Thursday 29 June 2017

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides


Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
First published in America by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in September 2002.

I registered my copy of this book at Bookcrossing

Where to buy this book:
Buy the book from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk
Buy the ebook from Kobo
Buy the paperback from Speedyhen
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Swapped for in the book exchange at Camping Alvor, Portugal

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974." 
So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides and her truly unique family secret, born on the slopes of Mount Olympus and passed on through three generations. Growing up in 70s Michigan, Calliope’s special inheritance will turn her into Cal, the narrator of this intersex, inter-generational epic of immigrant life in 20th century America.

When I finally got around to reading Middlesex, having been put off by how long a book it appeared to be, I was kicking myself for not reading this book some ten years previously when it was originally published. It is a fantastically rich novel that I absolutely loved. An epic tale of three generations of a Greek family who emigrated to America, Middlesex traces the family's story through a defective gene in their makeup. Eugenides writing is assured and detailed, as much a history lesson as a novel and with so many wonderful characters. All other books I read that year had a long way to go to beat Middlesex!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Jeffrey Eugenides / Historical fiction / Books from America

Tuesday 27 June 2017

Ireland's Fairy Lore by Reverend Michael P. Mahon


Ireland's Fairy Lore by Reverend Michael P. Mahon
First published in one volume in 1919 by Thomas J Flynn and Company. Republished in the UK by ForgottenBooks in November 2013.

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy from independent booksellers via Alibris
Buy the paperback from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Downloaded from ForgottenBooks

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ireland's Fairy Lore is a collection of 31 separate tales of lore and legend. While the stories do an excellent job of illuminating Ireland's history of Gaelic literature, the author does not treat the works with too serious an interpretation, and in fact is downright lighthearted in many instances. This is especially appropriate for such an entertaining collection.
Standout entries include the story of The Pooka, a goblin like creature that is said to bring either good or misfortune upon people, and is the inspiration for many place names throughout Ireland. The history of The Dagda, a father figure God of frightening power, is another entertaining and illuminating chapter. In fact, of the thirty-one entries included in this collection, almost all are worthy of your attention. They were originally published as individual articles in Pilot magazine.
Ireland's Fairy Lore is an enduring and entertaining examination of Ireland's mythical landscape. The relaxed tone and brief chapters make this an easy read, one that you could get through in a couple of sittings, or go back to regularly over time. For anybody interested in Irelish folk lore, or even just a good fairy story, this book is highly recommended.

From the synopsis on the ForgottenBooks website I was expecting 31 Irish folk tales but this book is more of a survey of the influence of the faery folk on place names and Pagan traditions in Ireland. Rev Mahon was obviously widely read and quotes many medieval and earlier works as he traces the history of the fairies. This is interesting but I did find irritating his patronising assumptions that later Christian beliefs were automatically superior to these Pagan ones - especially at times where one has merely taken over the other. Also, the essays might be 'light hearted' by 1919 standards, but they've become considerably drier by 2014!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Reverend Michael P Mahon / History / Books from England

Saturday 24 June 2017

Not In The Eye by C Z Hazard


Not in the Eye by C.Z. Hazard
Published by B*Kitty Press on the 23rd December 2013.

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy from independent booksellers via Alibris
Buy the ebook from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Bought the ebook from Amazon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In a world running rapidly out of new ideas, the most precious commodity is innovation. In a future so near that it may already be upon us, Western society faces cultural bankruptcy. Our creative heritage has been looted, recycled and plagiarised to the point of exhaustion. The entertainment industry has traded artistic merit for commercial success and mass appeal. Everything is just a rehash of something that came before. Nothing is original.
When a radical new phenomenon erupts (quite literally) onto the porno scene, it changes the industry forever, and forces audiences, jaded by endless reiteration, to sit up and take notice. It’s a watershed moment in these culturally bereft times, and – for a select few – it’s a chance to make some serious money. But wherever there’s serious money to be made, you can bet there’s a lawsuit just around the corner. Join Indigo Julius, self-styled godfather of NuGonzo™ journalism, as he searches for the story behind the story behind the most controversial porn sensation in history, and examines its far-reaching consequences. Across a series of probing interviews with the stars of this media spectacular, Indigo brings you their compelling – if often conflicting – versions of events, as everyone tries to stake a claim in this pornographic goldrush.

