There’s no easy solution or happy ending. Instead there are motifs and stories that lead to other stories and characters that are built upon other characters. The ultimate journey here isn’t to a clean truth – there’s no such thing in The Grease Monkey’s Tale. Instead we end up with the strong sense that everything is story – that life itself between the pages or beyond the book is just another story: “the sound of riverbed pebbles chattering and grinding against the hushing of fast water. Hypnotic.”
Tag: fiction
A review of Mine-Haha, or, On the Bodily Education of Young Girls by Frank Wedekind
Wedekind well knows that extreme emotion represents a danger to its possessor as well as to those around him or her. It can easily be converted into (self) destructive rage. His characters in these two stories are respectively a convict and a prostitute, hence he’s not averse either to embracing the downtrodden and the wretched.
A review of A Stranger Like You by Elizabeth Brundage
Layered over and between each other, these passages of inner thoughts, often told in present tense, second person, lend kaleidoscopic views to the story, hopping back and forth through time and focusing on the unique angle seen by each character.
A review of Best Bet by Laura Pedersen
Pedersen revisits a character who has many of the same insecurities and dilemmas as the rest of us. Hallie is in that awkward, post-college stage—trying to cope with the challenges and responsibilities of adulthood as best she can, while admitting that she’s not ready for any of it!
A review of Shakespeare’s Will by Meredith Whitford
The story of William and Anne – and how they balance their lives between the domestic, the theatre, and the grander sweep of history and immortality is a powerful one that drives the reading forward towards a conclusion that, if foregone, is still one that hints at a story with much more to come.
A review of Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carré
Our Kind of Traitor is pretty good as a thriller, mind: the characterisation and suspense are terrific; le Carre can undoubtedly spin a good yarn. There’s even a Hitchcockian/John Buchan-style adventure vibe to it: Perry and Gail, two unlikely operatives, pitched against sinister forces.
A review of Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey
Jasper Jones remains a nobody – the silent, disappearing hero in Charlie’s life, but he is also heroic – the catalyst to change and growth. Although there are dark edges to Jasper Jones, this is a wonderful, beautifully written, positive story of personal transformation which lingers with the reader.
Wuthering Heights: Wild and Wonderful
While sister Charlotte’s Jane Eyre was immediately acclaimed, critics had little use for Emily’s book. They thought that Heathcliff and Cathy were too “pagan” to appeal to the the British reader. Well, they are pagan, and so is the book as a whole.
A review of Alternate Reality Ain’t What It Used To Be by Ira Nayman
A glimpse into an original and unique humorous take on what is happening in society, especially technology-driven. It might be fiction but a tingle up my back finds it is so real.
A review of End of the Century by Chris Roberson
End of the Century is a fun mix of fantasy and science fiction. The apparent villain, one Huntsman, provides much of the tension in the novel and appears to be the well-known fantasy figure.