Magical and fabulous: There Will Be Lies by Nick Lake
God, I hate so-called “magic realism”. In books, at any rate. I don’t get along with Gabriel Garcia Marques, or Isabel Allende, or any of that lot. (For some reason, I don’t mind it in films. I’m thinking of The Green Mile, which I like a lot, but there are plenty of others. I’m not sure why […]
Eurovision, Australia and Lee Lin Chin
I haven’t watched The Eurovision Song Contest in years. Not, I should add, through any especial resistance, it’s just that I haven’t been in on the night, or something else has taken precedence. And, no – it’s not “I had a library book to return” – I’m really not being snide. I just haven’t watched it, OK? […]
Lost in translation: A Man Called Ove
There’s a lot to like in Fredrik Backman’s novel about a cantankerous widower in contemporary small-town Sweden. It’s a neat story with an unusual protagonist and it will no doubt be made into a lovely film with someone like Stellan Skarsgård in the title role. But my God, the translation! Henning Koch, who did it, […]
