Why are we alive? Who am I? What’s the point of anything? If you have ever found yourself staring at the ceiling at 3 am considering these questions, welcome to the world of existentialism. Humans have been trying to find some semblance of life’s meaning for millennia, and novelists are…
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway I really really wanted to enjoy this book and I did…at times. Harkaway is clearly a talented writer and his humour was second to none. And yet I didn’t enjoy reading the novel.The writing is too self-indulgent for me to enjoy and the reading process feels…
Mantel’s historic fiction manages to bring to life a period of history already swamped by decades of writing. Trying to create a fresh perspective on Henry VIIIs Tudor England seems an impossible task but her analytical narrative voice that floats between Cromwell and the omniscient, creates an anti-hero that consistently…
Stepping into the world of Woolf’s experimental narrative is both a gruelling and distinctly beautiful experience for the reader. Her use of prose balances on the precipice of poetry and transforms Clarissa Dalloway’s, perhaps prosaic party, into a puff pastry piece of fiction. And whether the process of reading does…
Alderman is no stranger to writing success and it seems her novel The Power is no exception. Winning Baileys, Women’s prize for fiction award 2017, this novel has been leaping off the shelves of every major book store in the nation. Based in a futuristic world, to our own but…
I decided to read this novel because I believe there is a deep connection between countries and the literature they produce. Not only because the skill of translating a language into English makes the lexical choices all the more fascinating but also because of differing perspectives. And as I am…
After reading ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’, which explores the definition of humanity and the importance of empathy, I knew I wanted to read more of Dick’s work. As a writer who specialises in the sci-fi genre, his ability to immerse the reader in his creative worlds is impressive…
When I sat down to write this review, I struggled to find a beginning. This novel is filled with so many complex questions on both a personal, local and global level. It asks us how we as people interact with those both culturally familiar and unfamiliar to us. As well…
Tortilla flat is a series of short stories that centres on a wine loving, idealist ‘Danny’ and his opportunistic friends. The main protagonist ‘Danny’ spends the novel constantly conflicted by the good fortune he receives and his desire to be free. They spend their days romancing about an ideal…