Laura reviewed Wall by John Lanchester
Fortress Britain
3 stars
An all-too-plausible near-future dystopia: borders are militarised, migrants are the enemy, and failure is severely punished. A solid - if dismal and depressing - read.
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I like literary fiction and speculative fiction.
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Laura finished reading Wall by John Lanchester
Laura reviewed Eight Detectives by Alex Pavesi
There are rules for murder mysteries. There must be a victim. A suspect. A detective. …
Murder mystery as exercise
2 stars
Lots of different ways to tell stories about murder. An interesting exercise but none of the stories are much good, so it just feels gimmicky.
Laura reviewed Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
A marvelous new novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Lowland and Interpreter …
Loneliness in translation
3 stars
Written originally in Italian and then translated into English by the author herself, this is an interesting experiment. The nameless narrator belongs and does not belong to the nameless Italian city in which she lives and which also lives around her.
Laura finished reading Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri
A marvelous new novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Lowland and Interpreter of Maladies—her first in …
Laura reviewed Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
A novel about obsession...
4 stars
...and frustration, and who has power over whom. Unusually, I liked the book even though it had no likeable characters.
Laura finished reading Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
Laura reviewed Companion Piece by Ali Smith
A story of life turned into something too difficult to deal with (and no mention …
Isolation and connection
4 stars
Another of Ali Smith's real time novels, following her quartet of seasons: this time about pandemic isolation and finding connections with other living things, human and animal, whether we want them or not.
Another of Ali Smith's real time novels, following her quartet of seasons: this time about pandemic isolation and finding connections with other living things, human and animal, whether we want them or not.
Laura finished reading Companion Piece by Ali Smith
Companion Piece by Ali Smith
A story of life turned into something too difficult to deal with (and no mention made of the weather).
Laura reviewed Matrix by Lauren Groff
Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn …
Life and death in a 12th century monastery
4 stars
A novel about women, power and belief. It's historical, not fantasy, yet contains a lot of magic.
A novel about women, power and belief. It's historical, not fantasy, yet contains a lot of magic.
Laura reviewed The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
In June 2021, a senseless event upends the lives of hundreds of men and women, …
Original and a little creepy
4 stars
(I read the English translation by Adriana Hunter.)
The premise is fantastical. The novel captures quite well just how people respond to the fantastical: they get used to it and do their best to carry on.
Laura rated The Anomaly: 4 stars
The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
In June 2021, a senseless event upends the lives of hundreds of men and women, all passengers on a flight …
Laura finished reading The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
In June 2021, a senseless event upends the lives of hundreds of men and women, all passengers on a flight …
Laura reviewed Young Mungo by Douglas K. Stuart
Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently …
A grim story...
3 stars
...perhaps too grim. Very similar, to be honest, to Stuart's debut novel Shuggie Bain - with a bit of Hanya Yanagihara thrown in.
...perhaps too grim. Very similar, to be honest, to Stuart's debut novel Shuggie Bain - with a bit of Hanya Yanagihara thrown in.
Laura rated Young Mungo: 3 stars
Young Mungo by Douglas K. Stuart
Born under different stars, Protestant Mungo and Catholic James live in the hyper-masculine and violently sectarian world of Glasgow's housing …