Short Fiction, Poetry and Classic Book Reviews
Of all the French existentialist novels that share a title with a hit John Farnham song, this is probably my favourite. It holds extra significance for me as my reading of this book coincided with my fifth attempt at learning French. Although I read an English translation of The Age of Reason, the names of... Continue Reading →
It was a bold move by George Orwell to name his story after the definitive Van Halen album. Sure, we all want to pay homage to our heroes, but Orwell (or any other writer for that matter) was only ever going to look amateurish next to the master lyricist, David Lee Roth. (If, by some... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the first I have read of Mark Twain’s work, mainly because of a used car I bought fifteen years ago. I’ll explain. When I was much younger and slightly more naïve than I am now, I went to buy an automobile at a local car yard. The yard was... Continue Reading →
My grandmother gave me this book for Christmas a few years ago. Inside the cover she wrote: Merry Christmas 2016. I look forward to trying one of your cakes! What puzzled me was not how she mistook a dystopian novel for a cookbook (the cover art on this edition was a man in a helmet... Continue Reading →
These days, “sequel” has become synonymous with minimum effort and maximum disappointment. When I learned Homer had written a follow-up to his classic Iliad, I assumed it was a lazy cash-grab—not that I blamed him, you have to make hay while the sun shines. But I lowered my expectations unnecessarily; it turns out The Odyssey is... Continue Reading →
I first heard the name Kipling during a grade seven English class. Our teacher had to leave the room for a few minutes to deal with an unexpected situation (Adam Preston had just run outside and spewed over the balcony), so my schoolmates and I were left to talk amongst ourselves. Naturally the topic of... Continue Reading →
Write what you know, says the old proverb. Well, apparently no one is listening, because everywhere I look there’s an author jabbering on about something clearly beyond their field of expertise. Tolkien’s violent, beer-swilling depiction of dwarves in The Hobbit made me wonder if he had ever actually met a dwarf; William Golding, though never... Continue Reading →
There are many rules when it comes to writing, and different authors favour different rules. Hemingway liked the effect of short sentences, Stephen King is big on ditching adverbs, and then there’s what seems to be Fyodor Dostoevsky’s rule of choice: punch the reader in the conscience. Well, old Fyodor is at it again in... Continue Reading →
Perhaps you are like I was. Perhaps your only encounter with John Steinbeck’s work has been Of Mice and Men, and you’ve thought, Wow. That was some top shelf storytelling, impressive writing, and enough shattered hope to knock the stuffing out of the most hard-hearted reader. How could he top that? Well, get ready because... Continue Reading →