C Z Hazard is Nico Reznick's editor so I discovered this book of his after reading her novel, Anhedonia. Told through a series of overlapping interviews, Not In The Eye explores an imagined consequence of society's insatiable search for novelty and drama in a near-future America. Humorously named writer, John Thomas (a running gag), might have invented an innovative gimmick that made incredible profits for the pornography industry. Or maybe his then boss, Mike Man, should have all the credit? Either way, their protacted court case means the only people profiting right now are lawyers and possibly influential journalist Indigo Julius, our interviewer, who is piggybacking on John and Mike's notoriety to increase his own mass appeal.

As an examination of the lengths industries will go to to maintain audience interest, Not In The Eye provides a light but thoughtful look at Taking It Too Far. I liked the story idea and wouldn't be surprised if something along those lines becomes (or already is!) reality in a struggling studio. However I didn't think the character portrayals were strong enough to set our protagonists up as individual people. Perhaps that was the point - they are all actually shallow media-tarts - but without additional detail to round out these creations, I found it difficult to really become involved with their story.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by C Z Hazard / Humorous fiction / Books from England

Wednesday 21 June 2017

First There Wasn't, Then There Was by Troy Blackford


First There Wasn't, Then There Was by Troy Blackford
Self-published in America in February 2014.

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy from independent booksellers via Alibris
Buy the ebook from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Bought the ebook from Amazon

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Four young men have noticed a peculiar man wandering around the streets downtown where they work, muttering to himself with a trashbag slung over his shoulder. After one of them hatches a plan to capture the strange old man's words, the group quickly realize that the fellow has seen and done things that defy the imagination. A metaphysical tale of action and adventure that takes you beyond the bounds of normal human experience and into a world of secret colors and hidden doorways, of uncoiling panthers and recoiling nailguns, 'First There Wasn't, Then There Was' is a novella unlike any other.

I read Troy Blackford's short story collection Flotsam nearly three years ago so already had an idea of his genre-defying style and the darkly surreal way in which his stories interpret the world. This novella-length story certainly didn't disappoint on that score! We begin by meeting four young men whose only genuine commonality seems to be their smoke breaks leaning against the wall of their office building and I loved Blackford's portrayal of this group, recognising in it similar cliques with whom I have worked over the years.

First There Wasn't, Then There Was is a real lesson in not judging a person by their appearance. The apparently homeless tramp about whom the leaners set themselves a challenge of learning more, turns out to be an ingenious storyteller with quite an adventure to recount! Adventure, thriller and fantasy blend in his tale which I enjoyed reading. I did feel that some parts of the novella felt too rushed and I would have liked stronger character development alongside the action, but otherwise this is a fun story.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Troy Blackford / Horror fiction / Books from America

Tuesday 20 June 2017

The Parthenon Bomber by Christos Chrissopoulos


The Parthenon Bomber by Christos Chrissopoulos
First published in Greek in Greece in 2010. English language translation by John Cullen published by Other Press today, the 20th June 2017.

One of my WorldReads from Greece

Where to buy this book:
Buy the ebook from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk
Buy the ebook from Kobo
Buy the hardback from Speedyhen
Buy the hardback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A novel at once metaphorical and iconoclastic, The Parthenon Bomber exposes the painful and maddening paradox of contemporary Greece. “Blow up the Acropolis” was the 1944 call to action by the surrealist circle the Harbingers of Chaos. Sixty years later, a young man obliges. The Parthenon has been destroyed, the city orphaned. Is it still Athens? All eyes are on the empty hill, now smoky and ashen. Cries of distress, indifference, and fanaticism fill the air. What were his reasons? How will he be punished for this unspeakable act of violence? What does it mean for Greece, now deprived of its greatest symbol? This provocative tale reveals the unique dilemma of a country still searching for an identity beyond its past as the birthplace of Western civilization.

Originally published in Greece seven years ago, The Parthenon Bomber has only now been translated into English and is an intense and unusual novella. The story is told from a number of viewpoints beginning with the testimony of a man known as Ch K who, inspired by a Second World War philosophy, charged himself with the destruction of The Parthenon. As readers we do not know if his words are true or even if they are genuinely his, but the confession is certainly compelling in its portrayal of insane single-mindedness. I loved this strong start to the book and was also moved by the later testimony of a firing squad soldier. I could have done with fewer witness statements although I appreciated that these brief paragraphs allowed a brief respite from other chapter's intensity.

