Short Fiction, Poetry and Classic Book Reviews
Virginia Woolf's critically acclaimed novel is heartfelt, poetic and philosophical, exploring universal themes in a personal way. While brief sections of the book gripped me, for the most part I found it difficult reading. I just couldn't get into it. Therefore, I will combine this review with one for the much more entertaining book I was... Continue Reading →
Josef K., a promising young banker, is arrested for an unstated crime. He is left to conduct his life and business as usual, except that now he may be summoned or charged at any time. Josef appears before a court and makes an impassioned speech in his defence, but is left none the wiser as... Continue Reading →
All I used to know about this novel was that Mark David Chapman had it with him when he shot John Lennon. Fearing the book contained some bewitching influence, for years I resisted the curiosity to read it, lest I, too, be brainwashed into murdering an overrated music star. Then recently I watched a television... Continue Reading →
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 →