Orwell’s flawed but nevertheless important novel about a young man’s single-handed struggle against capitalism is an easy and often amusing read. Gordon Comstock, whose inflexible philosophy drives him further and further into…
This was removed from the first edition of the 1001 Books list and it’s not hard to see why. Although Tremain can write a decent yarn, there’s nothing here that…
This is a truly original bit of sci-fi which, although not terribly well written, has a great plot and, as all good sci-fi must, continues to raise relevant questions for…
You know you’re in the presence of literary genius when there are large parts of a novel you feel out of your depth in. I felt like I fell into…
For its time, this is a pretty readable and engaging bit of writing that isn’t overlong and makes clever use of wry humour as it takes a dig at romance…
With this creepy tale of captivity, Fowles slinked onto the literary scene in the early 1960s. It’s one of the strongest debut novels you’re likely to read and also one…
Having read Peregrine Pickle, the novel Smollett wrote after this one, three years ago, I kind of realised that, like with Henderson and Herzog, I’d read these the wrong way…
This last book in the series completes my reading of Farrell’s Empire trilogy. I wish I’d read them in order. I actually read them back to front. Troubles is a perfect…
Well, after finishing U.S.A. at 1,300 pages or so, what better way to follow it up than to write a review of a novel that’s even bigger? What surprised me…
Sarah Waters can spin a yarn. She can conjour up a world. She can keep you entertained. But what she absolutely can’t do is create realistic characters or convince me that…
If you’re a bloke, you’ve got five choices: king, knight, wizard, giant or dwarf. If you’re a woman, you’ve got two: queen or damsel. There aren’t any normal people in this…
This is a wonderful little breather from the typical weighty tome on the 1001 Books list. A lighthearted look at urban Victorian everyday life with a character which has had…
Jean Rhys was a bit of a character and this novel, set in the Caribbean she grew up in, features a misunderstood woman who falls victim to both her Creole…
A picaresque novel and as such, eminently forgettable and largely tedious. I can understand the importance of the book for the time it was written in, but unless you really…
What I enjoyed about this most of all was the narrator and the way he tells the story. As the novel opens, you really have no idea what is coming…
The only James I’d read prior to this was the novella The Turn of the Screw which I didn’t blog at the time. It did little to prepare me for…
This was a very quick read due to O’Connor’s engaging and eclectic writing style and ability to construct some very strong characters and bring them together in creative ways. Star of…
This was not for me. Yes, I understand the importance of the book at time, how it was a satire on Darwin’s classic and the fact that it predates Alice…