Surrealist poet Yorgos Makris did exist and did actually call for the destruction of all monuments in order to free Greece from her hankering for her triumphal past. This reasoning did resonate with me as a similar rose-tinted nostalgia affects many people in Britain, but I found the idea of destroying stone monuments in order to achieve such mental freedom a bizarre concept. Chrissopoulos seamlessly blends that past with our modern-day fear of wanton terrorism to create this powerful insight into a bomber's psyche and also into the thoughts of people he leaves effectively bereaved by the loss of their treasured icon.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Christos Chrissopoulos / Novellas / Books from Greece

Saturday 17 June 2017

The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco


The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco
First published in Italy in Italian by Bompiani as Il nome della rosa in 1980. English language translation by William Weaver published in 1993.

One of my WorldReads from Italy
I registered my copy of this book at Bookcrossing

How I got this book:
Purchased second-hand from Livros da Ria Formosa in Lagos, Portugal.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


The year is 1327. Franciscans in a wealthy Italian abbey are suspected of heresy, and Brother William of Baskerville arrives to investigate.When his delicate mission is suddenly overshadowed by seven bizarre deaths, Brother William turns detective. He collects evidence, deciphers secret symbols and coded manuscripts, and digs into the eerie labyrinth of the abbey where extraordinary things are happening under the over of night. A spectacular popular and critical success, The Name of the Rose is not only a narrative of a murder investigation but an astonishing chronicle of the Middle Ages.

A brilliant book, certainly one of the most difficult I have ever read and not least because of how much GCSE Latin I have forgotten. The Name Of The Rose is billed as a murder mystery but is also so much more. The mystery plot is interesting but what kept me gripped is the amazing portrayal of medieval life with its insane yet deadly serious theological arguments. Dozens of different sects, all of which claim to be the true Christians, gain or lose power and prestige dependent on the current definition of religious truth. And woe betide any man finding himself on the 'wrong' side - torture and death await. Women, of course, are practically sub-human so are not even afforded the right to argue! This is a fantastic book that beautifully illuminates a bizarre world, one I am grateful I did not experience first hand.

Etsy Find!
by 5cats Project in
Athens, Greece

Click pic to visit Etsy Shop


Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Umberto Eco / Crime fiction / Books from Italy

Thursday 15 June 2017

Quantum Dream by Nicholas Boyd Crutchley + Giveaway


Quantum Dream by Nicholas Boyd Crutchley
Published by Night Owl in April 2017.

Enter the Goodreads Giveaway for your chance to win 1 of 5 copies of Quantum Dream. Ends on the 7th of July.

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy the ebook from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Solomon is rapper, a rhymer, a drifter. He heads an ecoterrorist organisation dedicated to stopping the global economy destroying habitats, polluting ecosystems, and creating synthetic biological organisms. The global economy is guided by quantum artificial intelligences (QAIs), who interface with people through the psi-q-net. Human beings, more connected with corporations than the natural world, shop the world towards ecological oblivion.
As runaway climate change and resource wars threaten the human species, Solomon and his ecoterrorist organisation create Gaia, a quantum artificial intelligence who has compassion. Gaia lives in the Quantum Dream, the collective unconscious of the world’s QAIs. Through the dreams of quantum computers and people, she influences the world to build a starship, New Hope, which will allow humankind to create an experimental ecocentric society on a distant world, popularly known as Dragonland.
Decades pass until, through a quantum quirk, Chaos, another QAI like Gaia, is spawned in the Quantum Dream. Chaos wishes to destroy humankind for its ecocide, and so infects Earth’s billions with the Blood Plague. Only those aboard the starship, New Hope, are safe as they lay in stasis, and travel to Dragonland. However, Chaos plots to defeat Gaia, and drive those aboard the starship insane through their dreams.
Can Solomon and Gaia stop Chaos from exterminating humankind? And can they then guide the star travellers to create an ecocentric society on a distant world, and save humankind from itself?


The overall plotline of this dystopian science fiction novel appealed to me as I am very concerned about the future of Earth and how humanity's actions are rapidly destroying so much of our planet. Crutchley has vividly imagined a society totally dependent on technology and in desperate need of a new planetary home. I loved his descriptions of settings and dreamscapes which range from the identifiable to the fantastically imagined. This book blends ancient mythology with science fiction ideas resulting in a truly unique landscape. My problem with it all however was that I frequently found myself unable to work out exactly what was going on. The overall arc made sense, but the twists and turns lost me so I appreciated the inspired prose of individual scenes, but without understanding their place in the main narrative. Admittedly I don't read much science fiction so perhaps a reader more familiar with the genre would find Quantum Dream easier to follow.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Nicholas Boyd Crutchley / Science fiction / Books from Scotland

Monday 12 June 2017

Dead On Ice by Lauren Carr + Giveaway


Dead On Ice by Lauren Carr
First self-published in America in 2012. Audiobook edition narrated by Mike Alger published by Acorn Book Services in November 2016.

