In his own words
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The English Patient
Review: I was reluctant to read this as I had heard that it was a women’s book. Meaning one of those odious volumes that fat chicks in yoga pants gush to one another about in trendy coffee shops. Well I had no cause to fear, this was outstanding. From beginning to end this novel was…
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The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume 1
Review: Before the Hugo and Nebula Awards came into being there was the Hall of Fame. The Science Fiction Writers of America Association decided to pick the 25 best short stories from 1929 to the current year of 1964. Thus, all these stories were picked by the writers of the best SF at the time…
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G, A Novel
Review: It didn’t take long to figure out why this one won the Booker Prize. Elusive to define. Partly historical, partly imagined. One reviewer described portions of it as a sexual meditation. Like Proust, the protagonist is unnamed through most of the novel. And even then he is known simply as “G”. Also like the…
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The Ecclesiastical History of the English People
Review: You can’t speed read Bede, indeed, no need. I have always wanted to read the Venerable Bede, if for no other reason than to find out what was so venerable about the chap. Now I know. Bede was a scholarly monk who lived from around 673-735 AD in what we now call the United…
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Cox’s Navy
Review: This book was sent to me from my old mate that lives on the Orkney Islands, where all the action takes place. It’s interesting to read about places that you are already familiar with: Stromness, Kirkwall, Lyness and so on. In 1919 the German imperial fleet was interned at Scapa Flow in Scotland as…
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An Alien Heat
Review: If they are brief, I usually read the acknowledgements at the front of a book. This one was to some dudes, and the members of Hawkwind, and a chap named Lemmy. Yes. That. Lemmy! Turns out before forming Motörhead Lemmy was in a psychedelic band called Hawkwind. With Michael Moorcock! He was a musician…
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The Last Spike and Other Railroad Stories
Review: Found this book for free on Kindle, a public domain book, and it was surprisingly good! Back in the steam engine railroading days the men working on the rails pursued a dangerous and frequently deadly occupation. As a result of this, stories about life on the iron road became very popular and pulp magazines…
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Death Comes for the Archbishop
Review: I held off on reading this for a long time. I’m nearly done the complete works now and decided not to put it off any longer. This is because: But I was wrong in putting this one off for so long. There is a reason that this is one of Cather’s most recognized and…
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In a Free State
Review: The fourth Booker Prize winning novel I have read since beginning my quest of reading all 50 plus winners. Like all the others I have read there is no questioning the brilliance and reasons for winning. But like a lot of the others this one was pretty dark and very serious. Ferris Bueller gets…
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A Lost Lady
Review: Post operative I really needed this. I was reading a collection of Ray Bradbury’s short fiction and bailed on it. Not that I don’t love Bradbury but I needed a novel to identify with the characters, to feel and see the scenery from a different time and place. To take me out of myself…