Tag: Consumption

Book review: Wind/Pinball: Two Novels

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Wind/Pinball: Two NovelsWind/Pinball: Two Novels by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So, here we have two of Murakami’s earliest books placed back in print after thirty years. This reprint helps those outside Japan compare the gnomic author’s beginnings to his current work, without resorting to organ-sale prices for the original Kodansha English Library printing.

I was excited to read these, I must admit, largely because what’s presented are until-now missing parts of the author’s series of Rat novels. The problem is that they seem to offer not much more than a basic introduction to the characters, and a collection of random observations. There’s a lack of focus that’s frustrating (even by Murakami standards) and I assume this is why the books were out of English circulation for so long – apparently the author felt them unworthy of translation after the initial in-Japan run. Continue reading “Book review: Wind/Pinball: Two Novels” →

Book review: Death in Brunswick

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Death in BrunswickDeath in Brunswick by Boyd Oxlade
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Boyd Oxlade’s a one-hit wonder, as far as writing is concerned. He recently died, having almost completed his second novel, and it’s a shame it won’t see the light of day, because this one is a ripper.

Imagine something close to an examination of the outsider, a meditation on friendship, a crime story and a kitchen-sink recounting of the life of a chef and a gravedigger (both jobs the author had held, tellingly) and you’re getting close.

Continue reading “Book review: Death in Brunswick” →

Book review: The Hearing Trumpet

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The Hearing Trumpet The Hearing Trumpet by Leonora Carrington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Leonora Carrington is a deeply strange writer. Given that a biography of the author features how

“Subjected to horrifying treatment in a Madrid asylum, she was rescued by her nanny who arrived in a submarine.”

this is probably unsurprising. Continue reading “Book review: The Hearing Trumpet” →

Book review: My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 3

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My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 3.My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 3 by Yutaka Tanaka
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This review is brief, as there’s not really all that much I can add to my previous two reviews of this manga. This, the third volume, brings to a close the supernatural romance’s run, and leaves us with little more knowledge than when we began.

The problem with My Lovely Ghost KANA is that there’s not much of an overarching story. Guy meets ghostgirl, they drink beer and shag, and the background of neither is explained very well. Continue reading “Book review: My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 3” →

Book review: The Book of the Dead: Lives of the Justly Famous and the Undeservedly Obscure

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The Book of the Dead.The Book of the Dead: Lives of the Justly Famous and the Undeservedly Obscure by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this for a birthday present, and have only just completed it. I don’t know why it took so long for me to pull it off the shelf, but I’m glad I did. It’s full of wry humour and life lessons, though it imparts these without being preachy. Plus, it has a boss front cover. I mean, a skeleton wearing a dunce cap? Nice.

This book is a Who’s Who of dead people. Except rather than being an alphabetical collection, it’s thematic – the corpses are bundled together by theme rather than surname, which means you get to have a section where Epicurus rubs shoulders with Benjamin Franklin and Moll Cutpurse (because they were all happy-go-lucky), as well as a section where the dead are united by monkeys. Continue reading “Book review: The Book of the Dead: Lives of the Justly Famous and the Undeservedly Obscure” →

Book review: The Strange Library

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The Strange LibraryThe Strange Library by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This slim volume is an illustrated, extended short story. It’s not quite beefy enough to be a novella, but it is worth checking out, largely because it’s an example of Murakami’s weirdness corralled into a smaller space. You won’t find thousands of pages to leaf through here, but the world created is no less striking than that of 1Q84 .

(And there’s even a sheep man! Alongside the enormous talking bird, that is.)

The story tells of a gone-wrong trip to the library. We know that Murakami’s translation of crime fiction has informed his other work – this feels as if the author had inhaled the inherent creepiness of Roald Dahl instead of the gruffness of Raymond Chandler. It could be a kids’ book, except I’m uncertain how many children would be convinced to read by the prospect of imprisonment by a brains-slurping librarian. Continue reading “Book review: The Strange Library” →

Book review: The Six Messiahs

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The Six Messiahs.The Six Messiahs by Mark Frost
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The second (and so far final) in Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost’s series of books featuring a fictionalised Arthur Conan Doyle as a character isn’t a great departure from the first. Once more, our trusty author – now thoroughly jack of Holmes – is caught up in world-changing events of a supernatural nature and must fight with Jack Sparks (Holmes’ inspiration in this world) to prevent catastrophe, and a universal loss of stiff upper lip.

On this outing, Doyle embarks on a tour of the US to escape his failing wife (and marriage). The trip to the land of the Yankee provides plenty of space for period detail, and also ensures Frost can add a fairly big dose of cowboy-and-religion imagery to the creeping Lovecraftian grimness featured in the first volume. Continue reading “Book review: The Six Messiahs” →

Book review: My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 2

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My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 2.My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 2 by Yutaka Tanaka
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s a little difficult to review this volume of the tale of Dai and Kana as it’s largely the same as that which came before: regular life interspersed with some well-shielded sex.

My feelings for it remain the same as they were when I wrote my review of the first volume: it’s nothing earthshattering, but it is pretty enjoyable, and seems a very true-to-life observation of how relationships change. There’s hints of greater darkness here – and the introduction of other characters to the apartment complex, though this hasn’t (yet) created any untoward drama – but it’s still pretty lighthearted. Continue reading “Book review: My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 2” →

Book review: The List of Seven

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The List of Seven.The List of Seven by Mark Frost
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Written by Twin Peaks co-creator Mark Frost, The List of Seven is an occult tale which takes historical fact and bends it to a distinctly gung-ho, eh-what end. It’s a Victorian tale peopled with notable figures from the time, but shot through with the sort of supreme radio-serial ridiculousness that lends the Indiana Jones series of movies their verve.

Arthur Conan Doyle himself is the major figure of the story, though he’s not the only notable personage who makes an appearance. Royalty and showbiz names crop up, and Frost throws in enough elements of their life and works – Hey! It’s Bram Stoker! In Whitby! – to elicit Continue reading “Book review: The List of Seven” →

Book review: My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 1

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My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 1.My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 1 by Yutaka Tanaka
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first manga of its type I’ve read, and I was pleasantly surprised. It’s the story of Daikichi (whose name means ‘good luck’) who seems to be a bit of a loser. He has no job, nobody to look after him, and ends up living in an abandoned apartment. It’s overgrown and shitty, and the heavy inference is that he’ll die there, or at least fall through the cracks.

Until he meets his ghostly girlfriend, that is. Continue reading “Book review: My Lovely Ghost KANA, Volume 1” →