How I got this book:
Received a review copy via iRead Book Tours
(See the other stops on the tour)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Spunky Cameron Gates is tasked with solving the murder of Cherry Pickens, a legendary star of pornographic films, whose body turns up in an abandoned freezer. The case has a personal connection to her lover, Joshua Thornton, because the freezer was located in his cousin's basement. It doesn't take long for their investigation to reveal that the risqué star's roots were buried in their rural Ohio Valley community, something that Cherry had kept off her show business bio. She should have kept her hometown off her road map, too - because when this starlet came running home from the mob, it proved to be a fatal homecoming.



Dead On Ice is a complicated small town mystery with a large cast of characters so I needed to keep concentrating throughout the book to understand all the twists and turns of the case. Carr starts with a flashback prologue depicting a bullying event from the 1970s before launching into the present-day Ohio mystery. For a reasonably short book - only six hours of audio - there is a lot packed in and I particularly liked the antagonistic relationships such as those between warring elderly rivals Doris and Mildred, and between our sleuth Joshua and his girlfriend's cat, Irving. The cat frequently steals the show from all the other characters! Narrator Mike Alger was a good choice to read Dead On Ice because his voice has the versatility to cope with the many and varied cast members and the tension of the novel.

I did find that for me there was sometimes too much padding in certain scenes which upset the overall pace of the story. This tended to be at time when people were talking and eating and we were told every single bite as well as the conversation. Other than these such moments though, I found Dead On Ice to be an entertaining and engaging read. Despite it being a murder mystery, the violence is kept pretty much out of sight so I was never confronted with unexpectedly gruesome details and generally the story remains believable enough. The romance between Cameron and Joshua is nicely portrayed, underpinned by a strong friendship between the two and I imagine that they will go on to have many more crime-solving adventures together.


Lauren Carr is the international best-selling author of the Mac Faraday, Lovers in Crime, and Thorny Rose Mysteries—over twenty titles across three fast-paced mystery series filled with twists and turns! Book reviewers and readers alike rave about how Lauren Carr seamlessly crosses genres to include mystery, suspense, romance, and humor.

Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She lives with her husband and three dogs (including the real Gnarly’s klutzy nephew Sterling) on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

Connect with Lauren: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook



And now it's giveaway time!

To celebrate Lauren' Audiobook-a-palooza Blog Tour one $100 Amazon gift card will be given away to a lucky winner. The giveaway is open internationally until the 22nd of July.



Here's the giveaway widget:






Good luck! 




Etsy Find!
by Harbeth Limited in
the United Kingdom

Click pic to visit Etsy Shop

Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Lauren Carr / Crime fiction / Books from America

Sunday 11 June 2017

Other People's Business by H J Moat


Other People's Business: Much Ado About Nothing - Shakespeare's Romantic Comedy Retold by H J Moat
Self-published in April 2017.

Where to buy this book:
Buy the ebook from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Some cupid kills with arrows, some with traps... 
Bee and Ben haven't always hated each other, but they certainly hate each other now. They hate each other so much that it threatens to derail the wedding of their best friends, Imogen and Will. But then something unthinkable happens and turns everything on its head. Within the wedding party, some hearts swell and others are broken, but will anyone work out that relationships are rarely quite what they seem?
This modern retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing explores the idea of whether we're ever really in control of our own romantic destiny and if true love really can conquer all.

After reading Othello and its modern retelling, New Boy, recently I was delighted to be contacted by author Hollie Moat offering me a review copy of her novel, Other People's Business, which is a retelling of William Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing. Again I listened to my audiobook of the original work before immersing myself in the new retelling.

Other People's Business is written in alternating chapters from the viewpoints of Bee and Ben. I liked the chatty prose style and that this device allows us to witness events through each character's eyes and to learn their innermost thoughts at the same time. I was immediately drawn to Bee who I think is someone I would get on with in real life. It took longer for Ben to be defined, but he does have some great lines and both are very funny when they are sparring. Of course imagining David Tennant as Ben (he played the role in my audiobook) added to his appeal! Moat sticks closely to Much Ado About Nothing's main plotline, but her story is firmly rooted in the present day and I actually preferred her interpretation of moments such as Imogen's (Hero) death which makes more sense as Moat tells it.

