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…
Aldous Huxley: Brave New World
Reading Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was inspired by realising that I hadn’t read any of a recent list stating the top twenty geek novels. Given that my impressions of…
Alan Hollinghurst: The Line Of Beauty
Alan Hollinghurst’s fourth novel, The Line of Beauty, follows the story of Nick Guest, a lodger of the wealthy Fedden family, through the landslide years of the Conservative government in…
Paulo Coelho: The Alchemist
The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho, is billed as a modern classic, yet I find it difficult to discern why. It has the feel of a fable; from a time as…
Uzodinma Iweala: Beasts Of No Nation
Trying out a debutante author can be a huge step into the unknown but, with praise from Rushdie, Ghosh, and a number of British broadsheets adorning the cover, it’s a…
Truman Capote: Summer Crossing
I finally got round to reading Truman Capote’s long lost (well, unknown) novel, Summer Crossing, which was discovered when a bunch of Capote stuff was given to Sotheby’s for auction…
Kurt Vonnegut: Slaughterhouse Five
Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5 is seen as his best work and a modern classic although, having completed it, I’m left wondering why. Blending science fiction with his memoirs Vonnegut has…