story within a story
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction by Neil Gaiman
The Neil Gaiman Reader showcases Gaiman’s range as an author. Gaiman moves between genres and tones like no other. From funny fairy-talesque stories to more ambiguous narratives with dystopian or horror elements. While I have read most of his novels and a few of his novellas I hadn’t really ‘sunk’ my teeth in his short […]
MoreThe Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
Once upon a time…The Magic Fish is quite possibly one of the most beautiful, poignant, and awe-inspiring graphic novels I have ever read. The story takes places in 90s America and we follow Tiến, a young boy, who loves reading fairy tales with his parents. Tiến’s parents are refugees from Vietnam and cannot speak English […]
MoreThe Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan
For a book published in the 90s The Kitchen God’s Wife comes across as strangely outdated. And I guess in spite of Tan’s writing—which is far from mediocre or incompetent—I could not look past the fact that her story was the antithesis of female solidarity. At first I was taken by Tan’s storytelling. The first […]
MoreHow the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
“I am nothing,” Cardan said, “if not dramatic.” Holly Black’s prose is as tantalising as ever.The tales collected in How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories focus on Cardan. We learn more of his childhood and get to see certain scenes and events from The Cruel Prince through his perspective.Stories are at the […]
MoreCrossings by Alex Landragin
Alex Landragin has written an ambitious tale, one that begins with the following line: “I didn’t write this book. I stole it.”This prologue, written by a bookbinder, tells us of how this manuscript has come to be in his hands. The manuscript in question comprises three seemingly separate books: ‘The Education of a Monster’ written […]
MoreRed Pill by Hari Kunzru
Once again, I am in the minority as I did not find Red Pill to be a particularly artful or clever novel. To be clear, I do think that Hari Kunzru can write very well indeed, however, his narrative struck me as all flash and no substance. I was amused by the first quarter of […]
MoreThe Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas — book reviews
While I understand historical context and I am quite able to appreciate classics without wanting them to reflect ‘modern’ sensibilities, I have 0 patience for books that glorify rapists. SPOILERS BELOW I don’t mind reading books about terrible people. I read Nabokov’s infamous Lolita and Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. I enjoy books by Agatha […]
MoreThe Eighth Detective by Alex Pavesi — book review
The Eighth Detective is not quite the “thrilling, wildly inventive nesting doll of a mystery” it’d be promised to be. I approached this novel hoping for something in the realms of Anthony Horowitz. Sadly, The Eighth Detective seems closer to The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, in that both novels are hellbent on ‘confusing’ the […]
MoreA Man by Keiichirō Hirano – book review
“It’s unbearable to have your identity summed up by one thing and one thing only and for other people to have control over what that is.” Keiichirō Hirano has spun an intriguing psychological tale. A Man presents its readers with an in-depth and carefully paced mystery revolving around identity theft. Hirano novel’s opening is rather […]
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