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Tuesday, 3 August 2010

Summer Holiday reading

If on a Winter's Night a Traveller (Vintage classics)


Nude (Salt Modern Fiction)     The Cranes That Build the Cranes                                                          

      

In the interests of my MA manuscript I won't be blogging much this month, but I will be making time to read the above books.

The Uncommon Reader is our summer book club choice. People wanted something short and funny to read during the holidays and I'm hoping it lives up to the reviews.

Raymond Carver, Italo Calvino and Jeremy Dyson have all been on my 'must read' list for some time. I've started each book and I'm looking forward to reading more.

I've just finished Living Dolls which is reviewed here and here. I hope to review it myself at some point, although it won't be until next month because I'll need some time to organise my thoughts.

Nude is an interesting collection of short stories. Here is a review which leads with a quote from the story 'Unmothered', a startlingly beautiful account of the loss of a child: the language and imagery in this story are breathtaking - it's a story I will definitely come back to. I had mixed feelings about some of the stories; each was undoubtedly well written, but I felt unsatisfied at times. 'An Amarna Princess Up North' and 'Night Fishing' are particularly memorable and absolutely satisfying, beautifully written and surprising in the way that I like short stories to be. The opening lines of each of the stories are showcased on Nuala Ni Chonchuir's website here.

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