I’m not certain what to make of Weather. I bought it on a whim in the LRB Bookshop, enamoured by the cover, synopsis and refreshing slimness. (that way one can read more books!) Jenny Offill’s tale centres on a librarian without a degree, Lizzie, who bags a job working for her old mentor’s, Sylvia, podcast,…
Author: jasperch
Life AT THE POND
At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond already occupies a unique place in my internal literary pantheon: it is the first book I have read from cover to cover in one sitting since I was but a child in 2008. I set out to do so, seeking the emotional boost that would no…
She is Girl, Woman, Other
First off: I loved it. I read it in a handful of sittings and struggled to put it down. It’s funny, charming, sad, loving, resplendent – it’s Girl, Woman, Other. Schlocky introduction aside, part of the reason I took so long to write this review (I finished the book several weeks ago) is that I…
Embarking on a VOYAGE TO VENUS
I own a voluminous number of books, partly because I am predisposed to purchasing anything which looks at least vaguely titillating and stimulating – in this instance, some worn old sci-fi from C.S. Lewis. Like many, I grew up on a diet of The Chronicles of Narnia, owed predominantly to the advent of the films,…
What’s Your Name Man?
How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore – and a Scotsman – dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished in squalor, grow up to be a hero and a scholar? Such is the question which ignites Hamilton: An American Musical, the trail-blazing blitz of a show…
Going On ADVENTURES IN MEMORY
I first became interested in reading Hilde and Ylva Østby’s Adventures in Memory: The Science of Secrets of Remembering and Forgetting about a year and a half ago. I was in Durham to visit my friend at the university, my first-ever exploration of the city; all I was told in advance was that it was…
The RITUAL, POLITICS & POWER of Our World
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve never seen the term ‘ritual’ used much to describe life in the UK. It’s almost always imbued with a kind of exoticism and alienness, evoking images of localism, ancient heritage, simplicity. It is, essentially, othered. It’s also, obviously, complete bullshit, as David Kertzer’s Ritual, Politics & Power illustrates…
Wandering On Chesil Beach
“Their wedding night, and they had nothing to say.” I devoured On Chesil Beach in two sittings, taking advantage of the warm air and the small old table that has become my desk in my small garden, a square plot of grass and some messy flowerbeds that I’ve never paid much attention to but has…
Back in Time with DOCTOR WHO AND THE CYBERMEN
It’s not all highbrow literary fiction and non-fiction, polemics, okay. Sometimes I just need to kick back, relax, and read some terribly corny Doctor Who novelisations from the 1960s. The Target novelisations are a treasure trove of Classic Who, and arguably the most accessible way to discover much of what it holds; older episodes are…
Drink Up BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD
(note: spoilers) I’ve always been interested in the concept of time travel, its philosophical implications as well as the fun, mad practice of it, so it was inevitable that I was to devour Before the Coffee Gets Cold, a Japanese novel about a cafe which can send you back in time. But there are hard,…
Jasper Cresdee-Hyde 