‘Later’ became the archetypal opening for a J.G. Ballard story. It told us we were in the territory of aftermath.…
A Magnum for Schneider
In the mid-1960s, ITV in Britain produced a series of one-off dramas under the title ‘Armchair Theatre’. It was originally…
Putting the Parts Together
There are several ways to read the title of David Lodge’s novel about H.G. Wells, A Man of Parts. Lodge…
Russell Hoban
I wasn’t prepared for this. He was just a couple of months short of his 87th birthday, but still I…
Victims
In 1926, Agatha Christie published a short story that introduced the character of Miss Marple, a spinster who solved crime…
Human Noise
We need to read Don Delillo slowly. Not because his prose is dense or complex or difficult. Quite the opposite,…
Radically unchangeable gestures
Having read Northrop Frye’s The Anatomy of Criticism earlier this year (see discussions here, here, and here – more to…
Spy stories
I’m going to tell you a story. It’s about spies. And if it’s true … you people are going to…
Electric Holmes
It is very rarely given that a 21st century reader can fully appreciate a 19th century novel. But I had…
The Judges of the Secret Court
I had never heard of David Stacton when I picked up this novel recently. But the title was wonderful: The…