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| St. Augustine in his study, from his Soliloquii, Florence 1491 |
Interviewing Authors
I have done a couple of interviews of writers which you can find at Strange Horizons:
*Mike Coney
*Eileen Kernaghan
Although not recently added to (a little software glitch I haven't overcome), I uploaded a bunch of short videos to YouTube, with readings of everyone from William Hope Hodgson to Eva Ibbotson. You can find those here. I offer a humble example below.
For some reason the embed isn't working so I will just link you to the original video via this photo of me as the Evil Queen being attacked by participants at VCon's Turkey Readings in 2010.
Reviewing Their Books
I also have an account with LibraryThing which I use to keep track of books I have read--not every last one, but most of them. (I usually don't bother if it didn't do anything for me either way.)
I frequently write brief reviews, usually of books I like. At times I am moved to write a negative review, but as I grow older and slightly wiser I am trying to be certain that I do so for valid reasons only, and not just to blow off steam. My interest after all is in encouraging writers and readers in reaching Beauty, Joy, and Truth, or at least good fun, and not just in beating my own drum, despite urges to get uppity now and then.
This is a slowly refining process so you may find reviews there in which I am less careful than I want to be. Feel free to point it out to me so I can go back and think again about what I really want to say.
So, here is the link to my profile at LibraryThing, and here is a handful of miscellaneous reviews from that site, to whet your appetite.
I am gobsmacked.
The novel begins as an entertaining tale of a headstrong young Australian girl going to meet the world at boarding school. It gradually evolves into a subtle, simple, and stunningly real observation of the pressures of conformity and the intolerance of naïveté, which, when paired with a strong desire to be accepted, can lead to many and often rending responses in an imaginative young person.
Yet it is not a tragedy. I am left moved, affectionate, a little worried about the future, and yet joyful at the intactness of the protagonist's resilient soul.
It is the rare sort of book that provokes deep self-reflection and a nudge in the direction of peace-making with self and life, and in this way brings to mind [[George Eliot]]'s [Middlemarch].
Bravo, Ms Richardson. (
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The novel begins as an entertaining tale of a headstrong young Australian girl going to meet the world at boarding school. It gradually evolves into a subtle, simple, and stunningly real observation of the pressures of conformity and the intolerance of naïveté, which, when paired with a strong desire to be accepted, can lead to many and often rending responses in an imaginative young person.
Yet it is not a tragedy. I am left moved, affectionate, a little worried about the future, and yet joyful at the intactness of the protagonist's resilient soul.
It is the rare sort of book that provokes deep self-reflection and a nudge in the direction of peace-making with self and life, and in this way brings to mind [[George Eliot]]'s [Middlemarch].
Bravo, Ms Richardson. (
)
flag9 other reviews | May 23, 2014 | edit | 
This book belongs to what I am beginning to think of as a genre of modern novels that intends to move us and instruct us about life and healing but which remains somewhat remote from its characters and somewhat unreal and flat. The writing is competent and the subject matter is important but it just doesn't come alive.
I can't help thinking of a truly powerful novel, also by an Irish woman writer, also about a pretty screwed up woman who almost inadvertently stumbles down a path to insight and healing--[My Dream of You] by [[Nuala O’Faolain]]. The difference is profound. O’Faolain is not attempting to lead us into any great insight, she is just telling her story, but what a contrast. I was transported by the writing, the character, the story, perhaps because the author in that case was writing from truth, not from plot outline or metaphor. When her character screws up, it is painful. When she does herself a favour, it is a joy. Ahern's protagonist on the other hand is almost a caricature, and although in real life I would greatly sympathize with her, in the book I am merely curious.
I do not mean to disrespect this writer or what she is trying to do. Clearly the person who wrote this book is talented and capable, creative and caring. I am just saddened that even when we are trying to write about the hard things they so often come out so easy and unreal. (
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I can't help thinking of a truly powerful novel, also by an Irish woman writer, also about a pretty screwed up woman who almost inadvertently stumbles down a path to insight and healing--[My Dream of You] by [[Nuala O’Faolain]]. The difference is profound. O’Faolain is not attempting to lead us into any great insight, she is just telling her story, but what a contrast. I was transported by the writing, the character, the story, perhaps because the author in that case was writing from truth, not from plot outline or metaphor. When her character screws up, it is painful. When she does herself a favour, it is a joy. Ahern's protagonist on the other hand is almost a caricature, and although in real life I would greatly sympathize with her, in the book I am merely curious.
