Published: 1942 (Gallimard) Albert Camus’ novella, The Stranger, follows a man who murdered another for no reason other than the sun. Set in the French colony of Algiers, a French colonist named Meursault attends his mother’s funeral. Not particularly sad or fond of his late mother, Meursault sleepwalks through the funeral arrangements and complains aboutContinue reading “The Stranger-Albert Camus”
Tag Archives: book-review
Chronicle of a Death Foretold-Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Published: 1981 (La Oveja Negra) Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novella, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, draws the reader into the recollections and imagination of a town still reeling from a brutal murder. Marquez’s unnamed narrator goes back to the town, 23 years after the murder of Santiago Nasar, to put the pieces together of that fatefulContinue reading “Chronicle of a Death Foretold-Gabriel Garcia Marquez”
Snow Country-Yasunari Kawabata
Published: 1948 (Serialized in 1930’s and 1940’s by Bungeishunjuu and Kaizo among others, translated into English by Edward Seidensticker in 1956) Yasunari Kawabata’s novel, Snow Country, is a beautiful and sobering novel that transports the reader to a place near and dear to my heart, Niigata Prefecture. In Part One of the novel, Shimamura, aContinue reading “Snow Country-Yasunari Kawabata”
Life for Sale-Yukio Mishima
Published: 1968 (Shueisha) Yukio Mishima’s novel, Life for Sale, is a rollicking surrealist novel that follows a young salaryman, Hanio, who fails to commit suicide and then turns to an ad in the paper to do the trick. Hanio, nihilistic and without family, decides that he will sell his life to anyone by any meansContinue reading “Life for Sale-Yukio Mishima”
The Last Tycoon-F. Scott Fitzgerald
Published: 1941 (Charles Scribner’s Sons) F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, transports you back to 1930’s Hollywood where an iconic producer, Monroe Stahr, holds onto his last shred of power and intrigue. The novel starts by introducing our Great Gatsbyian narrator Cecilia Brady, the daughter of Stahr’s co-producer and rival Pat Brady, asContinue reading “The Last Tycoon-F. Scott Fitzgerald”
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”
Will Reviews Things 