Or, the Triduum Well, friends, here we are, in the sweet spot between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the night of vigils and multiple readings of Scripture. Lifelong literature student and irrevocable cultural Catholic that I am—and having spent much of the past week down with a flu that’s been going around—I’ve seized upon thisContinue reading “Denial! Betrayal! C. S. Lewis!”
Tag Archives: #novels
Lit Review: CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS
Or, Sally Rooney part II As promised, I got around to Sally Rooney’s debut novel, 2017’s Conversations with Friends. I did enjoy it more than Normal People. For one thing, the title was a bit less misleading: Normal People sounds like it should be about people in their forties, and in fact the action endsContinue reading “Lit Review: CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS”
NaNoWriMo???
In which I take a month’s inventory November is National Novel Writing Month, as the US-based organization attempting to bully us into drafting 50,000 words would have us believe. I’ll mention it in passing to non-Americans who look at me as if I’ve just thrown in a dialect word, and, in a way, I have.Continue reading “NaNoWriMo???”
Tiny Lit Review: NORMAL PEOPLE
In which I review a book that I anticipated having more than one paragraph to say about Friends, I was not a fan. I thought I was going to like it, in fact didn’t really prepare for the eventuality that I would not, so this put me at a loss. I often found Sally Rooney’sContinue reading “Tiny Lit Review: NORMAL PEOPLE”
Lit Review(ish): WHO IS MAUD DIXON?
In which I do a rough courtroom sketch This won’t be a full review, as I’ve written for other, similar novels like Bunny and The Girls; I’m saving that for an Actual Publication I’ve spent some months trying to battering-ram my way into. (If I succeed, you’ll know.) But I can’t not comment here onContinue reading “Lit Review(ish): WHO IS MAUD DIXON?”
Never Write a Hasty Review or You Will Live to Regret It
In which I CANNOT let it be (naked) Last week I read Juliet, Naked, a novel by the illustrious Nick Hornby. It’s the third novel of his I’ve read (if you don’t count State of the Union as a novel), the first two being High Fidelity and About a Boy. Given that Hornby has madeContinue reading “Never Write a Hasty Review or You Will Live to Regret It”
Clemens > Dickens
In which I match, or mismatch, wits I just reread The Adventures of Tom Sawyer after quite a number of years, possibly predating the last time I read Huck Finn. Not only is the prose as precise and entertaining as ever, this time around has elucidated something I’ve long struggled with concerning certain contemporaries ofContinue reading “Clemens > Dickens”
Lit Review: ONE LAST STOP
Or, won’t you come see me, Queen Jane? *WARNING: SPOILERS* I’d heard quite a bit about Casey McQuiston’s new novel, including an interview with McQuiston herself, by the time a college friend cosplayed on Instagram as pragmatic heroine (or heroic pragmatist) August Landry. Her personal endorsement tipped the scales from Hopeful Read into Must Read.Continue reading “Lit Review: ONE LAST STOP”
BRAVE NEW WORLD is Not a Dystopia
In which I take arms against a sea of troubles and wind up drowning MIRANDA How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t! PROSPERO ‘Tis new to thee. : The Tempest, Act V Scene 1 *WARNING: SPOILERS* Friends, Americans, countrymen! We have enteredContinue reading “BRAVE NEW WORLD is Not a Dystopia”
Lit Review: THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT
In which I play the Cecilian Defense *WARNING: SPOILERS* I suspect I was always one nudge away from playing chess. Growing up I might have had the makings of an enthusiast if I hadn’t devoted almost all my energies to literary pursuits. Or if I hadn’t been so troublesome at board games, a jealous playerContinue reading “Lit Review: THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT”