14.07.26
I liked this book more than the Trinidad Tourist Office probably does, and more than I should when the author had to justify some of her narrative choices in an endnote. It did a good job of juxtaposing Trinidad's violence and poverty with its aspiration and luxury, and managed to stay engaging despite having so few sympathetic characters.
02.06.26
I wasn't sure what to make of this character-led slice of life. Time was treated interestingly - the narrator looks back and forth on a surprisingly modern 1950s - and the scenes, especially of publishing, clearly had some basis in an amusing and awkward reality. But the plot, such as it was, seemed bolted on, and the odd and slightly unreliable narrator never seemed to get to the point. I doubt I'll remember it in a couple of months.
46%
68%
I should have been reading something worthy but this exuberant journey into a writer's fragile psyche was much more fun. The eponymous plot wasn't all that exciting but the unlikely story of the (allegedly) stolen story unfolded and - importantly - ended pleasingly. Not high literature, despite its pretensions, but a good read.
Note: another new label: writers on writers. As good as this was, authors often fall back on what they know best: writing. When a character is a writer, you can't help thinking - enough self-reference! Get out and get some proper life experience!
48%
You'd think I'm the ideal audience for this novel - I've studied, lived and worked in Oxford and work with words now. But the story was so dull, the characters so two-dimensional, the dialogue so unlikely, and the author so keen to show off her conscientious research and ruminations on the nature of words that I just didn't care.
Note: I'm might also start keeping count of books where women become pregnant after having sex once. Spoiler: It's most books with unmarried female protagonists, especially when they're set in the past.
New label: pregnant first time
