Michael J. Ritchie's Blog, page 25

“Crudo” by Olivia Laing (2018)

“Kathy, by which I mean I, was getting married today.”

I did the rare thing this week of giving up on a book that I wasn’t enjoying, and instead plunged headfirst into this novella about the end of the world.

It’s 2017 and Kathy is about to get married. She is worried, however, by the state of the world, with right wing governments taking office, the UK paralysed by Brexit, climate change is out of control, and anyone can lose everything with one wayward tweet. Nonetheless, she is determined to ...

“The Accidental Time Machine” by Joe Haldeman (2007)

“The story would have been a lot different if Matt’s supervisor had been watching him when the machine first went away.”

The way things are right now, I wouldn’t mind a time machine. Forwards or backwards, I’m not really fussy, just somewhere other than here. If we ever do get around to inventing time travel, I would imagine 2020 will be a no-go area. But let’s not get bogged down in reality – we’re here for the fiction.

It’s the 2050s, and Matt Fuller is working with little to gain in the physi...

“Faulks On Fiction” by Sebastian Faulks (2011)

“It’s a while now since anyone referred to the main character of a novel as the ‘hero’.”

The world of literary criticism can be a fun one to spend a little time in. Although it is not always wise to project realistic values, morals and behaviours onto fictional characters (the current fad for declaring every sitcom character from Basil Fawlty to Alan Partridge to having some kind of mental illness is a little tiresome), it can be interesting to think of them as they are beyond the page. We get t...

A Bookish Quiz!

Hello, everyone! I think its fair to say that we could all do with a few more distractions these days, and that means theres only one thing to do: a quiz! Here are fifty questions about the literary world for you to have a go at. Make a note of your answers than then check them at the bottom and see what you score! Good luck!

Which novel opens with the line, It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen?

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Question 3

Which classic novel features the Dashwood family?...

“The Remains Of The Day” by Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)

[image error] It seems increasingly likely that I really will undertake the expedition that has been preoccupying my imagination now for some days.

One of my favourite novels of all time I could never pick an absolute favourite is Kazuo Ishiguros Never Let Me Go. The story was magical, the prose beautiful, and I got swept up in it quite by accident, having judged the book by its cover originally and not really thinking it was me. It was perhaps the only book on my university reading list I came away...

“A Ladder To The Sky” by John Boyne (2018)

[image error] From the moment I accepted the invitation, I was nervous about returning to Germany.

I dont often dabble in literary fiction, finding the snobbery surrounding it really off-putting. Nonetheless, some of it slips through the net when the story seems interesting enough, which is how I came to A Ladder to the Sky.

Erich Ackerman, once a celebrated author whose greatest work is behind him, has lived a long and lonely life, but upon meeting young waiter and would-be-novelist Maurice Swift, it...

“Romeo And/Or Juliet” by Ryan North (2016)

[image error]As we now know, William Shakespeare (1564 AD-whenever he died) was well known for borrowing from existing literature when writing his plays.

Who remembers Choose Your Own Adventure books from childhood? Goosebumps did a solid range, and I had one based on a Famous Five adventure you failed if you run out of ginger beer rations. If both dot-to-dot and colouring books got adapted for adults, then I dont see why these shouldnt come back too. Fortunately, Ryan North is way ahead of me, turning...

“Black Coffee” by Charles Osborne / Agatha Christie (1998)

[image error]Hercule Poirot sat at breakfast in his small but agreeably cosy flat in Whitehall Mansions.

Since lock down kicked in, Ive realised Im really missing the theatre. Im not someone who goes particularly regularly a few times of year at most but I love it. Musicals, plays, comedies, dramas whats not to love? Theatre is second only to books for me as a way to tell a story. Its there and vivid and right in front of you. If youve been on my blog before, you almost certainly know that Im a huge...

“The Island Of Doctor Moreau” by H. G. Wells (1896)

[image error]I do not propose to add anything to what has already been written concerning the loss of the Lady Vain.

Some classics really enter the cultural conversation. Most people could probably give a rough summary of what happens in Lord of the Flies or 1984. Others, however, sink a little lower. We know the names, we might be able to pluck out a single detail or two, but the whole plot is only accessible to someone who has gone to the source. The Island of Doctor Moreau is one of those for me. Not...

“House Of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski (2000)

[image error] This is not for you.

There are some books that pass into legend as being unlike anything else. House of Leaves is one of those. It has sat on my shelf for years at this point, daring me to pluck up the courage to explore it. As much a work of art as a story, it begs to be read, even though you know its not going to be easy. Given everyone else seems to be using quarantine as a time to get through those books theyve been putting off forever (a lot of people are struggling through Middlemarch...