I do not mean to disrespect this writer or what she is trying to do. Clearly the person who wrote this book is talented and capable, creative and caring. I am just saddened that even when we are trying to write about the hard things they so often come out so easy and unreal. (
) flag65 other reviews | May 19, 2014 | edit |
One of the very few poetry books I have read from cover to cover. Each one a treasure. Thank you, Madame Oliver. ( )
) flag2 other reviews | Dec 8, 2013 | edit | 
I rarely rate a novel so highly, and when I do it is because it offers something really special. What Earthlight offers is Clarke's broad and deep understanding of the physical environment and of pure and applied sciences, which throw the whole story into brilliant relief. Travelling around the lunar environment with Clarke is a trek of wonder unsurpassed by modern SF movies with all their CGI; his lunar city and astronomical observatory are fascinating; light beams don't show in the low atmosphere, explosions don't sound. But there is story as well, and it reflects Clarke's sensitive understanding of the politics of war and espionage. His main character is an accountant who has been press-ganged into acting as a spy, and he is portrayed, as are his many suspects, with empathetic roundedness rather than as caricatures. And instead of plunging hurly burly into action as seems to be required in modern genre fiction, he thoughtfully unfolds his tale in delicious prose.
It is of course fun decades after the fact to see where Clarke's scientific prognostications succeed or fail, but the clarity of his vision is what stands out above all. I only wish his vision of the dying out of warfare were as correct.
One puzzle: the original publication date is 1935, but there are numerous references to the Second World War. I am guessing a short story or novella reflecting the core story was published in the thirties and the novel came later.
A nice feature is the cover by Richard M. Powers--my all time favourite SF illustrator.
Wonderful book. (
)
It is of course fun decades after the fact to see where Clarke's scientific prognostications succeed or fail, but the clarity of his vision is what stands out above all. I only wish his vision of the dying out of warfare were as correct.
One puzzle: the original publication date is 1935, but there are numerous references to the Second World War. I am guessing a short story or novella reflecting the core story was published in the thirties and the novel came later.
A nice feature is the cover by Richard M. Powers--my all time favourite SF illustrator.
Wonderful book. (
) flag13 other reviews | Nov 14, 2013 | edit |
What a wonderful book.
Written in Thich Nhat Hanh's characteristic uncomplicated prose, the story of novice Kinh Tam comes from Vietnamese Buddhist legend. A young woman living at a time when women were forbidden from taking monastic vows, she hid her gender and practised as a male novice for eight years. In her lifetime she was twice accused of great wrongs and learned to bear injustice with equanimity and compassion. Her commitment to monastic life paved the way for women monastics in Vietnam, and her commitment to magnanimity is an inspiration for those of us living under less than easy conditions today.
The Novice works on all levels--legend, personal story, and Dharma teaching. A moving and beautiful piece which I stumbled upon by accident, to my great delight.
Two nonfiction sections follow the novel: a short piece by Thich Nhat Hanh about the bodhisattva of compassion known as Avalokita, Kuan Yin, or in Vietnam, Quan Am. The novice in this story is a manifestation of that bodhisattva. Sr Chan Khong, Thich Nhat Hanh's student over fifty-two years, writes about the early years in Vietnam when they and other monastics and lay people did the work of this bodhisattva in bringing aid to people on both sides of the war, despite threats, torture, and killings. Immensely interesting and inspiring. ( )
Written in Thich Nhat Hanh's characteristic uncomplicated prose, the story of novice Kinh Tam comes from Vietnamese Buddhist legend. A young woman living at a time when women were forbidden from taking monastic vows, she hid her gender and practised as a male novice for eight years. In her lifetime she was twice accused of great wrongs and learned to bear injustice with equanimity and compassion. Her commitment to monastic life paved the way for women monastics in Vietnam, and her commitment to magnanimity is an inspiration for those of us living under less than easy conditions today.
The Novice works on all levels--legend, personal story, and Dharma teaching. A moving and beautiful piece which I stumbled upon by accident, to my great delight.
