Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.

Wednesday 5 December 2018

"Granta 85 (Spring 2004)" by Ian Jack (ed)

Jackie Kay, TC Boyle, Jonathan Tel, Anne Enright, etc.

There's an essay/memoir feel even with the pieces that could be fictional.

"A religious conversation" looks too easy to write. "Alive, alive-oh!" is is too ordinary re subject matter - the final paragraph's the most interesting part. "Eight Pieces for the left hand" doesn't grab me. "The lives of Brian" worked whether or not it's true. "You go when you can no longer stay" seems rather ordinary though it's short and entertaining enough. "The Surgery of last resort" is nothing much. Except for maybe 2 photos, "Good father" is nothing much either. "Tiger's Ghost" was better. "White men's boats" is a piece of history that might interest some people. Would "Femme fatale" ever had been published if T.Corahessan Boyle and Professor Kinsey weren't connected with it? "Put not thy trust in chariots" was disappointing. "Protestant boy" managed to portray interesting characters while giving some histirical/sociological detail. "Shaft" was reasonable enough - sensibly short.

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