Romance fiction isn't my preferred genre, but I did enjoy reading Other People's Business because it manages to be witty and humorous as well as romantic. Sharply observed characters such as pompous businessman Laurence and devoted Dad Len are a joy to encounter and even soppy Imogen was entertainingly exasperating. Throw in a sumptuous wedding and enough booze to render everyone comatose and you have all the ingredients for a great summer read!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Hollie Moat / Women's fiction / Books from England

Saturday 10 June 2017

The Magic Dogs of San Vicente by Mark Fishman


The Magic Dogs of San Vicente by Mark Fishman
First published in Canada by Guernica Editions in March 2016.

Featured in Cover Characteristics: Dogs

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy the ebook from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk
Buy the ebook from Kobo
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the publishers via NetGalley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Magic Dogs of San Vicente is set in the aftermath of the war in El Salvador (1980-1992), a war in which the two Flores brothers were arrested and savagely tortured, but a war that they ultimately survived. On a heat-soaked morning in El Salvador's wild countryside, the Flores brothers encounter something -- part vision, part phantasm, part shuddering echo of their past -- that almost frightens them out of their wits. What follows is a magical, dream-like and picaresque journey, as the Flores brothers try to find what will set them free from the thing that they have witnessed and from the tragedies of their past.

The Magic Dogs Of San Vicente is set in El Salvador some twenty-five years after a time of great violence and disappearances. The Flores brothers, Jose Matias and Wilber Eduardo, were arrested and tortured during this time and, although they survived more or less physically intact, are still haunted by what they saw and were made to do during their imprisonment. On the day when this book is set, they see and are terrified by a mystical apparition from yhis past and we meet them as they are hiding behind boulders unsure whether to run or remain concealed.

Fishman is a Canadian author, but has obviously immersed himself in South American fiction as well as defining a unique style of his own. I loved the magical sweeps of imagination and intricately detailed observations, his breathless stream-of-consciousness writing and the rhythmically repetitive prose which, at times, felt like the refrains of some ancient epic poem or ballad. I have since read other reviews though where readers strongly disliked this book for exactly the same reasons so I guess it is a 'Marmite' read - love it or hate it! The magic dogs themselves are always at the periphery of our story, but Jose Matias and Wilber Eduardo mostly have centre stage as they tried to find a buried talisman with which to defeat the apparition and overcome their fearful memories. There are many levels of meaning in this novel. Beautifully-drawn human characters interact with magical and mythical creations; Spanish and Mexican words, phrases and poetry are woven into the prose; the long, long sentences sweep up readers sometimes for over a page at a time before briefly releasing us. I don't think I have ever read anything quite like The Magic Dogs Of San Vicente before!


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Mark Fishman / Contemporary fiction / Books from Canada

Thursday 8 June 2017

The Former Chief Executive by Kate Vane


The Former Chief Executive by Kate Vane
Self-published in the UK today, the 8th of June 2017.

Where to buy this book:
Buy the ebook from Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk

How I got this book:
Received a review copy from the author

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Without your past, who are you?
Deborah was a respected hospital manager until a tragedy destroyed her reputation. She has lost her career, her husband and even her name. Luca wants to stay in the moment. For the first time in his life he has hope and a home. But a fresh start is hard on a zero-hours contract, harder if old voices fill your mind. When a garden share scheme brings them together, Deborah is beguiled by Luca’s youth and grace. He makes her husband’s garden live again. He helps her when she’s at her lowest. But can she trust him? And when the time comes to confront her past, can she find the strength?
This sharply drawn short novel explores the distance between the generations – between health and wealth, owners and workers, guilt and blame.

I love novels that thoughtfully present an unexpected view of people and The Former Chief Executive was perfect for me in that respect. Deborah and Luca are both complex characters, shaped by their former lives, but now trying to fit themselves into alternate existences without the supports, good and bad, of their pasts. This novel cleverly throws traditional gender conventions on their heads with the formerly powerful figure being female and the 'pretty young thing' being male. Vane also weaves in themes of aging, loss and dependency as Deborah struggles to cope with the idea of no longer physically being the strong woman she had prided herself on being.