Two nonfiction sections follow the novel: a short piece by Thich Nhat Hanh about the bodhisattva of compassion known as Avalokita, Kuan Yin, or in Vietnam, Quan Am. The novice in this story is a manifestation of that bodhisattva. Sr Chan Khong, Thich Nhat Hanh's student over fifty-two years, writes about the early years in Vietnam when they and other monastics and lay people did the work of this bodhisattva in bringing aid to people on both sides of the war, despite threats, torture, and killings. Immensely interesting and inspiring. (
) flag1 other review | Nov 8, 2013 | edit |
Just read Dave Duncan's new novella. Very enjoyable read set in ancient Scotland. Duncan excels in setting,story, and darn good fun. Will definitely pass this one on to a friend. ( 
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) flag9 other reviews | Oct 17, 2013 | edit |
I very much enjoyed this Dick Francis novel. I have enjoyed ten thus far and this one comes a cut above some of the rest. There is a sense of joie de vivre mixed with which the Francises tell this tale. The setting of South Africa steps up wonderfully, too. ( 
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) flag7 other reviews | Oct 13, 2013 | edit |
It's been awhile since I read Things Fall Apart--one of the best books I think I've read, in many ways. No Longer at Ease perhaps lacks some of the emotional impact of the first book, but it is a subtler drama, and expertly written. These are two books I wish everyone would read. Maybe several times.
I have just read the previous reviews of this book. Although Obi gives in to bribery and is punished for it, I don't see the book as a condemnation of traditional culture, but as a careful examination of the pressures placed on an idealistic and independent person by the compression of two cultures together. I don't read this as the end of his life, but as a painful point he can recover from. Remember that we learn throughout the book that the Umuofia do not abandon each other even for fairly serious failings in judgement. The character is drawn with such clarity and compassion that I believe in his integrity and his ability to absorb and learn from his ordeal. We all have terrible trials in our lives. They do not need to be the end of us, and Obi is far from alone in his world. ( )
I have just read the previous reviews of this book. Although Obi gives in to bribery and is punished for it, I don't see the book as a condemnation of traditional culture, but as a careful examination of the pressures placed on an idealistic and independent person by the compression of two cultures together. I don't read this as the end of his life, but as a painful point he can recover from. Remember that we learn throughout the book that the Umuofia do not abandon each other even for fairly serious failings in judgement. The character is drawn with such clarity and compassion that I believe in his integrity and his ability to absorb and learn from his ordeal. We all have terrible trials in our lives. They do not need to be the end of us, and Obi is far from alone in his world. (
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flag11 other reviews | Aug 22, 2012 | edit |
flag11 other reviews | Aug 22, 2012 | edit |
This is a hard book to sum up with plotlines and character descriptions. It is brilliantly written, wry, compassionate. I learned about O'Faolain, the Famine, myself. Not an easy read in every way, but very much worthwhile.
May 2014: when reviewing Cecilia Ahern's A Place Called Here, I wrote:
I can't help thinking of a truly powerful novel, also by an Irish woman writer, also about a pretty screwed up woman who almost inadvertently stumbles down a path to insight and healing--[My Dream of You] by [[Nuala O’Faolain]]. The difference is profound. O’Faolain is not attempting to lead us into any great insight, she is just telling her story, but what a contrast. I was transported by the writing, the character, the story, perhaps because the author in that case was writing from truth, not from plot outline or metaphor. When her character screws up, it is painful. When she does herself a favour, it is a joy. Ahern's protagonist on the other hand is almost a caricature, and although in real life I would greatly sympathize with her, in the book I am merely curious. ( )
May 2014: when reviewing Cecilia Ahern's A Place Called Here, I wrote:
I can't help thinking of a truly powerful novel, also by an Irish woman writer, also about a pretty screwed up woman who almost inadvertently stumbles down a path to insight and healing--[My Dream of You] by [[Nuala O’Faolain]]. The difference is profound. O’Faolain is not attempting to lead us into any great insight, she is just telling her story, but what a contrast. I was transported by the writing, the character, the story, perhaps because the author in that case was writing from truth, not from plot outline or metaphor. When her character screws up, it is painful. When she does herself a favour, it is a joy. Ahern's protagonist on the other hand is almost a caricature, and although in real life I would greatly sympathize with her, in the book I am merely curious. (
) flag11 other reviews | Jul 17, 2012 | edit | 
A favourite! Beautiful, vivid, fascinating. ( )
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What a bizarre and wonderful book. Hilarious, nasty, brilliant, kind. Never has authorial intrusion been so welcome. ( ) flag
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Looks so gloomy yet is so affirming. Beautiful, powerful book. ( )
) flag4 other reviews | Nov 4, 2008 | edit | 
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