Barry Stewart Levy's Blog, page 12
June 11, 2018
Book Review #58
The Night Climbers
by Ivo Stourton
If I could I'd give it two and a half stars because it really wants to be something it is not, as in "Brideshead Revisited," "Another Country" or "The Secret History." The plot meanders. There's little momentum. And some of the characters are underdeveloped. But I was determined to finish it. And there were some twists. So... Disappointing but not unreadable.
by Ivo Stourton
If I could I'd give it two and a half stars because it really wants to be something it is not, as in "Brideshead Revisited," "Another Country" or "The Secret History." The plot meanders. There's little momentum. And some of the characters are underdeveloped. But I was determined to finish it. And there were some twists. So... Disappointing but not unreadable.
Book Review #57
My Face for the World to See
by Alfred Hayes
This is a very, very good book and far superior to Hayes' "In Love" which I read prior to reading this novella. Like "In Love," this, too, tells the tale of a doomed love affair but is much more psychologically penetrating. It is also witty and brutal and cynical and painfully honest. A gem.
by Alfred Hayes
This is a very, very good book and far superior to Hayes' "In Love" which I read prior to reading this novella. Like "In Love," this, too, tells the tale of a doomed love affair but is much more psychologically penetrating. It is also witty and brutal and cynical and painfully honest. A gem.
Book Review #56
The Music of Your Life: Stories
by John Rowell
How did I miss this book when it came out (no pun intended)? And where did John Rowell come from? This is an extremely impressive literary debut and some of the best gay fiction I have read in years.
The stories, seven of them, are funny, witty, poignant, moving, while always remaining honest and insightful. And that photograph on the book jacket cover..! I wish John Rowell a long and successful literary career and look forward to reading even more of his books in the future.
by John Rowell
How did I miss this book when it came out (no pun intended)? And where did John Rowell come from? This is an extremely impressive literary debut and some of the best gay fiction I have read in years.
The stories, seven of them, are funny, witty, poignant, moving, while always remaining honest and insightful. And that photograph on the book jacket cover..! I wish John Rowell a long and successful literary career and look forward to reading even more of his books in the future.
Book Review #55
The Metamorphosis
by Franz Kafka
One morning Gregor Samsa awakens to discover that he has been transformed into a giant insect. Kafka's Absurdist tale of alienation, sacrifice and mediocrity is touched by humor, sadness and cruelty, sometimes simultaneously. Unfortunately the Schocken Books edition I read was hampered by an awkward translation.
by Franz Kafka
One morning Gregor Samsa awakens to discover that he has been transformed into a giant insect. Kafka's Absurdist tale of alienation, sacrifice and mediocrity is touched by humor, sadness and cruelty, sometimes simultaneously. Unfortunately the Schocken Books edition I read was hampered by an awkward translation.
Book Review #54
Maurice
by E.M. Forster
I remember after seeing the film "Maurice" back in 1987 and remarking to a gentleman who also was leaving the theater that I seemed to recall the book having had a different ending where things end unhappily for Maurice. Well I could not have been more mistaken. Having just finished the novel (perhaps for the first time, as my memory is playing tricks on me), I can report that all ends well. It is a fine book, obviously highly personal and terribly British but most of all a very brave one for Forster to have written during 1913 and 1914 when being homosexual was anathema in England. Indeed it was not even published until 1971. By the way the Merchant-Ivory film is a lovely tribute to E.M. Forster's labor of love.
by E.M. Forster
I remember after seeing the film "Maurice" back in 1987 and remarking to a gentleman who also was leaving the theater that I seemed to recall the book having had a different ending where things end unhappily for Maurice. Well I could not have been more mistaken. Having just finished the novel (perhaps for the first time, as my memory is playing tricks on me), I can report that all ends well. It is a fine book, obviously highly personal and terribly British but most of all a very brave one for Forster to have written during 1913 and 1914 when being homosexual was anathema in England. Indeed it was not even published until 1971. By the way the Merchant-Ivory film is a lovely tribute to E.M. Forster's labor of love.
