Author Archives: drewsmith28

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About drewsmith28

Words, words, words...

His bloody project by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Contraband)

Posted on October 16, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I am writing this at the behest of my advocate, Mr Andrew Sinclair, who since my incarceration here in Inverness, has treated me with a degree of civility I in no way deserve.” GOOD writing is like singing, you hit … Continue reading →

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Gilhead by Marilynne Robinson (Virago)

Posted on October 6, 2016 by drewsmith28

“I told you last night that I might be gone sometime, and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I am old, and you said, I don’t … Continue reading →

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Cry, mother Spain by Lydie Salvayre (Maclehose)

Posted on September 27, 2016 by drewsmith28

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A ceremonial ring on his venerable hand, the Most Reverend Archbishop of Palma pointed at the chests of the ‘guilty poor’, singling them out to … Continue reading →

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Irene by Pierre Lemaitre (Maclehose)

Posted on September 20, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Alice, he said, looking at what anyone else would have called a young girl”. THIS first in a trilogy translated from the French is as brilliant as it is grotesque. Crime writing splits between those trying to do outdo each … Continue reading →

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1491 by Charles C. Mann (Knopf)

Posted on August 31, 2016 by drewsmith28

“The plane took in weather that was surprisingly cool for central Boliva and flew east, toward the Brazilian border.” THE symbolism of the plane is that we now take for granted what people less than 100 years ago would never … Continue reading →

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The American plague by Molly Caldwell Crosby (Berkley)

Posted on July 26, 2016 by drewsmith28

“The rain came in west Africa. A massive wind blew in from the Atlantic coast bringing the deluge of water known as the south-west monsoon.” IT is fitting that there is quote early on here from Edgar Allan Poe. Before … Continue reading →

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Allen Klein by Fred Goodman (Mariner)

Posted on July 14, 2016 by drewsmith28

“It may have been the dramatic grounds; he may have been impressed that George C Scott and Colleen Dewhurst were renting it. Whatever the reason, Allen Klein wanted the house.” THE house was where the deals were done. In the … Continue reading →

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The story of the lost child by Elena Ferrante (Europa)

Posted on July 4, 2016 by drewsmith28

“From October 1976 until 1979, when I returned to Naples to live, I avoided resuming a steady relationship with Lila. But it wasn’t easy.” OF COURSE,  it was not easy. Lila “remained the same restless creature with an irresistible force … Continue reading →

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The vegetarian by Han Kang (Portobello)

Posted on June 18, 2016 by drewsmith28

“Before my wife turned vegetarian, I had always thought of her as completely unremarkable in every way.” HAD this abrasive exercise in misogynic chauvinism, puppet women, mad dreams, bizarre pornography been written by a man I wager it might have … Continue reading →

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Grief is the thing with feathers by Max Porter (Faber)

Posted on June 13, 2016 by drewsmith28

“There is a feather on my pillow.” THERE are only three characters here, the crow, the dad and twin boys sharing the grief after their mother dies. Each has their perspective. The dad: ‘wondering what to do. Shuffling around‘. The … Continue reading →

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