The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz My rating: 4 of 5 stars I came to read Diaz’s novel simply from googling the best books to read from the 21st Century and up it came on the ‘Top Ten’ list rather like ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ which I’m also reading. Well,… Read More Book Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
Look Back in Anger by John Osborne My rating: 2 of 5 stars There is absolutely no doubt that John Osborne changed the face of British theatre when he wrote ‘Look back in Anger’. The first of the new post-war wave of ‘Angry Young Men’, you can see from the very opening lines that the… Read More Book Review: Look Back in Anger by John Osborne
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark My rating: 2 of 5 stars There are some books in this world which, I must surmise, have achieved a cult-like status among the older generation who remember the impact they created when first published but, in truth, have not been read afresh in many a… Read More Book Review: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho My rating: 4 of 5 stars This, arguably the most famous book of Coelho’s, is the second I’ve read of this author (the first being ‘Eleven Minutes‘). The novel is truly beautiful, simple and imbued with peace as seems to be the trademark of Coelho’s style. It deserves the fame… Read More Book Review: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is the first book I’ve read by Paulo Coelho and, I suspect, it won’t be my last. The whole novel is, in many ways, a contradiction in motion and, true to that spirit, much of what I think of it is contradiction too.… Read More Book Review: Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho
