The Mussel Feast (1990) – Birgit VANDERBEKE
I’ve taken the plunge this year and bough a subscription to Peirene Press‘ Turning Points series of contemporary European novellas. The blurb on the back of The Mussel Feast tells […]
Tag Archives: Germany
The Yellow Birds (2012) – Kevin POWERS
Releasing your war novel on 11 September is a risky business. If it’s really good, it will forever be remembered as a sneaky marketing tool to highlight the important message […]
The Third Reich (2010) – Roberto BOLAÑO
The danger with previously unpublished works being published posthumously is that there may well have been a good reason they weren’t published while the author was alive. Because of the […]
Half Blood Blues (2011) – Esi EDUGYAN
With the announcement of the 2011 Man Booker Prize looming, I’m still trying to work my way through the novels on the longlist that interest me. My sure-fire bet, The […]
Lights Out in Wonderland (2010) – DBC PIERRE
DBC Pierre’s other novels, Vernon God Little and Ludmilla’s Broken English, are pretty nuts. Though, when you consider Pierre’s pretty insane upbringing, perhaps one can begin to understand why he […]
The Land of Green Plums (1993) – Herta MÜLLER
If you win the Nobel Prize for Literature, you can expect sales to pick up a bit. That, and the rate of people translating you out of your native language. […]
The Zookeeper’s War (2008) – Steven CONTE
Last review of the year, I’m afraid. I’m having the next week or so off – I may not even read anything! Actually, that’s a lie – I’m going to […]
The Tin Drum (1959) – Günter GRASS
I started reading this about two months ago. I think that’s a record. I have nearly stopped reading it about four times, I’ve read several other novels, and I’d given […]
Time’s Arrow (1991) – Martin AMIS
Kingsley Amis once complained about his son’s writing style, saying it was “Breaking the rules, buggering about with the reader, [and] drawing attention to himself.” This is most certainly the […]
