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Aesthetics vs. pragmatism – what really matters?
Bob Moyer is back, taking a thoughtful look at a novel that depicts the travails of Germans and others caught up in the horrors of the cataclysm that was World War II. By Robert Moyer THE LIFE OF OBJECTS. By Susanna Moore. Alfred A. Knopf. 240 pages. $25. Beatrice, a bright young Irish girl, yearns…
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When reality and conscience collide
I somehow missed reading Tracy Chevalier’s international best-selling novel, Girl With a Pearl Earring, which became an Oscar-nominated movie. Missing such books that everyone else is reading is one of the perils of being a book-review editor; if someone else is reviewing a book for me, I often feel that my reading the book would…
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Out of the South, into life’s travails
For a debut novelist, it doesn’t get much better than what is unfolding for Ayana Mathis and The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. It’s Oprah’s pick for her book club, and it was featured on the cover of The New York Times Book Review on Jan. 6. The book deserves the attention. It is a haunting,…
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A few good midshipmen
With all the emotion and aura of Saturday’s annual Army-Navy game fresh in my mind, I’m reviewing a recent novel set at the Naval Academy in the (Go Navy, Beat Army!) late 1980s-early 1990s. By Linda C. Brinson THE RECIPIENT’S SON: A NOVEL OF HONOR. By Stephen Phillips. The Naval Institute Press. 270 pages. $28.95.…
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What it all means, in one short novel
My husband, who was a newspaper reporter before he saw the light and became a physics teacher, is much impressed by the latest book by the author of Einstein’s Dreams. By Lloyd Brinson MR G: A NOVEL ABOUT THE CREATION. By Alan Lightman. Pantheon Books. 214 pages. $24.95. The Father of Physics is … not…
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Modern classics for worthwhile listening
By Linda Brinson John le Carre began writing what are loosely classified as spy novels in 1961, long before I was old enough to read or understand his writings. Since then, he’s published more than 20 novels. Now that I’ve discovered them as audiobooks, I can’t wait to listen to all of them. These books…
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From Hogwarts to Pagford
Harry Potter, it’s not. But that’s OK, says Steve Wishnevsky, who has just read J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. By Stephen Wishnevsky THE CASUAL VACANCY. By J.K. Rowling. Little, Brown 512 pages. $35. This is an odd, very understated slice-of-life novel, touted as Rowling’s first adult novel. About half of the main characters are…
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A story, honest and real
Anne Barnhill is back as a reviewer for this blog after taking some time off for health problems. I’m happy to say that she’s doing much better. And I’m glad to have her back writing reviews – and to know that she’s working on her next novel. Anne is the author of the historical novel…
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“The Slaughter You Know Next to Nothing About”
For some reason, I often find myself reading or listening to fiction set around the time of the First World War. This masterpiece of a novel deals with part of that history of which I was only vaguely aware. I highly recommend it. By Linda C. Brinson THE SANDCASTLE GIRLS. By Chris Bohjalian. Random House…