“The Fall” was first published in 1956, and was Camus’ last full novel. Like much of his work it is considered existentialist, though interestingly Camus did not see his writing that way at all. The narrator, Jean-Baptiste Clamence, tells the story of his life and his so-called fall to an unnamed chance acquaintance he meets…
When you hear that song that reminds you of something you don’t quite remember but you feel a melancholy longing for the intangible When you listen to music that fills you with joy so great you feel as if you might burst with happiness Reading a poem that tears deep into your soul stabbing to…
The story follows two separate protagonists who never meet. The first is Candide, who is a pilot what has crashed into the Forest (capital F intended), and is trying to find his way out. The second is Peretz, who is stuck at the Administration which has been set up to research the Forest. He too,…
I am a huge fan of Ursula Le Guin as I have mentioned previously, and I recently read this compilation of some of her stories, selected by her. She described in her introduction that most of the stories in this volume are what she would call science fiction, in that they deal with other planets…
When the Strugatsky brothers finished “The Doomed City” in 1972, they realized that they could not even give it to a publisher in Soviet Russia for fear of the consequences. So they hid the book for over nearly twenty years, not publishing it until 1989, when ‘perestroika’ was taking hold in Russia and the atmosphere…
I like a good old-fashioned monster movie. “Frankenstein Unbound”, based on a novel of the same name by Brian Aldiss, promised to mix classic Frankenstein with science fiction. Sounds like fun, I thought. The plot centres around a future scientist from 2030 who invents a weapon which can eliminate your enemies without causing any damage…
Arkady and Boris Strugatsky were writing in Soviet era Russia, and the environment in which they worked gives their books an added nuance, knowing the societal constraints under which they were working, and what they managed to achieve. This is the second book I have read by these authors, and I have enjoyed it just…
In a town I’ve never visited before I go exploring and walking down a quiet street I see a sign proclaiming ‘Antique Books’ In an antique store, I think examining the faded lettering the thick leadlight windows the heavy wooden shutters I am intrigued so I enter it is everything it ought to be and…
(First published 1963.) Vonnegut is not for everyone, and I suspect many would find him far too cynical to truly enjoy. His world view has always seemed to me to be without illusion, though sometimes lacking in joy or hope. That being said, his books are always interesting and thought-provoking. “Cat’s Cradle” starts with the…
Recently I finished reading a children’s book called “The Night of the Solstice” by Lisa Smith, which contained the idea of mirrors being used as gateways to another world. So this got me thinking about magic mirrors and how they have featured in legends and fiction over the ages. In ancient times mirrors could be…
