Forethoughts: Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne

I come to the next novel on my reading list – Kapitoil by Teddy Wayne (Duckworth Publishers (US – Harper Perennial)) – knowing very little about it, or its author. Given that this is a debut novel, that’s probably not surprising, but if you know anything about Rob and RobAroundBooks then you’ll know [...]

Forethoughts: Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Vol. 3

And so my literary journey brings me to another short story anthology that I’m hugely excited about reading, the Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology Volume 3 (Bristol Review of Books). I’ll admit from the outset that this year is the first year that I’ve gotten involved with reading anything outputted by the Bristol [...]

Forethoughts: There Are Little Kingdoms by Kevin Barry

From the outset I’ve got to admit that I’ve never read a single word of fiction penned by Irish writer, Kevin Barry. Despite There Are Little Kingdoms taking The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2007 Barry has – even given my insatiable thirst for short stories – always managed to slip beneath my [...]

Forethoughts: The Secret Lives of People in Love by Simon Van Booy

My first introduction to Simon Van Booy came in January 2009 when Harper Perennial opened the doors to their wonderful Fifty-Two Stories website. For their inaugural post they chose the story The Missing Statues, from the then not-so-well-known author, taken from his collection, Love Begins in Winter. I reviewed that story the following month, [...]

Forethoughts: A Dream in Polar Fog by Yuri Rytkheu

A Dream in Polar Fog by Yuri Rytkheu (Telegram Books) is one of those books that has languished on my bookshelves for a long time now. But it’s not a lack of interest that has prevented me from reading it thus far. Ever since I featured this book in a Daily Bookshot in the [...]

Forethoughts: Fists by Pietro Grossi

And so my reading journey through this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist brings me to smallest of the offerings in the final six, Fists by Pietro Grossi (Pushkin Press). And if my expectations were soaring ahead of the last shortlist title that I read (Brodeck’s Report by Philippe Claudel (MacLehose Press)) , then [...]

Forethoughts: Brodeck’s Report by Philippe Claudel

Exciting times ahead then as I set off on my reading journey through this year’s Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist. And my excitement couldn’t be higher as I begin with the novel that in my mind holds the most expectation – Brodeck’s Report by Philippe Claudel (MacLehose Press). Since its publication in February 2009 [...]

Forethoughts: Shallow Soil by Knut Hamsun

Having now come to the end of the first novel that I was reading for my Totally Knut reading project, it’s time to move on to the second – Shallow Soil (Ny Jord), the fourth of Hamsun’s novels to be published, in the autumn of 1893 [1]. For my journey through Shallow Soil I’m [...]

Forethoughts: Mysteries by Knut Hamsun

Note: My afterthoughts for this novel have now been posted.
And so dear reader I finally bring myself to the reading project I set up for myself in September of last year (2009). The project, christened Totally Knut, will see me chronologically working my way through the translated bibliography of Knut Hamsun, with the [...]

Forethoughts: Pocket Notebook by Mike Thomas

It’s not every day that one gets to pick up a novel penned by a serving police officer. But today is that day as I begin my journey through Pocket Notebook (William Heinemann), the debut novel from bona fide bobby, Mike Thomas. Before I do start reading it though, I thought I’d offer up [...]

Next Page »