Category Archives: Review

Book Review: Jeanette Winterson’s Lighthousekeeping

Posted on 17 February 2022 by andyq

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson My rating: 3 of 5 stars For many years, Winterson’s ‘The Passion’ was one of my favourite books. There was a perfect melding of myth and history, poetry and a sweeping romanticism that appealed to the … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Bernhard Schlink’s Flights of Love (short fiction)

Posted on 6 February 2022 by andyq

Flights Of Love by Bernhard Schlink My rating: 4 of 5 stars What I like about a collection of short stories, over, say, a novel, is that the landscape is wider, if not necessarily as deep. So, with these stories, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Armistead Maupin’s Mary Ann in Autumn

Posted on 14 January 2022 by andyq

Mary Ann in Autumn by Armistead Maupin My rating: 3 of 5 stars I loved the original Tales of the City series. As a much younger man, they made me imagine San Francisco, and what it might be like to … Continue reading →

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Book review: Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You

Posted on 1 January 2022 by andyq

Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney My rating: 4 of 5 stars I watched ‘Normal People’ and loved it but hadn’t read any of Sally Rooney’s work until just recently. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found … Continue reading →

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2021 in lists: concerts & shows, theatre, books, movies, TV

Posted on 31 December 2021 by andyq

Movies (seen in the cinema) Bonjour Tristesse. Read some grumpy words about this here.  La Dolce Vita. Read some grumpy words about this here.  Possessor. A movie from David Cronenberg’s son, Brandon, I brought husband because it was described as … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Christos Tsiolkas’s Dead Europe

Posted on 1 December 2021 by andyq

Dead Europe by Christos Tsiolkas My rating: 2 of 5 stars I remember that I could barely read The Jesus Man, finding it pointlessly grungy and shocking. But I loved The Slap: the premise was clever, it was a page-turner, … Continue reading →

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Book Review: David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas

Posted on 27 November 2021 by andyq

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell My rating: 2 of 5 stars I’d heard buzz about Cloud Atlas, both the book and the movie, and I can see that some of my (goodreads) friends loved it, but I found it a … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Committed

Posted on 29 August 2021 by andyq

The Committed by Viet Thanh Nguyen My rating: 4 of 5 stars I loved The Sympathizer. I found the story of the duality and duplicity of the half-French, half-Vietnamese counterspy original and irresistible, and it was one of my favourite … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Rowena Lennox’s Dingo Bold – The life and death of K’gari dingoes

Posted on 23 July 2021 by andyq

Dingo Bold by Rowena Lennox My rating: 4 of 5 stars It is a tragic circumstance, I think, the dingoes of K’gari (formerly named Fraser Island). Dingoes are wild animals, in a country that is no longer wild. How do … Continue reading →

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Old movies: Bonjour Tristesse and La Dolce Vita

Posted on 24 January 2021 by andyq

So, overseas travel was cancelled for 2020 and it seems unlikely for 2021. So, we thought we’d catch some European films at the local arthouse cinema. It seemed like an interesting, well-adjudicated list so we thought, why not? Bonjour Tristesse … Continue reading →

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