Told in short, simply constructed sentences, the narrative builds beguiling complexity and sophistication from deceptive sparseness, like one of Flora’s culinary creations. Reviewed by Hope Nesmith The Point By Marion Halligan Allen & Unwin 335 pp On a fictitious promontory…
Category: Literary Fiction Reviews
A review of That Old Ace in the Hole by Annie Proulx
The combination of lighthearted comedy with a very serious main character and intense scenery descriptions makes for an enjoyable and even languorous read. Right from the start the novel plunges into deep description – one imagines Proulx herself driving past…
A review of Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
As an example of mainstream fiction it is by no means despicable. It offers solid enjoyments although the careful reader will be uneasy about many authorial choices. Reviewed by Bob Williams Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier Plume…
A Review of My Life As a Fake by Peter Carey
The slick post-modern magic realism narration never interferes with Carey’s first and greatest strength, which is that of a terrific storyteller. Although the story moves quickly, the writing is almost always tight, beautiful, and compelling, interlaced with delicate puns, and…
A review of What A Piece of Work I Am by Eric Kraft
Much of the novel issues from the stage and much of the language is stagy. Since the explanation for staginess comes after the fact, one is obliged to determine how much satisfaction a belated explanation can give. Contrivance is a…
A review of DeLillo’s Cosmopolis
It is possible that under the poor structure and pretty prose lies a deeper truth – some vision about the world and what matters. Or perhaps we are to read into the book that nothing matters – that in the…
A review of Crabwalk by Gunter Grass
Crabwalk is a complex and difficult novel which challenges the reader to think about history, about perspective, and narrative truth, but keeps the reader at arms length. The story is narrated by Paul Pokriefke, a 50 year old survivor of…
A review of What’s Wrong with Dorfman by John Blumenthal
The style is a marvelous succession of deadpan one-liners, quick and funny. A perceptive reader will see in this a device whereby Dorfman, the narrator, distances himself from his problems. Reviewed by Bob Williams What’s Wrong with Dorfman? By John…
A review of Good Faith by Jane Smiley
Stratford is an interesting narrator, and his passive acceptance, even in the worst of situations keeps the tone of the book light. In typical Smiley style, Good Faith is a tight, fast paced, and carefully set out novel full of…
A review of Where Do You Stop? by Eric Kraft
It may seem strange that, in a book where so much is tied together in ways that have to do with physics, a contrary motion coming from the same source is also possible. The key to the book is discontinuity.…