Thirty-four pages into this excellent Irish novel, I was cackling with laughter for the third time. I was also being paused in my happy reading by moments of piercing empathy. They sat alongside the bursts of humour, deepening the reader’s feelings about the characters and their patient, ordinary lives. The cover shows us a sunfish, … Continue reading Rónán Hession, Leonard and Hungry Paul
Tag: family life
Lyndall Hopkinson, Nothing to Forgive
Lyndall Hopkinson is the daughter of Tom Hopkinson (author, journalist, editor of Picture Post), and the novelist and poet Antonia White (her real name was Eirene Botting, but she never used it so let’s stick to Antonia). This 1988 biography of Antonia is mainly about, and trying to explain, if not excuse, Antonia’s destructive awfulness … Continue reading Lyndall Hopkinson, Nothing to Forgive
Three Moroccan marriages: Tahar Ben Jelloun’s About My Mother
About My Mother is a combination of novel, memoir, Alzheimer’s case study and history of Moroccan domestic life. The author’s mother (or the narrator’s mother: it’s hard to see the difference) has Alzheimer’s disease and is increasingly confused in her small house. Her memory wanders and she confuses her sons and daughters for her parents … Continue reading Three Moroccan marriages: Tahar Ben Jelloun’s About My Mother
Lemon in the sugar: Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine
This was a surprise. I picked up a paperback copy of this novel because I’ve been thinking for some time that I ought to be rereading Bradbury and bought the first one I found. I paid very little for it, because clumps of pages were already falling out: it was clearly a much loved copy. … Continue reading Lemon in the sugar: Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine
A homosexual sf future wrestling with political ecology: Naomi Mitchison’s Solution Three
If you like elliptical, immersive, euphemistic strangeness in your science-fiction narrative, this novel is for you. Published in 1975, Naomi Mitchison's Solution Three retains some slang that was archaic even then, like ‘cat’ for person, which made this reader jump, and certainly adds to the strangeness in the dialogue. Could you ever empathise with a … Continue reading A homosexual sf future wrestling with political ecology: Naomi Mitchison’s Solution Three
Kate Macdonald 