The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk PART ONE
my thoughts on the first half of an incredible, beautiful, perfect book that was too physically heavy to take on an international flight
Tag: religion
Apocalypse by DH Lawrence
my domestic holiday begins with unexpected news; Lawrence eviscerates Xianity
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
some naughty naughty monks
The Sign of the Cross by Colm Tóibín
a book almost squarely aimed at me
Fludd by Hilary Mantell
an early novel from a writer who’d get more exciting with age
Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin
there ain’t no fool like a holy fool
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
This dystopian novel feels a bit too 2016…
Devotion by Ros Barber
Ros Barber was one of my lecturers when I did my Creative Writing MA, and Ros Barber is one ofContinue Reading
Castration and the Heavenly Kingdom: A Russian Folktale by Laura Engelstein
You are in a wooden hut in the depths of Siberia, thousands of miles from the lands of your ancestors.Continue Reading
Mr Darwin’s Gardener by Kristina Carlson
Mr Darwin’s Gardener is a beautiful, modernist novella about the late 19th century inhabitants of the small village inContinue Reading
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Big books. I have an odd relationship with ’em. The idea of big books, to be honest, I have aContinue Reading
The Minister of Evil – The Secret History of Rasputin’s Betrayal of Russia by William Le Queux
The Minister of Evil: The Secret History of Rasputin’s Betrayal of Russia is a very strange book. I read itContinue Reading
Scum by Isaac Bashevis Singer
My pile of books, towering as it often is in January, needs to be got through. So in order toContinue Reading
The Book of Dave by Will Self
Hello. Happy New Year etc. I finally got around to reading Will Self’s The Book of Dave after carrying theContinue Reading
The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
I’ve read a lot of old religious texts over the past year* and have enjoyed many of them. I’ve readContinue Reading
Father and Son by Edmund Gosse
Hurray! I read a book at an adult speed for the first time in weeks, and this one I thoughtContinue Reading
Candide by Voltaire
I’ve somehow gotten into a reading-in-translation rut. I’m going to snap out of, particularly after reading Voltaire’s tiresome and OLD Candide. IContinue Reading
Confessions by Saint Augustine of Hippo
I have to leave the house in under ten minutes, so this’ll be a quick one. As another addition inContinue Reading
The Passover Plot by Hugh J. Schonfield
I had intended to spend the day writing the “dopest”* literary rap of all time, but I have instead beenContinue Reading
On Coming Out As A Catholic
I’ve decided that from now on I am going to self-identify as a Catholic. A couple of days ago IContinue Reading
Triumph Of The Now 