Pechorin

LATEST ARTICLES ( 230 )

• The Less Realist a Work of Art, the More the Artist Has Been Obliged to Get His...

  

  The Little Buddhist Monk, by César Aira and translated by Nick Caistor César Aira famously starts his books without knowing how they’ll end. Read more

  Posted on 25 September 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Men Are Dogs, They Rub Against Each Other in Misery,

  

  Street of Thieves, by Mathias Enard and translated by Charlotte Mandell Like most people who read it I was hugely impressed by Mathias Enard’s Zone. Read more

  Posted on 15 September 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Goodwill Oozed from Him Like Sweat.

  

  The Mask of Dimitrios, by Eric Ambler The Mask of Dimitrios was first published in 1939. It portrays a Europe in which politics, crime and big business are... Read more

  Posted on 06 September 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Only Someone Who Knew How to Read the Murderer’s Soul Could Unmask Them.

  

  The Mystery of the Three Orchids, by Augusto De Angelis and translated by Jill Foulston When it came down to it he was sentimental, and he had an instinctive... Read more

  Posted on 01 September 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Silent Novel, So as Not to Wake the Children.

  

  Faces in the Crowd, by Valeria Luiselli and translated by Christina MacSweeney Every now and then I don’t pay attention. When Ferrante fever was at its peak I... Read more

  Posted on 30 August 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• She Had a Kind Heart, Though That is Not of Much Use When It Comes to the...

  

  The Bookshop, by Penelope Fitzgerald Penelope Fitzgerald’s The Bookshop is one of the finest books I’ve read this year. I fully expect it to be on my end of yea... Read more

  Posted on 22 August 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Recent Reading Miscellany (mostly SF)

  

  A recent reading miscellany       I’ve read several books recently during a period where I was busy at work, then ill, and then on holiday. For a mix of... Read more

  Posted on 03 August 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Quick Update

  Hello all, Just a quick post by way of update: I had a nasty bout of food poisoning recently which laid me low for a bit, and then I had a much needed holiday.... Read more

  Posted on 31 July 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• It Has Been, Again, as If She Did Not See Me.

  

  The Invention of Morel, by Adolfo Bioy Casares and translated by Ruth Simms The Invention of Morel comes with an endorsement by Borges stating simply that “To... Read more

  Posted on 17 July 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• How Can We Fail to See That This Change from the Combover to the Shorn Head is...

  

  The Combover, by Adrian N. Bravi and translated by Richard Dixon The Combover is one of the funniest, strangest, most uncategorisable novels I’ve read in quite ... Read more

  Posted on 03 July 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Am I Going to Go on Dreaming About Bread for Ever?

  

  For Bread Alone, by Mohamed Choukri and translated by Paul Bowles Mohamed Choukri is an interesting figure. He came from a desperately poor background and didn’... Read more

  Posted on 22 June 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Thing Came to Me as a Stark Inhumanity.

  

  The Island of Doctor Moreau, by H.G. Wells I last read The Island of Doctor Moreau as a teenager. It didn’t do much for me then, dwarfed by the more obvious... Read more

  Posted on 16 June 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• This Was the Magic Spell the Punks Had Cast on Her: They Made Her Believe the...

  

  The Proof, by Cesar Aira and translated by Nick Caistor ‘Wannafuck?’ When I read The Proof I enjoyed it but initially found it a little slight. Read more

  Posted on 14 June 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• … You See This Hasn’t Been an Easy Book for Any of Us.

  

  Martin John, by Anakana Schofield Martin John is one of the best reviewed novels of the past couple of years, both in number and quality of reviews. Not bad... Read more

  Posted on 06 June 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• “Put It Down to the Dreams, Yours and Mine, That They Can Be Far More Authentic...

  

  Mona Lisa, by Alexander Lernet-Holenia and translated by Ignat Avsey Charming isn’t a word I get to use often enough on this blog. Read more

  Posted on 17 May 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• The Mucus Shimmered as the Sun Rose Higher.

  

  The Mad and the Bad, by Jean-Patrick Manchette and translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith The Mad and the Bad is my fourth Manchette. Read more

  Posted on 10 May 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Nothing He Did Was Too Blatant.

  

  Family Heirlooms by Zulmira Ribeiro Tavares and translated by Daniel Hahn Family Heirlooms is a fascinatingly twisty little novella that explores the tensions... Read more

  Posted on 08 May 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Why Can’t We Kill Thoughts the Way We Kill People, with a Gun?

  

  Hecate and her Dogs, by Paul Morand and translated by David Coward I first discovered Paul Morand through the Pushkin Press release of his wonderful memoirs,... Read more

  Posted on 03 May 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• Who Knows Her Thoughts? Who Can Tell?

  

  The Driver’s Seat, by Muriel Spark It’s a long time since I’ve been as ambivalent about a novel as I am about this one. On the one hand it’s exceptionally... Read more

  Posted on 26 April 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE

• A Child of Heaven, of Hell Perchance, Devil and God of Arrogance.

  

  Yevgeny Onegin, by Alexander Pushkin and translated by Anthony Briggs Back in 2012 I read and thoroughly enjoyed the Tom Beck translation of Eugene Onegin. Read more

  Posted on 12 April 2017 BOOKS, CULTURE