Entries from June 2010
(Published: SCRIBNER 2009. 193 pages)
No Tea Party: Love and Bigotry in a North American City
Map of Ireland opens with a quote from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “geography is fate.” Although it is indeed true that the fate of the protagonist of this novel would have been different had she not lived in South Boston, her [...]
[Read more →]
Tags: Fiction · Politics
(Publisher: Little, Brown 2009. 404 pages).
PARALLEL WORLDS OF CAPITALISM, CHRISTIANITY AND TORTURE
Iain Banks writes mainstream novels. He also writes science fiction (SF) novels as Iain M Banks. Potential readers aware of these facts may conclude that the omission of the author’s middle initial from the cover of this book guarantees that it is not [...]
[Read more →]
Tags: Fiction · Physics · Politics
(Publisher: Europa Editions, 2009. 162 pages)
OF TERRORISM, WRITING AND AGING
Set in Italy and originally written in Italian, this novel initially appears to be about someone accused of terrorism (of the Red Brigades variety). Then it also becomes an account of an author trying to write a novel about said topic.
The characters, of which the author [...]
[Read more →]
Tags: Fiction · Philosophy · Politics · Social history