July 22nd, 2006
Guardian book stuff
The Guardian has some fantastic book stuff today including an extract from John Updike’s new novel, Terrorist, Granta’s Ian Jack mourns the demise of a book that always fires his imagination - The National Rail Timetable. It also has an essay by George Saunders on his first trip to Britain. I can’t recommend his book The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil highly enough. It’s a surreal parable about invasion and war that and is seriously funny, reading at times like an extended Monty Python sketch.
And with all the horror and destruction going on in Lebanon at the moment, Brian Keenan recalls the city he was once a captive in. Keenan was also on the Susan Reynolds show on RTE Radio 1 this morning talking about the city and a new book he’s writing about his childhood. Incidentally, also on the show were Annette, Damien and Claire talking about blogging.
Yesterday The Guardian also reported that Thomas Pynchon’s first novel in nearly a decade is on the way just before Christmas. At a door-stopping 900+ pages it sounds like you might actually have to use your entire Christmas holidays to read it.
July 22nd, 2006 at 3:47 pm
Great paper, especially on a Friday for the Film and Music supplement - they really know their stuff
The (London) Independent’s great too - so many interesting articles and they don’t overburden you with 20,000 supplements on Saturdays and Sundays - quality not quantity!
July 23rd, 2006 at 4:37 pm
I’ve read Saunders’ Civilwarland in Bad Decline which is excellent - The Reign of Phil will be jotted down in my notebook accordingly!
July 23rd, 2006 at 6:27 pm
I used to buy the London Indo in college. I’m finding it so hard to get through all the papers at the weekend. Thank God for online archives.
Mish, great to see you blogging again, I had no idea. I’ll add you to the blogroll.
I loved this book, so funny, so sharp, so relevant. Plus you get a chunk of short stories in the same book.