The Former Chief Executive is gently written novel which drew me in so completely that I wasn't consciously aware of the subtle tension build-up, only that I really didn't want to stop reading until I knew how the situation would resolve itself. The natural environment of Deborah's garden provides a effective contrast to the claustrophobic memories of particularly Luca's past and the intrusive neighbour is wonderfully exasperating. The Devon setting appealed to me as well because I recognised several references to places close by our new home! I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Former Chief Executive and am happy to recommend it to literary fiction fans and readers who appreciate 'different' novels.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Kate Vane / Contemporary fiction / Books from England

Wednesday 7 June 2017

Paradise by Toni Morrison


Paradise by Toni Morrison
First published in America by Knopf in December 1997.

Where to buy this book:
Buy from independent booksellers via Abebooks
Buy the book from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk
Buy the paperback from The Book Depository
Buy the paperback from Waterstones

How I got this book:
Borrowed from my partner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four young women are brutally attacked in a convent near an all-black town in America in the mid-1970s. The inevitability of this attack, and the attempts to avert it, lie at the heart of Paradise. Spanning the birth of the Civil Rights movement, Vietnam, the counter-culture and politics of the late 1970s, deftly manipulating past, present and future, this novel reveals the interior lives of the citizens of the town with astonishing clarity. Starkly evoking the clashes that have bedevilled the American century: between race and racelessness; religion and magic; promiscuity and fidelity; individuality and belonging.

Paradise starts with a violent end to its story. Women living in a convent are being shot by men and, as readers, we have no idea who anyone is or why this atrocity is happening. Jumping back in time, author Toni Morrison dedicates each chapter to the story of a woman and we slowly begin to understand the masculine pride, social fragmentation and perversion of religious belief that will lead to tragedy. Morrison imagined a nucleus of nine black families who, more than a hundred years ago, set out across America to find a home for themselves. Initially they thought they might join an existing black town, but insulted by refusals, they walked on until mystical visions indicated where they should found their own towns, Haven and, later, Ruby. Isolated from outside influence, the town and community prospered, retelling their history until the journeys became mythical and the founding fathers legendary.

Paradise is often a book of the differences and belief clashes between men and women. The families live in a highly patriarchal society which views the independent convent women, outsiders, as threats. I frequently found it difficult to work out and remember who was related to whom. Nicknames are used as well as given names so it often felt like reading a Russian novel and I wished for family tree diagrams. However, it later occurred to me that, as an outsider to Ruby, I probably wasn't intended to clearly understand their connections and this was another illustration of the differences between the townsfolk and the convent women - the women had no history in this place. Paradise is a great sweep of a novel which allowed me to easily imagine these lives and to become involved in the arguments and discussions. Some characters are clearly defined, others vague, and I loved how the pervasive unease grew and grew. Knowing how it will all end doesn't always work as a literary device, but for me it was well employed here. Perhaps overall I thought Paradise was a little too convoluted, but I enjoyed the read and am still mulling over its events several days later.


Search Lit Flits for more:
Books by Toni Morrison / Historical fiction / Books from America

Monday 5 June 2017

Blindness by Jose Saramago


Blindness by Jose Saramago
First published in Portuguese in Portugal by Editorial Caminho in 1995. English translation by Juan Sager published in 1997. Blackstone Audio edition narrated by Jonathan Davis published in 2008.

Featured in 5Books1Theme: Blindness and WorldReads: Portugal

How I got this book:
Bought the audiobook from Audible

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A city is hit by a sudden and strange epidemic of "white blindness", which spares no one. Authorities confine the blind to an empty mental hospital, but there social conventions quickly crumble and the struggle for survival brings out the worst in people. There is one eyewitness to this nightmare who guides seven strangers - among them a boy with no mother, a girl with dark glasses, a dog of tears - out of their prison and through the barren streets, and the procession becomes as uncanny as the surroundings are harrowing. 
A magnificent parable of loss and disorientation and a vivid evocation of the horrors of the 20th century, by Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago, Blindness has swept the masses with its powerful portrayal of man's worst appetites and weaknesses - and man's ultimately exhilarating spirit.

