fiction
Ottessa Moshfegh: Death in Her Hands review - a case of murder mindTuesday, 29 September 2020
Death in Her Hands was a forgotten manuscript, the product of a series of daily automatic writing exercises performed by Ottessa Moshfegh in 2015 and then set aside to marinade in a desk drawer while the world fell apart. Moshfegh’s characters “zoom... Read more... |
Matthew Sperling: Viral review - whip-smart satire about the void at the heart of techSunday, 13 September 2020
Strange, that novels like this, which seem to have their finger on the pulse of the zeitgeist, already have a tinge of sepia about them. Set in a bustling east Berlin, this sharply plotted tale of start-up bliss and blunder, then bliss again, sees... Read more... |
Naomi Booth: Exit Management review - unwrapping life's unpleasantnessSunday, 13 September 2020
When you try to get rid of something, it comes back to bite you – so says Naomi Booth in her new novel Exit Management. It’s one of those books that you want to read very quickly, its writing slickly modern and its characters compellingly flawed.... Read more... |
Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai: The Mountains Sing review - a lyrical account of Việt Nam’s brutal pastSunday, 30 August 2020
“The challenges of the Vietnamese people throughout history are as tall as the tallest mountains. If you stand too close, you won’t be able to see their peaks. Once you step away from the currents of life, you will have the full view…” This is the... Read more... |
Zalika Reid-Benta: Frying Plantain review - tales of growing up young, black and female in TorontoSunday, 16 August 2020
It is as unsurprising as it is vital that a spotlight has been thrown on writing by people of colour this year. It is unsurprising, too – looking at bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic since June – that most of that light is being shed on... Read more... |
Matt Haig: The Midnight Library review - an uplifting modern parableTuesday, 11 August 2020
TW: This article discusses suicide, suicidal ideation, antidepressants and self-harm We first meet Nora Seed, “nineteen years before she decides to die”, as she plays chess in the school library with Mrs Elm, the matter-of-fact school librarian... Read more... |
Hiromi Kawakami: People From My Neighbourhood review - deft and feather-lightWednesday, 05 August 2020
Deft and funny prose, in a feather-light translation by Ted Goossen, is the signature of Hiromi Kawakami's latest collection People From My Neighbourhood, a series of surreal and playful short stories offering a glimpse at the most curious and... Read more... |
theartsdesk Q&A: author Jorge ConsiglioSunday, 26 July 2020
Fate: commonly understood to mean the opposite of chance or, more narrowly speaking, a theological concept. Often synonymous with predetermination – an idea which might be used to justify a set of unfortunate or fortuitous events, whether you are... Read more... |
Bette Howland: Blue in Chicago review – the city on trial, with the writer as witnessTuesday, 07 July 2020
You feel at times, while reading the collection Blue in Chicago, that Bette Howland might have missed her vocation. In another life, Howland – until recently almost completely lost to literary history – could have made a name for herself as a... Read more... |
The Luminaries, BBC One review - one of the most visually arresting dramas of the yearMonday, 22 June 2020
Alarm bells start ringing whenever you discover an author is adapting their own work for a screenplay. In the case of New Zealand novelist Eleanor Catton, the alarm proves to be false. Over the course of seven years, and apparently 200 drafts... Read more... |
The King of Staten Island review - Apatow's best work in a decadeWednesday, 10 June 2020
The master of crowd-pleasing comedy, Judd Apatow, returns with another on-brand tale of arrested development with The King of Staten Island. While it's near his signature anarchic charm, this comedy-drama shows that even a veteran director/... Read more... |
Book extract: Holiday Heart by Margarita García Robayo translated by Charlotte CoombeSunday, 07 June 2020
Holiday heart, instead of sentimental love discovered on vacation, describes a faltering organ, overloaded from excess consumption: a heart at risk. In Margarita Garcia Robayo’s brilliantly observant, often sardonically pitched novel, the heart... Read more... |
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