Category Archives: Bookmarked
Maurice Sendak
In a strange, morbid coincidence I had already begun to write this week’s blog in a reflective mood, spurred on by the recent publication on the 8th of this month by The Secret of Evil, a short story playlist posthumously released by the late, exceptionally gifted Chilean author and poet […]
Been there, seen that, bought the paperback
Some clever scholarly type folks have discovered there are only a handful of original story ‘types’, whether five or six or seven, there’s some fudging of the numbers in each of their accounts, but all agree, the number of truly original stories is very low. So it always make me […]
No ordinary game of I spy
I tried and tried, I concentrated really really hard, but in the end it was all in vain. The entire read through Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale I couldn’t help but think of the different actors to portray James Bond. By virtue of simply starring as everyone’s favourite British spy in […]
Bring Back Serialisation!
Having entirely failed in the simple goal of cooking up a more imaginative title to express this week’s theme I can, at least, rest easy in the assurance the title does exactly what it says on the tin. So, I give you my new demand to return to glory the […]
Should have bought a deerstalker…..
During the middle of last week, towards the resolution of a long and dull coach trip back into London, my relief at monotony’s imminent end was made extra sweet by an unexpected pleasure. I’ve only actually lived in London for the past two months (-ish), time in which to fall […]
Imaginary Worlds #4
With this week’s return of the excellent Game of Thrones TV series I thought it’d be a great chance to spread some love for George R R Martin’s A Song Of Ice and Fire, the incredibly good series of books the show is based on. Fantasy was never much of […]
A Good Rule of Thumb
I know I’ve never openly said this before, perhaps by virtue of having never having thought it, but I realise now, contributing towards The Focus Project blog, week in, week out, has given me more than simple enjoyment. More, even, than a community where I can express my thoughts, my […]
The Curious Lightness of Being Hawaiian
Roughly halfway through reading The Descendants the realisation, lets not mince cliché’s here, hit me, and I wondered, why do realisations always wait till halfway through to appear? And why with the hitting and violence? Authorial sloppiness? Visually neatness? Halfway. Hitting. Such simple, suggestive concepts. I almost forgot how impressed […]
Comic Books, Romance and Golems
Unless you’re lucky and live close to a particularly cavernous and extensive bookshop you’ve probably noticed the local store has, by necessity, had to be selective with its titles. While the reason for this might be simple, mundane practicality – there is only so much space available – the choice […]
Why?
I often wonder if the arrival of the audio book was proclaimed as sounding, literally, the death knell of print fiction. I wonder if critics and authors and pundits debated the merits of this new form. I’m almost certain there were some who declared the printed book to be well […]
