with whose memories NYPD Detective […]
Debut Harry Hole book is not bad, but contributes little to the Hole story at this late date
This is apparently the debut novel of Nesbo’s Harry Hole series, released in English only recently and after a whole raft of later Harry Hole mysteries were already long in the public domain in their English translation. While it is gratifying to learn that (1) Hole was once capable of a romantic relationship and (2) that Hole was once capable of having a whole conversation with someone, this novel doesn’t reveal a whole lot more about this morose if brilliant drunk of a detective except […]
A poet for our times: Adrienne Rich
My first post of 2015 is also my first of a book of poetry, and I couldn’t have chosen a better one than “Tonight No Poetry Will Serve” by the renowned American poet, social activist and feminist Adrienne Rich. I’m embarrassed to admit that I’ve never read any of Rich’s poetry before, and it took my youngest daughter Adrienne to introduce her to me. She is a revelation – her language is exquisite and painful, her anger fierce and authentic, her social conscience omnipresent. As […]
Pygmalion meets Jane the Ripper — a fascinating bit of fictionalized history
This is a lengthy, historically detailed and excitingly written mash-up of Pygmalion meets Jane the Ripper, with a high density of fascinating issues woven into the fabric of the story. Savage Girl takes place in 1875, and begins in Virginia City, Nevada, where a supremely wealthy New York family is visiting by private train. The father, Freddy Delegate, is a collector of human oddities and is intrigued by a supposedly genuine “feral child,” a young woman who is the star of a freak show and […]
A gorgeous series of novellas on the clash between old and new India
This collection of three novellas by, arguably, the greatest living Indian writer was a revelation for me. I have never read Desai’s works before and was blown away by the gorgeous tapestry of colors, smells, textures and sights she evoke with her writing. In this collection, she draws on the same themes of art and culture clash to draw out different but overlapping messages about change and stagnation, without necessarily championing one over the other. In the novella of the title, we are introduced […]
Life goes on after a global disaster … or does it?
While a lot of readers have used the word “subtle” to describe Perrotta’s book, I think it is a bit too kind. Yes, The Leftovers has an intriguing plot—the world has undergone a “Rapture” of a sorts, with millions of men, women and children, even babies, suddenly disappearing in front of their families, friends, in classrooms, at the workplace, driving their cars, taking showers, and leaving no clue as to what happened to them. The real story is what happens to those left behind, or […]
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