Latest news with #novel
Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Gary Shteyngart: Want to understand Russia? Then read this novel
Gary Shteyngart was born Igor Semyonovich Shteyngart in Leningrad in 1972. His family, he says, was 'typically Soviet' and they lived in a square with a huge statue of Vladimir Lenin. They emigrated to the US when he was seven but not before he had written his first book: a 100-page comic novel. After a degree in politics and several years working for NGOs, Shteyngart took a trip to Prague that inspired his first novel, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, which was published in 2002. The book, about young Russians living in Manhattan and the fictional Prava, won him awards and acclaim. Other books by Shteyngart include the novels Absurdistan, Super Sad True Love Story, Lake Success and Our Country Friends as well as the memoir Little Failure. He has also worked on television shows including HBO's Succession and The Regime. His latest book is Vera, or Faith, about a dysfunctional family in America told from the perspective of Vera, a ten-year-old girl who is half-Korean, half-Jewish. Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler. I read the book when I was deep in my fully satirical mode as a twentysomething man. You couldn't stop me from satirising everything in sight. Now I'm middle-aged and full of love. Dogs, children, baristas — I love everyone I encounter. But when my spleen was much more active I craved satire and Barney's Version fit the bill perfectly. It's the story of an old man losing his marbles in Montreal and it is, in some ways, a kind of loud Canadian lament. (Who knew that was possible?) It's also the story of an old man scrutinising his life and trying to figure out where it all went wrong, which, as a 52-year-old I can now begin to understand on a different level. • What we're reading this week — by the Times books team I really love Bombay, so I love Maximum City by my old friend Suketu Mehta. It's an over-the-top take on an over-the-top city. No person I know so embodies a place as does Suketu. When I went on a tour of Bombay with him a decade or so ago we were hanging out with Bollywood stars, drinking sodas designed to elicit a belch and being chased out of housing estates by gangsters. In other words the reality is every bit as nuts as the book makes it out to be. Oh, and it's very, very funny, which is important for me. • Read more book reviews and interviews — and see what's top of the Sunday Times Bestsellers List Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov, published in 1859. With the genocide being perpetrated by Russia against Ukraine I became more than weary of my Russian-born cultural self. I felt some Pushkin and Dostoevsky represented the worst of Russian experience, while Chekhov remained a sweetheart. Oblomov, the story of a Russian man who never really gets off his couch, is something else. It's what being a Russian is actually like. The instinct to let the world slide off your back (even as you lie on it) explains so much of why Russia is, was and always will be a nightmare. Vera, or Faith by Gary Shteyngart (Atlantic £16.99 ) is out now. To order a copy go to Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Second novel by Garston author is a love letter to Watford's past
A novelist has released his much-anticipated second book, a heartfelt tale that captures the spirit of a bygone era. Soul Objective, by Garston writer Steve Johnson, is a coming-of-age drama set in late 1960s and early 1970s Watford. Steve's latest novel 'Soul Objective' is available in paperback and e-book. (Image: Steve Johnson) The story follows Joe Holland, a young man whose life takes an unexpected turn after a revelation on his 21st birthday. Steve said: "Change is so gradual that you barely even notice it, until one day you get to thinking about the places you frequented in your youth and realise that they are all gone. "For Watfordians of a certain vintage I hope this book will transport them back to a bygone time that no longer exists. But it did once. "I don't believe in living in the past but it's a nice place to visit. "When deciding where to locate my story it occurred to me that I'd never read, or even heard of, a novel based in Watford. "So, I decided to remedy that. It was a good place to grow up, and it probably still is." Soul Objective follows Joe as he travels from quiet south-west Hertfordshire to the streets of New York in search of answers. The novel references Watford landmarks like Top Rank, The New Penny, and The Coachmakers Arms. Read more Warner Bros. spotted filming in central Watford Save on puzzles this summer with Wentworth Puzzles More Harry Potter sets under construction as Leavesden filming ramps up Steve's debut novel, The Hidden Road Home, is a Second World War story set in St Albans, Harpenden, and RAF Northolt. He lives in Garston with his son Robert and their rescue dog, Purdy. Both books are available on Amazon in paperback and e-book format.
Washington Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
The narrator of this novel is trained in — and ruined by — philosophy
'Fresh, Green Life,' the fifth book and second novel by Sebastian Castillo, tells the story of a man whose mind has been ruined by philosophy. It is New Year's Eve, and a 35-year-old writer named Sebastián Castillo does not know what to do. Should he leave Philadelphia and go up to New York, or stay at home, drinking domestic beers and watching YouTube videos?
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Niall Williams: Four Letters of Love
Photo: supplied After decades of writing novels, internationally bestselling author Niall Williams has turned his hand to the screen, adapting his first novel into a star-studded movie. Photo: Wikimedia He's adapted his first book from 1997 - Four Letters of Love , a feel good tale about vocation, fate, love and destiny. Set in the west of Ireland, its stars include Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne. Born in Dublin, Niall was long-listed for the Booker Prize in 2014 for History of the Rain and his most recent book Time of the Child won Irish Novel of the year. But Four Letters of Love remains his biggest seller. Niall explains to Susie why he adapted his first novel 27 years after he wrote it.
Wall Street Journal
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
How I Became an Accidental Author of ‘Dark Academia'
When I turned 30, I quit a well-paying job to write novels. Initially, the gamble didn't go well. A couple of early efforts garnered kind remarks from important publishers, but no book deals. I was in the last chance saloon when I began writing 'Black Chalk,' a dark tale based on my time as a student at Oxford in the 1990s. When I finished the novel, it was rejected—this time by the entire U.S. publishing industry. But my agent sent it to a U.K. house, Harvill Secker, who published it in 2013. Two years later a U.S. house, Picador, picked it up. The book is now going into its 19th printing.
