Category Archives: fiction

The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry (Faber)

Posted on July 9, 2014 by drewsmith28

“It’s a beautiful night and no mistake. You would never think there was a war somewhere” In a Literary World Cup, my money would be on Ireland. I read a sarky review of one of Sebastian Barry’s novels in the … Continue reading →

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A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride (Galley Beggar)

Posted on June 23, 2014 by drewsmith28

“She and me. Like to lurk here in the day. Those gossips we have are the very best and we read and read. Quote quotes back forth. That’s good for sharing books of this and that. Word perfect. We snick … Continue reading →

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Icefields by Thomas Wharton (Washington Square Press)

Posted on June 20, 2014 by drewsmith28

“At a quarter past three in the afternoon on August 17, 1898, Doctor Edward Byrne slipped on the ice of Arcturus glacier in the Canadian Rockies and slid into a crevasse” Wharton’s take on the founding of the Jasper community … Continue reading →

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Murder bag by Tony Parsons (Century)

Posted on June 4, 2014 by drewsmith28

Lee Child – see below – also writes the endorsement on Tony Parson’s departure into the crimo genre. “Tense and human”, he says. Welcome to the field of nastiness and violence, Tony. Parsons can write. I have followed his work … Continue reading →

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The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Faber)

Posted on April 28, 2014 by drewsmith28

“The world begins anew with every birth, my father used to say. He forgot to say, with every death it ends. Or did not think he needed to. Because for a goodly part of his life he worked in a … Continue reading →

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Mistress by James Patterson (Arrow)

Posted on April 9, 2014 by drewsmith28

I was curious to read something that was really popular, a best seller to compare with other books here. Does popularity equal literature? Does it matter? Are readers the ultimate accolade? So I turned to the “world’s bestselling thriller writer” the … Continue reading →

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Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown)

Posted on February 5, 2014 by drewsmith28

  I should post a reservation about BIG books in general. Both the Booker listed Kills and the winning Luminaries are substantial door-holders, so is Donna Tartt’s Goldfinch, fewer pages but denser type, smaller margins. Such expansiveness demands more time, … Continue reading →

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Ghost Light by Joseph O’Connor (Secker)

Posted on January 24, 2014 by drewsmith28

“In the top floor room of the dilapidated townhouse across the Terrace, a light has been on all night.” O’CONNOR becomes the first writer in this blog to have two books listed in the 101 lists. No apologies there. As … Continue reading →

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Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor (Secker)

Posted on January 24, 2014 by drewsmith28

IT is a while since I read Joseph O’Connor’s masterly narration of the Irish migration post famine distilled into the tale of a single boat’s crossing. It was as I recall the first book to be introduced on Richard and … Continue reading →

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Jim Crace and the new religionists

Posted on January 23, 2014 by drewsmith28

JIM Crace has a knack of creating brooding invisible forces that help create a framework beyond the obvious. In his Booker listed Harvest the prime protagonists hardly speak for themselves at all but just infect the narrative with a sense … Continue reading →

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