One of my many readers has shouted J'accuse! Apparently I am slighting literary fiction in favor of more genre work. Snobbery is unfortunate in all its forms. Nevertheless, I will mention William Boyd, whose book, Any Human Heart, I am about to begin. I recently read his Armadillo, which was quite good, if a bit heavy-handed in its imagery. It concerns an Englishman who hopes to obliterate his identity and replace it with another. His fetish for hiding his identity is reflected in his hobby, the collecting of masks. Good fodder for the constructivists in a book group.
On the genre side of things, I have cautious hope for Hitler's Peace. The Amazon reviews are fairly negative, but I like to give authors second (and third...) chances. Philip Kerr wrote three really good mysteries set in 30s and 40s Germany. The third, A German Requiem, is a must read for fans of the Third Man, as it is more or less an homage to that movie. Kerr ran off into Chrichton territory for a number of passable novels, but now has returned to his (potential) strength.
2 comments:
Didn't Boyd also write An Ice Cream War ? It's about three down on my T stack; can't wait to read it.
B
Indeed he did write that and it is quite good. He ventures around a bit in form. That one is a historical novel but more literary than say, Bartle Bull. More like JG Farrell I would say.
Ice Cream War is an ironic title referring to WWI in Africa. Someone claimed that it was an Ice Cream war compared to the West Front. Maybe, but it was plenty unpleasant for those involved down there and the death toll among the Africans was gi-normous.
A good read, I think you will like it.
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