Category Archives: Accessories
The Emigrants
At first “The Emigrants” appears simply to document the lives of four Jewish emigres in the twentieth century. But gradually, as Sebald`s precise, almost dreamlike prose begins to draw their stories, the four narrations merge into one overwhelming evocation of exile and loss. Written with a bone-dry sense of humour and a fascination with the
Coming from Behind
Sefton Goldberg: mid-thirties, English teacher at Wrottesley Poly in the West Midlands; small, sweaty, lustful, defiantly unappreciative of beer, nature and organised games; gnawingly aware of being an urban Jew islanded in a sea of country-loving Anglo-Saxons. Obsessed by failure – morbidly, in his own case, gloatingly, in that of his contemporaries – so much
Diary of a Mad Old Man
While recovering from a stroke, seventy-seven-year-old Utsugi turns to his diary to wryly record his struggle with his ageing body and his growing desire for his beautiful daughter-in-law Satsuko, a chic, Westernised dancer with a shady past. Shining with a self-effacing humour, Tanizaki`s last novel is a tragicomedy about desire and the will to survive.
Clochemerle
Gabriel Chevallier`s delightful novel Clochemerle satirizes the titanic confrontation of secular and religious forces in a small wine-growing village in Beaujolais. The eruption begins when the socialist mayor decides that he wants to leave behind a monument to his administration`s achievements. He takes as his model the ancient Romans, who were famous for two things:
The Ministry of Fear: An Entertainment
For Arthur Rowe the charity fete was a trip back to childhood, to innocence, a welcome chance to escape the terror of the Blitz, to forget twenty years of his past and a murder. Then he guesses the weight of the cake, and from that moment on he`s a hunted man, the target of shadowy
Engleby
Mike Engleby has a secret…This is the story of Mike Engleby, a working-class boy who wins a place at an esteemed English university. But with the disappearance of Jennifer, the undergraduate Engleby admires from afar, the story turns into a mystery of gripping power. Sebastian Faulks`s new novel is a bolt from the blue, unlike
To the North
Cecilia, capricious and unable to love, inches reluctantly towards a second marriage to the kind, passionless Julian Tower. Meanwhile, her sister-in-law, Emmeline, is surprised to find the calm tenor of her life disturbed by her attraction to the predatory Mark Linkwater. Markie`s appearance disrupts the lives of both women, but in the pain of misunderstanding,
Oh What A Paradise It Seems
In an idyllic American village, elderly romantic Lemuel Sears still has it in him to fall wildly in love with strangers of both sexes. But Sears`s paradise is under threat; the pond he loves is being fouled by unscrupulous polluters involved in organised crime. Can Sears thwart the monstrous aspects of late-twentieth-century civilisation and save
Gigi: and, The Cat
Gigi Translated by Boger Senhouse, The Cat Translated by Antonia White. Gigi`s days are filled with cigars, lobster, lace and superstitions: the education of a future courtesan. Bored and unconvinced by what she`s taught, Gigi surprises all with her approach to love. In this classic turn-of-the-century novella, Colette unveils Gigi`s journey into womanhood in rich
Cheri
This title is Translated by Roger Senhouse. Lea de Lonval is a magnificent and aging courtesan facing the end of her career. She has devoted the last six years to the amorous education of the exquisitely handsome and spoilt Cheri – a playboy half her age. When an advantageous marriage is arranged for Cheri, Lea
In Watermelon Sugar
iDEATH is a place where the sun shines a different colour every day and where people travel to the length of their dreams. Rejecting the violence and hate of the old gang at the Forgotten Works, they lead gentle lives in watermelon sugar. In this book, Richard Brautigan discovers and expresses the mood of a
Darkness at Noon
Darkness at Noon is set in an unnamed country ruled by a totalitarian government. Rubashov, once a powerful player in the regime, finds the tables turned on him when he is arrested and tried for treason. His reflections on his previous life and his experiences in prison form the heart of this moving and though-provoking
Correction
Roithamer, a character based on Wittgenstein, has committed suicide having been driven to madness by his own frightening powers of pure thought. We witness the gradual breakdown of a genius ceaselessly compelled to correct and refine his perceptions until the only logical conclusion is the negation of his own soul.
The Book of Imaginary Beings
Few readers will want, or be able, to resist this modern bestiary. Here you will find the familiar – Gryphons, Minotaurs and Unicorns – as well as the Monkey of the inkpot and other undeniably curious beasts. Borges` cunning and humorous commentary is sheer delight.
Room at the Top
The Angry Young Men movement, featuring such stars as Kingsley Amis, is perfectly illustrated through the iconic figure of Joe Lampton. The ruthlessly ambitious Joe Lampton rises swiftly from the petty bureaucracy of local government into the unfamiliar world of inherited wealth, fast cars and glamorous women. But the price of success is high, and
Sputnik Sweetheart
Twenty-two-year-old Sumire is in love with a woman seventeen years her senior. But whereas Miu is glamorous and successful, Sumire is an aspiring writer who dresses in an oversized second-hand coat and heavy boots like a character in a Kerouac novel. Surprised that she might, after all, be a lesbian, Sumire spends hours on the
The Elephant Vanishes
When a man`s favourite elephant vanishes, the balance of his whole life is subtly upset; a couple`s midnight hunger pangs drive them to hold up a McDonald`s; a woman finds she is irresistible to a small green monster that burrows through her front garden; an insomniac wife wakes up to a twilight world of semi-consciousness
Dance, Dance, Dance
High-class call girls billed to Mastercard. A psychic 13-year-old dropout with a passion for Talking Heads. A hunky matinee idol doomed to play dentists and teachers. A one-armed beach-combing poet, an uptight hotel clerk and one very bemused narrator caught in the web of advanced capitalist mayhem. Combine this offbeat cast of characters with Murakami`s
Moranifesto
`I`ve lived through ten iOS upgrades on my Mac – and that`s just something I use to muck about on Twitter. Surely capitalism is due an upgrade or two?` When Caitlin Moran sat down to choose her favourite pieces for her new book she realised that they all seemed to join up. Turns out, it`s
Atomised
Half-brothers Michel and Bruno have a mother in common but little else. Michel is a molecular biologist, a thinker and idealist, a man with no erotic life to speak of and little in the way of human society. Bruno, by contrast, is a libertine, though more in theory than in practice, his endless lust is
