Adventures in reading
In my experience of reading M. John Harrison s work (see my older posts), reality tends to wear thin, and even the most basic aspects of a conventional novel (such as coherence and meaning) are likely to be undermined. Which is a way of saying that any attempt I make to write up one of his [ ]
Over at the European Literature Network, I have reviewed a debut novel about a Ghanaian man in Denmark with dreams of building a home for his family in Ghana – if he could only find a way up in the world. Lucia Odoom s Cosmos (translated from Danish by Hunter Simpson, published by Daunt Books) revolves [ ]
The end of International Booker season approaches, and we on the shadow panel have selected a winner from our shortlist. We had four out of six books in common with the official shortlist, but we ve gone with something else. The 2026 shadow winner is The Wax Child by Olga Ravn. tr. Martin Aitken (Viking) This [ ]
I am back at the European Literature Network with a review of a novel first published in French in 1976, and now published in English translation by NYRB Classics. Crazy Genie is the tale of a mother and daughter, structured around the patterns that define their lives in the countryside – with trauma that bursts [ ]
I m a little late reporting this, but we on the shadow panel now have our shortlist: Two-thirds of our shortlist is the same as the official shortlist, but both lists still feel quite different to me overall. I wonder if we ll choose the same winner as each other this year.
This week is a new club week hosted by Simon and Kaggsy, with a focus on books published in 1961. I ve picked out this novel, which was reissued last year in Faber Editions. British author Jennifer Dawson (1929-2000) draws on her experiences as both a patient and a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. The [ ]
As you may have noticed, any plans I had to blog the International Booker this year have not come to fruition. I have been reading along, but in the end I couldn t do both. We will have our Shadow Panel shortlist in a couple of weeks, but the official shortlist was announced today: I suspect [ ]
International Booker Prize season begins! The 2026 shortlist has been announced: I don t have much to say as I hadn t heard of most of the books. But there are quite a few familiar authors there, and I m looking forward to exploring the list. As always, I will be reading along with the Shadow Panel, and [ ]
When I was looking up books I might choose for Hungarian Lit Month, this 1970 novel sounded particularly appealing to me, with its oblique approach to reality. Metropole is the tale of Budai, a Hungarian linguist who was supposed to be at a conference in Helsinki, but has instead ended up in a strange city [ ]
After an extended break, I m making another attempt at getting back into blogging at least semi-regularly. Maybe it will only be for specific occasions, or a couple of times a month, or maybe longer – let s see. Stu at Winstondad s Blog is hosting a Hungarian Literature Month this February. I ve decided to revisit Ágota Kristóf, who [ ]