M. Atwood, In other worlds: SF and the human imagination
A. Christie, A pocket full of Rye
J. Crace, Quarantine
R. Gunesekera, Reef
Y. Martel, Life of Pi*
W.S. Maugham, Of Human Bondage
G. Orwell, Homage to Catalonia
G. Orwell, Homage to Catalonia
G. Orwell, Animal Farm*
A. Trollope, Lady Anna
A. Trollope, Lady Anna
I was briefly worried that I'd struggle to get through Lady Anna and thus put my 'two new Trollopes a year' plan under threat. But no - 17 Trollope novels read; estimated completion of corpus still due for 2028. Similarly, I was starting to be concerned I might not make it through Orwell this year. But no - three Orwell books read this month alone; one more novel and some essays to go. Unlike Trollope, Orwell also provided BOTM. On reputation it should be Animal Farm, but it doesn't really repay rereading (unlike Life of Pi which really did). Coming up for Air I suspect will. It's quite unlike any of his previous novels (which are essentially social commentary masquerading as fiction; whereas this is history masquerading as fiction), and it's a masterly evocation of the Edwardian, pre-war, age. It's particularly haunting given its prescience about the second war, and the end is brave, and very un-Trollopian in its approach to tying up loose ends. A great, and neglected, book.
