Poor Things by Alasdair Gray
I wanted to love this book. On the face of it, it ticks off a lot of boxes that appeal to me. It could be that my mind is unfocused right now because a lot is going on at home, but I really think there is a problem with this book. I’d never heard of it before the movie came out and maybe I know why. It’s tedious and pedantic. Poor Things is a kind of Mary Shelley Frankenstein story where the “monster” is a […]
Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran
Snow, Glass, Apples was a gift from cannonballer Ardaigle for the CBR15 Holiday Book Exchange. I’d put it on my wish list because I’ve enjoyed the Gaiman novels that I’ve read so far and the art for this short story looked (and truly is) gorgeous. As you might guess from the title, this is a version of Snow White, but it is not like any Snow White I’ve ever read. Like the works of Angela Carter and Helen Oyeyemi, this is an adult fairy tale, […]
The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton’s 1913 novel The Custom of the Country is a commentary on manners and society in the vein of a Jane Austen novel, and it is a dark, brooding tale of dysfunctional families reminiscent of the Brontes. The main character, Undine Spragg, is a strikingly beautiful young woman from one of the upstart “new” families, desperately trying to break into New York society and make a good marriage to old money. I’ve seen the name Undine Spragg come up quite a lot recently in […]
Shutter: A Novel by Ramona Emerson
The first chapter of Shutter is tough to read. Main character Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer for the Albuquerque police department, and she is on assignment. A young woman named Erma Singleton has either jumped or been pushed to her death from an overpass over an interstate highway, and now Rita must photograph all the remains at the scene. Being a forensic photographer, seeing the aftermath of such violence on a daily basis and taking hundreds of detailed shots of it, would take an […]
I can’t wait to start reading! Thanks so much!
Symposium: A Novel by Muriel Spark
There is something about writers from Scotland, rather like those from Scandinavia, that just brings along the darkness. Reading Muriel Spark’s short 1990 novel Symposium reminded me of a read from last year, Elspeth Barker’s 1991 novel O, Caledonia. Both novels feature old moneyed families fallen on hard times in Scotland, and both cast a gimlet eye on the intellectual, propertied class. Also, both are excellent, quick reads. Symposium is a murder mystery that happens while a dinner party is occurring. Sparks takes us in […]
