The Luminaries Eleanor Catton Little, Brown 9780316074315 Winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize I’ve woken up around 4am the past couple of nights thinking about this book. My thoughts on it aren't final but this is a space where conversations happen, and I need to talk. The Luminaries is an engaging page-turner, a mystery … Continue reading The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Reviews + Analyses
Books, poetry, journals and the occassional film…
Maria Takolander’s The Double
9781922079763 Text Publishing August 2013 One of the best contemporary short story collections I've read, Takolander's fictions are intellectual, dark, strange and often dystopian. The tone is of casual realism, but what's described is beyond that: fantastical, nightmarish or just off; my favourite kind of fiction. If you like Kafka or Beckett, or MJ Hyland … Continue reading Maria Takolander’s The Double
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
At the moment I'm reading fiction set in the C19th, but I'm also generally reading historical fiction (particularly books set partly in the present/partly in the past) for research reasons. This one I read as part of a wonderful MOOC I'm doing on historical fiction through the University of Virginia. Any other recommendations are welcome. … Continue reading The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
Kirsten Krauth’s just_a_girl
This post is adapted from my speech for the Castlemaine launch of Kirsten Krauth's just_a_girl. There are three main characters in Kirsten Krauth’s excellent, powerful and confronting debut novel just_a_girl: teenage Layla, her mother Margot and a lonely Japanese man, Tadashi. As someone who had the internet at Layla’s age—14—I would also say her experience … Continue reading Kirsten Krauth’s just_a_girl
EIBF 2013: is psychiatry doing more harm than good? (More brainy stuff.)
A version of this post was previously published on Stoffers James Davies is the author of Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good. The main points of his argument, in the talk he gave at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2013, were: Psychiatric drugs often do not do what they say they do, … Continue reading EIBF 2013: is psychiatry doing more harm than good? (More brainy stuff.)
Aside: write-up of Meg Wolitzer EIBF session
Just found this excellent write-up of the Meg Wolitzer session I chaired at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2013. Cheers to Mark West and the Glasgow Review of Books.
EIBF 2013: brainy stuff
A version of this post was first published on the Stoffers blog. At the Edinburgh International Book Festival I’ve been going along to many sessions about the brain, psychology, mental health and the psych industries. Of HUGE interest to me both generally and in relation to themes in my creative writing. Oliver James’ new book Office … Continue reading EIBF 2013: brainy stuff
Hungry hearts: Big Ray and Big Brother, guest post by Kylie Mirmohamadi
Michael Kimball, Big Ray, Bloomsbury Circus, 2012, 9781408828052 (paperback, ebook) Lionel Shriver, Big Brother: A Novel, HarperCollins, 2013, 9780732296384 (paperback) Guest post by Kylie Mirmohamadi An armchair, lumpy with indents left by a sitter of some bulk, adorns the cover of Michael Kimball’s 2012 novel about grief and a childhood shaped by the looming presence of an abusive … Continue reading Hungry hearts: Big Ray and Big Brother, guest post by Kylie Mirmohamadi
Review of The Ballad of Moondyne Joe and The Hanging of Minnie Thwaites in Cordite
Please read through to the gecko.
Review of Janet Frame’s In the Memorial Room for The Australian
Janet Frame is one of my all-time favourite authors. Her writing is surprising, absurd, knowing, funny, sad, dark, moving, imaginative and honest. She was an incredibly hard-working writer, often having to work in uncomfortable or strange conditions (while overcoming much personal tragedy). I've read quite a few of her novels; plus her short fiction, her … Continue reading Review of Janet Frame’s In the Memorial Room for The Australian
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