Tag Archives: book-review

Of Mice and Men-John Steinbeck

Published: 1937 (Covici Freide) John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men, tells the story of two flawed friends during the Great Depression who stick together until the elements of an uncertain world collide too fiercely to keep their bond alive. George is the caretaker, a quick-thinking and pragmatic man looking out for Lennie, a trueContinue reading “Of Mice and Men-John Steinbeck”

The Painted Veil-W. Somerset Maugham

Published: 1925 (Heinemann) Summary: W Somerset Maugham’s novel The Painted Veil is one of those novels that, while not having any real “shock value” or plot twists which are needed to sustain a certain readership, sustain the reader’s attention with perpetual sadness and disappointment. Not the disappointment in a character you learn to love, butContinue reading “The Painted Veil-W. Somerset Maugham”

Lord of the Flies-William Golding

Published: 1954 (Faber and Faber) Setting: A deserted island Summary: Lord of the Flies is a seminal novel in the old canon of high school literature classes, but unlike many of its mid-century contemporaries (see: Catcher in the Rye, a book I enjoyed as a middle schooler, but as I get older I find it less and lessContinue reading “Lord of the Flies-William Golding”

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running-Haruki Murakami

Published: 2007 (Bungeishunju) Setting: Japan, Greece, Cambridge U.S. Summary: Haruki Murakami’s running memoir starts with the saying: “suffering is optional,” and ends with his proposed epitaph: “at least he never walked.” Murakami is equally interested in systems and experience. Running is the metaphysical key that unlocks the rest of the body and mind, and the way you trainContinue reading “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running-Haruki Murakami”

Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto

Published: 1988 (MK) Setting: 1980’s Tokyo Summary: Banana Yoshimoto’s first novel, Kitchen, and her novella, Moonlight Shadow, both deal with how lose makes us examine our distance to those we care about. Mikage, the protagonist in Kitchen, lives in a tiny world filled with pots, pans, couches, and plants. What she lacks is genuine connection to others afterContinue reading “Kitchen/Moonlight Shadow-Banana Yoshimoto”

Earthlings-Sayaka Murata

Published: 2018 (Shinchosa) Setting: 1990’s and 2010’s Tokyo and rural Nagano Summary: In Murata’s second novel to be widely-translated, Earthlings, an idiosyncratic young girl named Natsuki confronts childhood trauma in an unorthodox and revealing manner, ultimately ending in total detachment from human “Earthlings,” and their society at large, twenty years later. Natsuki, unfit to be in her normalContinue reading “Earthlings-Sayaka Murata”