Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier The author Sally Beauman, who has published her own novel based on Rebecca [Rebecca's Tale], writes that du Maurier began her story at the end. In a sense that is true, but those first two chapters give no real clue to what is to come. Rebecca is a novel you …
Category: Books
Ghosts in the Atom
Review Schrödinger's Kittens by John Gribbin 'The special theory of relativity tells us that it is impossible to run alongside a beam of light at the same speed the light is moving; relative to some chosen inertial frame, you can in principle get your own velocity up as close to the speed of light as …
On The Wild Side
Having recently spent a few days on the open roads of the Wild West *, I thought I might stay on it for a few days more and recall two classic novels set during the pioneering days in North America. This is an edited version of an article entitled A Dog's Life which I posted …
Elinor and Marianne
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen A Review In Austen's (probably) first full-length novel, the Dashwood family are happy in their home at Norland Park. However, the property is entailed to a son of Mr Dashwood's first marriage and when he dies, Mrs Dashwood and their daughters, Elinor and Marianne are obliged to leave. Elinor …
Foundation's End
At the end of last year, I promised to finish my series of blogs on the Foundation books of Isaac Asimov, so here goes! Asimov wrote seven Foundation novels altogether, the first three appearing first as short stories in the 1940s and 50s. See https://bookheathen.wordpress.com/2016/09/15/history-of-the-future/ He followed those in the 1980s with two more - …
Holiday Time
This is going to be my last post for several weeks. I'll be flying off to Australia tomorrow and, with a full schedule, I don't expect to be reading much - and definitely not writing reviews. I expect to be back at the end of the year with some more book reviews and maybe the …
Hag-Seed
by Margaret Atwood 'Hag-seed, hence! Fetch us in fuel. And be quick, thou'rt best to answer other business.' [Prospero to Caliban, The Tempest] From the off, we suspect that Hag-Seed might be be Atwood at her most provocatively outrageous. However, post-prologue, the novel settles down to a semblance of normality. Felix is sacked as artistic …
Zafon's Barcelona (2)
The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon trans. by Lucia Graves If you like happy-ever-after endings, if your taste is for stories that resolve neatly, all questions answered and evil routed by good, The Angel’s Game is not for you. If you want heroic tragedy or vale of tears, pick up a copy of Romeo …
Heroic Conflict
Five Great Literary Battles Conflict is a feature of all good fiction. It stirs the emotions, moving us to love or to hate the characters. Heroic acts against the odds, family feuds, human beings against the natural elements, tense sexual encounters - all serve as stimuli, teasing us to imagine ourselves in the world of …
'How many goodly creatures…..'
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 'They entered. The air seemed hot and somehow breathless with the scent of ambergris and sandalwood. On the domed ceiling of the hall, the colour organ had momentarily painted a tropical sunset. The Sixteen Sexophonists were playing an old favourite: "There ain't no Bottle in all the world …
Magda Green Books 