Category: Books

What do you read, my lord?

Book review: Preacher, Volume 7: Salvation

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Preacher, Volume 7: SalvationPreacher, Volume 7: Salvation by Garth Ennis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This Preacher trade gathers issues 41-50 of the regular run of the series, and focuses squarely on Jesse’s path after splitting with Cassidy and Tulip. It’s something of a refractory period in the story – Custer regroups and finds strength again – but it’s also home to some of the series’ more interesting foes, so it’s a worthwhile read. And that’s without counting the insight into the padre’s past this handful offers. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 7: Salvation” →

Book review: Preacher, Volume 6: War in the Sun

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Preacher, Volume 6: War in the Sun Preacher, Volume 6: War in the Sun by Garth Ennis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gathered in this volume is the special issue One Man’s War, and issues 34-40 of the main run of Preacher. It’s a collection that’s not quite as dazzling as some of the previous installments, but it does feature a shitload more firepower than we’ve seen previously – and the first really ruinous split in the crew.

(Oh, there’s also a small imaginary world where everyone has a face like an arse, but that’s more a little palate-cleanser for the next gathering of issues. Suffice it to say that it’s the first time Arseface has been without subtitles for a long stretch.) Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 6: War in the Sun” →

Book review: Preacher, Volume 5: Dixie Fried

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Preacher, Volume 5: Dixie FriedPreacher, Volume 5: Dixie Fried by Garth Ennis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This Preacher trade is another favourite. It collects Blood and Whiskey, a Cassidy special, and issues 27-33 of the regular run. Together, they deepen the portrait we have of the series’ whiskey-swilling vampire, proving that there’s a little more to him than toothy comic relief. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 5: Dixie Fried” →

Book review: Preacher, Volume 4: Ancient History

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Preacher, Volume 4: Ancient History Preacher, Volume 4: Ancient History by Garth Ennis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another day, another collection of Preacher issues. However, this one’s something of an oddity. It gathers together three one-shot specials: Saint of Killers, The Story of You-Know-You and Good Old Boys. There’s a lengthy introduction by series author, Garth Ennis, in which his love of cinema is apparent – which is convenient, as the volume contains an excellent riff on his favourite genre, the Western, as well as a not-so-great version of the ’80s action film. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 4: Ancient History” →

Book review: Preacher, Volume 3: Proud Americans

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Preacher, Volume 3: Proud AmericansPreacher, Volume 3: Proud Americans by Garth Ennis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Preacher re-read rolls on. Proud Americans gathers issues 18 to 26 of the series and while it contains just as much blow-shit-up-while-making-knob-jokes stuff as the previous trades, it’s also one which deepens character and explores history, too. Spoilers ahead, most likely.

We begin as Jesse is en route to Paris, where he encounters Space, a Vietnam vet who has stories to share of John Custer. The previous collection’s story of Angelville told of the meeting of Jesse’s mother and father, but this one offers some insight into what sort of a man he was – traits which have rubbed off onto the son, in an exchange begun by an anti-Commie lighter. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 3: Proud Americans” →

Book review: Preacher, Volume 2: Until the End of the World

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Preacher, Volume 2: Until the End of the WorldPreacher, Volume 2: Until the End of the World by Garth Ennis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Until the End of the World, the second trade paperback in the Preacher series, gathers together issues 8-17 of the comic about the Texas padre with the Word of God in his skull, a failed-assassin girlfriend and an Irish vampire best mate. It’s also the trade wherein shit gets weird.

Well, weirder. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Volume 2: Until the End of the World” →

Book review: The Suburbs Of Hell

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The Suburbs Of HellThe Suburbs Of Hell by Randolph Stow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A title taken from Webster’s The White Devil? Oh, Randolph Stow, you shouldn’t have. It’s as if you want me to think this is a gory little chapbook of a thing.

Well, it is, really. This is a novel about murder. But it’s not the usual type: there’s no neat little bow to wrap around everything. Here, it’s a bit different. It’s a meditation on the endpoint of murder – death – and a refraction of four years of Western Australia killings, written from half a world away. Continue reading “Book review: The Suburbs Of Hell” →

Book review: Preacher, Vol. 1: Gone to Texas

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Preacher, Vol. 1: Gone to TexasPreacher, Vol. 1: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the lead-up to the AMC Preacher series I decided it was about time to reread the Ennis/Dillon comic series before I saw how it was transformed to fit television (and the updated time period). This will be a shorter review than normal as I’m keen to not reveal many spoilers, if possible.

This book collects issues 1-7 and their covers. We’re introduced to the main trio of characters, and given a bit of Big Apple adventure, but there’s the sense that the best is yet to come. This is a beginning, after all.

If you’ve not come across Preacher before, it’s pretty simple to categorise: it’s a dudes’ book. It’s all Texas and face-punching and murder and weird sex and uncomfortable gay jokes. It’s enjoyable, but it’s also kind of cringeworthy in some places, because it hasn’t necessarily aged particularly well. Continue reading “Book review: Preacher, Vol. 1: Gone to Texas” →

Book review: My Life As A Fake

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My Life As A FakeMy Life As A Fake by Peter Carey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Take a 1940s literary hoax, Frankenstein, Rilke, Ezra Pound, literary journal editorship and the memsahib culture of Malaysia in the middle of last century and whip it all up with ulcerated legs and modish, society-shocking femmes fatales and you’ve pretty much got this entry in Carey’s oeuvre. My Life as a Fake is shorter than a lot of his other work – I think it’s probably on par with something like The Tax Inspector for length – but it packs a pretty hefty punch. Continue reading “Book review: My Life As A Fake” →

Book review: Strange Weather in Tokyo

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Strange Weather in Tokyo Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hiromi Kawakami has, in Strange Weather in Tokyo, written a fairly plot-free novel that charts the deepening friendship between Tsukiko, a late-30s woman, and Sensei, her teacher from years ago. They meet in a local bar – food and drink is key to the novel, bonding agents made of sake and mushrooms – and what follows is the story of pendulums going in and out of sync. Continue reading “Book review: Strange Weather in Tokyo” →