On finishing, I felt completely steamrollered by this amazing novel! I listened to a BBC America audiobook and, although it was an English translation of the original Portuguese, the text retained its poetic quality, horrific and beautiful. Perhaps the style could best be described as Margaret Atwood crossed with Cormac McCarthy! Saramago has created a truly terrifying vision, one in which an unknown disease spreads rapidly and brings cities to a halt within weeks. We follow one of the first groups of people to contract the white blindness and I appreciated the 'no names' device used to identify them - the woman with dark glasses, the first blind man, the woman nobody knows - as it aided understanding their world.

Certain of the more grotesque scenes are scarringly memorable and I would hesitate to recommend this book to anyone squeamish. Transferring this review here reminded me clearly of the horror of the mental home scenes where the very basest of human nature is displayed, and the tragic greed of the supermarket basement. Even though it must now be three or so years since I listened to Blindness, these scenes are still vivid. What made the novel so compelling was its frightening believability, especially in how swiftly people can turn on each other and resort to a survival of the fittest mentality when we feel threatened. The philosophising throughout is very moving and I thought that the calm narration by Jonathan Davis was the perfect way to immerse myself in this dystopian city.


Etsy Find!
by avedouda in
Penela, Portugal

Click pic to visit Etsy Shop


Search Literary Flits for more:
Books by Jose Saramago / Dystopian fiction / Books from Portugal

Thursday 1 June 2017

The Rights Of Man by H G Wells


The Rights Of Man by H G Wells
First published in the UK by Penguin in 1940. Republished with an introduction by Ali Smith in 2015.

One of my Essential General Election Reads 2017, my 1940s book for the Goodreads / Bookcrossing Decade Challenge and my Book Of The Month for June 2017

I registered my copy of this book at BookCrossing

How I got this book:
Won a copy from Penguin Think Smarter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


H. G. Wells wrote The Rights of Man in 1940, partly in response to the ongoing war with Germany. The fearlessly progressive ideas he set out were instrumental in the creation of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the EU's European Convention on Human Rights and the UK's Human Rights Act.

When first published, this manifesto was an urgently topical reaction to a global miscarriage of justice. It was intended to stimulate debate and make a clear statement of mankind's immutable responsibilities to itself. Seventy-five years have passed and once again we face a humanitarian crisis. In the UK our human rights are under threat in ways that they never have been before and overseas peoples are being displaced from their homelands in their millions. The international community must act decisively, cooperatively and fast. The Rights of Man is not an 'entirely new book' - but it is a book of topical importance and it has been published, now as before, in as short a time as possible, in order to react to the sudden and urgent need.

With a new introduction by award-winning novelist and human rights campaigner Ali Smith, Penguin reissues one of the most important humanitarian texts of the twentieth century in the hope that it will continue to stimulate debate and remind our leaders - and each other - of the essential priorities and responsibilities of mankind.


H G Wells wrote this short treatise in 1940 as a response to the question 'what are we fighting for?' which was, of course, a vitally important national preoccupation at the time. The Europe-wide rising of fascism and corporate divisiveness makes it just as important now. The ten basic ideas Wells puts forward were seen as remarkably progressive at the time, although they were later instrumental in the creation of Human Rights legislation for the UK, the EU and the UN. What surprised me however was (and is) how anyone could Not want these rights for themselves, their families, their nation, their species. How are these protections still seen as something to be fought for rather than just basic common sense? Wells doesn't beat about the bush in putting forth his declarations and his clarity of expression is refreshing. I had no problem understanding his points of view or his thought processes and discussions in coming to his conclusions.

For me, reading Wells' words now, over 75 years after they were written, was a profound experience. I want to pass this book on to everyone I meet as it so perfectly explains the ideals in which I believe. The thought that many people, even in Britain, still don't even enjoy the basic rights of adequate nourishment and shelter is a shocking indictment of not only the leadership of this country, but also of the general heartless and inhumane attitudes fostered by our money-centered capitalist ideology. The existence of the Human Rights Act in Britain was seriously threatened as recently as 2015 and no doubt further attempts will be made to water it down should we see a Tory victory next week.

In my opinion The Rights Of Man is one of the most important 20th century texts. I wish I had read it far sooner - why is it not debated by teenagers in social studies lessons? - and am grateful to have done so now. There are many scarily prescient quotes which got me thinking and I was tempted to litter this review with examples. However I then thought experiencing all Wells' words together, in context, would be more satisfying for other readers so I will just end with one:

"unless we can keep our heads and our courage, so as to re-establish a candid life, our species will perish, mad, fighting and gibbering, a dwindling swarm of super-Nazis on a devastated earth."

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by Angela Federico in
London, England

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