John McPhee: Oranges
First published in the 1960s, Oranges by twice Pulitzer winning journalist, John McPhee got a limited lease of life back in 2000 when Penguin reissued it as a modern classic.…
Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories
I bought the new Penguin Classic, Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories by Japanese author, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892-1927), with the intention of furthering my knowledge of Japanese fiction and its writers…
Atiq Rahimi: Earth And Ashes
First published in 2000, Atiq Rahimi’s Earth And Ashes is a short novella set in his native Afghanistan (he’s another one of those writers that run away to France, like…
Milan Kundera: Ignorance
Ignorance, by Milan Kundera, is a small novel but big on ideas. Playing like a watered down Odyssey, two Czech émigrés return to post-communist Prague after twenty years. A chance…
Bernard MacLaverty: Lamb
Lamb, by Bernard MacLaverty, is, at 150 pages, a short read, but its brevity serves only to provide a perfectly told story without padding or exposition. It follows the story…
James Meek: The People’s Act Of Love
It was the intention of James Meek that his third novel, The People’s Act of Love, should be written in the manner of the great Russian novels. While I have…
Maria Dzielska: Hypatia Of Alexandria
For those who have never heard of Hypatia the back of this book gives you a quick summary of the woman: Hypatia – brilliant mathematician, eloquent Neoplatonist, and a woman…
Khaled Hosseini: The Kite Runner
I became what I am today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. I remember the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling…
Guillermo Arriaga: A Sweet Scent Of Death
A Sweet Scent Of Death is the second novel by Mexican author and screenplay writer, Guillermo Arriaga, although you probably sort-of know him better as the guy who wrote Amores…
Michel Faber: The Courage Consort
Michel Faber’s The Courage Consort is one of those books where you wish it were longer or part of a collection. A novella of 150 pages it follows the story…