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Category: Reviews

The Sea – John Banville

On December 7, 2016November 28, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews6 Comments

I did not start with Mr Banville on the best of terms. My first book of his was The Book of Evidence, which I admired a lot from literary and craft standpoint, but which failed to move and completely engage me. because of that I was on one hand curious of The Sea, and on the …

Continue reading The Sea – John Banville

The Fall of Light – Niall Williams

On December 5, 2016November 28, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews1 Comment

I admit I was not fully convinced when I bought this book. There was a time in my life when I liked nothing better than a family saga, but it seems to have passed. What finally decided was the fact that the story takes place during The Great Famine and none of the other books …

Continue reading The Fall of Light – Niall Williams

The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien

On November 30, 2016November 27, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews2 Comments

The book tells a story of Caithleen Brady, it follows her from her early teens into early twenties, giving us a chance to see how she evolves form a child into a young woman. Caithleen's family is poor, her father abusive, yet she manages to stay positive and full of hope. She is friends with …

Continue reading The Country Girls – Edna O’Brien

The Book of Evidence – John Banville

On November 26, 2016April 10, 2020 By bookskepticIn Reviews4 Comments

The story of Frederick Charles St John Montgomery as narrated by Freddie Montgomery. If there ever was an unreliable narrator it's Freddie, guilty of murder and theft, in prison giving a statement on his life and his crimes. Being at time superficial, like Freddie, I'll begin with the physical aspect. I read a Picador Classic …

Continue reading The Book of Evidence – John Banville

Taking Pictures – Anne Enright

On November 23, 2016November 20, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews2 Comments

It is a collection of short stories, which is not my favorite thing in the world. I think I picked it as my first choice for my reading Ireland project, because my mum is a photographer (you can check out her pictures here and here). It consists of nineteen stories, all about women. Enright touches …

Continue reading Taking Pictures – Anne Enright

The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt

On November 19, 2016November 15, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews9 Comments

Let's start with the obvious - it is a very long book. Because of that I dreaded it a bit, as I rarely abandon books, so if this was a flop I knew it would cost me a lot of time. Luckily it wasn't. I finally found courage to start on it towards the end …

Continue reading The Goldfinch – Donna Tartt

Ghosts of Spain – Giles Tremlett

On November 16, 2016December 27, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews8 Comments

This was another of my pre-vacation buys before going to Spain for the first time. Maybe not an entirely planned one as I got it at the airport, so I knew I'd read it in Spain, which happened to be a very good decision, because I could observe some of the things described first hand. …

Continue reading Ghosts of Spain – Giles Tremlett

Drive – James Sallis

On November 14, 2016November 13, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews2 Comments

I probably bought this book after the movie was released and the whole world went crazy about Ryan Gosling. When possible I try to read the book before I watch the movie, so I can imagine the characters and places myself, rather than using pictures created by someone else (for me Don Vito Corleone will …

Continue reading Drive – James Sallis

Homage to Barcelona – Colm Tóibín

On November 9, 2016December 27, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews2 Comments

I bought Homage to Barcelona together with Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell in preparation for my vacation in Spain. Never having read anything by Colm Toibin, and recently back from my trip to Ireland I got tempted to start with this one. The result is that Homage to Catalonia is still unread, over a month …

Continue reading Homage to Barcelona – Colm Tóibín

The Devil in the Marshalsea – Antonia Hodgson

On November 7, 2016November 7, 2016 By bookskepticIn Reviews5 Comments

This one was something I rarely read - historical crime fiction, for some unknown reason I usually prefer myy crime to be contemporary, or at least 20th century. I probably was tempted to buy this one on one of the kindle sales, which is where I get most of my crime stash. The book is …

Continue reading The Devil in the Marshalsea – Antonia Hodgson

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