Novels

It would be remiss of me not to mention various novels I have read recently, as ideas in them swim through my head, almost becoming the theme of a certain time. It's true I don't get as much time to read novels now, but sometimes it's irresistible.

Siri Hustvedt. The Blindfold. 1992. London. Hodder and Stoughton.

I've had a look through this blog to find where I wrote about another Siri Hustvedt novel - What I Loved, a truly intelligent novel set within the New York art and academic world which still preys on my mind. I can't find the previous comments, but when I saw this book I jumped at it - she's a truly superior author. This was her first published novel, and it's a strange and assured affair. There is a time in life around the early twenties when life is very precarious and dangerous. This is an enjoyably unsettling and destabilising tale of a person who shifts identity in the meandering city of New York.

30th May 2014

Paul Auster. The New York Trilogy. 1987. London. Faber and Faber.

I don't realise it at first, but Paul Auster is married to Siri Hustvedt. What interesting conversations they must have.

Another novel set in New York as a place to get lost in, unsettling and ultra conscious.

Patrick Gale. Notes from an Exhibition. 2007. London. Fourth Estate.

A wonderful novel about the life of a fictional woman artist, and how she works through bipolar disorder and family life. Much better than that sounds. The structure is also enjoyable, clustering the narrative around a series of exhibits from the artist's life.

Kate Atkinson. Behind the Scenes at the Museum. 1995. London. Black Swan.

This is a book with layers of memories and revelations about the past, seeping into the now. It's such a vivid telling of the childhood voice, and I have found myself thinking about it often.

...................................................................................................................................................................

My list of novels to read when the MA is done is growing, starting with Howard Jacobson. The Finkler Question. 2010 . London. Bloomsbury, which I have heard is genuinely brilliant and funny and is in my eyesight as I write this. I shall not review it nor blog about it, but just read for sheer pleasure.

I shall also be looking out more Siri Hustvedt.

11th November 2014