Book Review #53
Master of the DElta
by Thomas H. Cook
Stilted writing. Unrelentingly bleak. With a painfully sad, depressing and disturbing ending.
by Thomas H. Cook
Stilted writing. Unrelentingly bleak. With a painfully sad, depressing and disturbing ending.
Book Review #52
The Marbled Swarm
by Dennis Cooper
I have now read nine of Dennis Cooper's books. I liked the first five. After reading "The Sluts" (my eighth), which physically nauseated and, in the end, angered me, as there was no catharsis for either the main character or the reader, I swore off reading anymore of his books. Unfortunately I did not keep my promise. "The Marbled Swarm" is his worst and is nearly unreadable. If this is his way of emulating de Sade and (Heaven help us!) Robbe-Grillet, he has failed miserably. In the future I suggest he masturbate to his fantasies and spare his readers and this former fan anymore of his novels.
by Dennis Cooper
I have now read nine of Dennis Cooper's books. I liked the first five. After reading "The Sluts" (my eighth), which physically nauseated and, in the end, angered me, as there was no catharsis for either the main character or the reader, I swore off reading anymore of his books. Unfortunately I did not keep my promise. "The Marbled Swarm" is his worst and is nearly unreadable. If this is his way of emulating de Sade and (Heaven help us!) Robbe-Grillet, he has failed miserably. In the future I suggest he masturbate to his fantasies and spare his readers and this former fan anymore of his novels.
Book Review #51
M Train
by Patti Smith
If I could I would give this book three and a half stars. I liked it, though nowhere as much as her brilliant, award winning memoir "Just Kids." "M Train" is lovely and elegiac and at times achingly sad as she recalls those she has loved and lost, especially her mother and father, her brother Todd and husband Fred Sonic Smith. And others, too: William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, Jean Genet and Paul Bowles. "M" is for "memory," as her thoughts and recollections spin forth in a nonlinear, stream of consciousness flow of images, melding the past with the present. However, there is also much repetition: lots of black coffee and tending to her three cats and traveling to foreign places and sitting in cafes and trying to write something, anything in the face of writer's block. At times my mind wandered. Not out of boredom. But because something I read would trigger my own personal memory. And for awhile I'd find myself riding my own M Train. In the end though I'm glad I read Patti Smith's book and took the journey along with her.
by Patti Smith
If I could I would give this book three and a half stars. I liked it, though nowhere as much as her brilliant, award winning memoir "Just Kids." "M Train" is lovely and elegiac and at times achingly sad as she recalls those she has loved and lost, especially her mother and father, her brother Todd and husband Fred Sonic Smith. And others, too: William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, Jean Genet and Paul Bowles. "M" is for "memory," as her thoughts and recollections spin forth in a nonlinear, stream of consciousness flow of images, melding the past with the present. However, there is also much repetition: lots of black coffee and tending to her three cats and traveling to foreign places and sitting in cafes and trying to write something, anything in the face of writer's block. At times my mind wandered. Not out of boredom. But because something I read would trigger my own personal memory. And for awhile I'd find myself riding my own M Train. In the end though I'm glad I read Patti Smith's book and took the journey along with her.
Book Review #50
Long Drive Home
by Will Allison
Based upon the premise, I was hoping this would be a suspense thriller along the lines of "A Simple Plan." It's not. Despite the fact that both books, by different authors, deal with a male protagonist whose one awful decision leads to another, Allison's book, unlike Scott Smith's, has no suspense, sense of dread or impending doom. The writing is sophomoric, and the ending or payoff, if you can call it that, is a complete letdown and anticlimatic.
by Will Allison
Based upon the premise, I was hoping this would be a suspense thriller along the lines of "A Simple Plan." It's not. Despite the fact that both books, by different authors, deal with a male protagonist whose one awful decision leads to another, Allison's book, unlike Scott Smith's, has no suspense, sense of dread or impending doom. The writing is sophomoric, and the ending or payoff, if you can call it that, is a complete letdown and anticlimatic.
Book Review #49
Lightning Field
by Dana Spiotta
An extremely well written book, funny and fragmented, incisive and sardonic. One of the best works of literary fiction I've read in a long time.
by Dana Spiotta
An extremely well written book, funny and fragmented, incisive and sardonic. One of the best works of literary fiction I've read in a long time.
