A Love of Reading, The Second Collection: More Reviews of Contemporary FictionFourteen brilliant new reviews from the author of A Love of Reading. Passionate, thought provoking, and witty. A Love of Reading, the Second Collection contains 14 new reviews of modern classics from a discriminating, highly entertaining, and prodigiously well-read guide. In a stimulating selection, ranging from Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace to Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, and from Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain to Sheri Holman’s The Dress Lodger, popular literary critic Robert Adams skilfully interweaves a nimble and enlightening discussion of plot, theme, and characterization with fascinating historical, biographical, and literary context. Adams is repeatedly drawn to the spectacle of less-than-perfect humans making their way in a hostile world, and as a result his reviews are a hugely satisfying mix of rich pathos and abundant humour. In the words of the Calgary Herald, they are “a bibliophile’s dream.” |
Contents
The Hiding Place Trezza Azzopardi | |
Disgrace J M Coetzee | |
Cold Mountain Charles Frazier | |
The Dress Lodger Sheri Holman | |
The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro | |
A Gesture Life Changrae | |
No Great Mischief Alistair MacLeod | |
Fima Amos | |
American Pastoral Philip Roth | |
White Teeth Zadie Smith | |
Felicias Journey William Trevor | |
The Stone Carvers Jane Urquhart | |
Aunt Julia and the ScriptWriter Mario Vargas Llosa | |
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Alias Grace Alistair MacLeod Alsana American Amos Oz animal Archie Jones Atwood Azzopardi beautiful British brother Calum Cape Breton Chalfen Chang-rae Lee character child Coetzee Cold Mountain comfort women culture Darlington daughter David Lurie death Doc Hata dream Dress Lodger Eamon English eyes face father Felicia Fima Fima’s girl Grace Marks Gustine Hilditch human immigrant Inman Israel Israeli Jane Urquhart Japanese Jewish Joe Medora journey Kkutaeh Klara Kurohata Levov live Lucy MacDonald Maltese Margaret Atwood Marito married Mary Mary’s memory Merry Millat mother narrative narrator never novel Odysseus parents prostitute protagonist reader reflects remember Roth Roth’s Samad Iqbal says Sheri Holman Simon Jordan sister South Stevens story Sunny Swede tells Tilman told Trezza Azzopardi Urquhart Vargas Vimy Vimy Memorial Whilky wife William Trevor woman women write young Zadie Smith Zuckerman