Hunger

A second reading of Knut Hamsun's Hunger (the first was recorded in this blog in 2010) confirms the author's striking originality. This re-reading was prompted by a play based on the novel I will see in Salzburg this month.

The Counterlife

Philip Roth's novel is bursting with ideas, family dysfunction, and his usual sexual themes. The intelligence underlying the book practically hums, but it is worn lightly and not as an instrument to bludgeon the reader. It is to the writer's credit that all of the alternative paths presented, and all of the political arguments pro and con, are persuasive.

Pulse

I finished Julian Barnes's collection of short stories less than two weeks ago, and yet I am having a hard time locating anything memorable about them. The prose style is pleasant enough, and the observations on human behavior can penetrate, but other than a historical story about Garibaldi the entries all seem to run together. Whether that's the fault of Barnes or a middle-aged memory is an open question.

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

Brian Moore's breakout novel, set in dreary 1950s' Belfast, is an astute character study of loneliness, self-deception, and pride. Among the novel's most successful elements is its treatment of Judith Hearne's struggle with her Catholic faith. It's a subject that very few novelists have had the courage to tackle.

The Ghost Writer

Philip Roth's introduction of the writer Nathan Zuckerman in this novel is spellbinding, a word that is overused but is entirely apposite here. The action is confined to a New England country home, which intensifies the drama. The introduction of a young female character, and the imaginative flight that this inspires in Zuckerman, is hugely compelling.