Verdigris

Like a Bryan Adams song, Verdigris takes place over a single summer; the summer of 1969. Unlike a Bryan Adams song, Verdigris squirms with horror and questions what makes reality. In that summer of ’69, the novel’s narrator Michelino is 13 and a half years old (the half year is important to him) and spending the holiday with his grandparents in Nasca, Italy. Neither grandparent takes an interest in the boy, and he is left to entertain himself. That entertainment doesn’t include buying a guitar and starting a band. Michelino is far too esoteric for that.

The Sixth Gun Volume 9

After finishing Volume 8 of The Sixth Gun, I couldn’t wait to complete the series, so jumped straight into Volume 9 on New Year’s Day. The final volume brings together the three concluding chapters in this epic, marshalling all the forces with an interest in The Six together for the final battle.

The Six are an ancient force, forged in the early history of mankind. They have taken many forms, and have been used to end and recreate the world many times. Over the centuries, they have evolved, becoming near sentient, able to manipulate their bearers to ensure that, with each remaking of the world, they remain active within it. But their existence is the cause of wars, enmity, power struggles and misery for those caught at the edges of conflict. In Volume 9, Drake Sinclair and Becky Montcrief have set themselves the task of remaking the world without The Six in it. But first they must stop the Grey Witch, Griselda, from remaking the world in her image.

The Sixth Gun Volume 8

It has been a while since I last read a volume of The Sixth Gun. September 2017, in fact. I needed to skim through my review of Volume 7 to remind myself of what had happened. Quite a lot, as it turned out.

The October Country

A paragraph that almost shares its title with that of Ray Bradbury’s short story collection The October Country introduces this place as

… that country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and mid-nights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain …

Earthlings

In a similar way to Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata’s second novel Earthlings examines the worlds created by people who find that the standards set by wider society don’t quite fit with who they are. It casts a light on the tendency in Japanese society towards rigid compliance and formality over feelings, contrasting the instincts of childhood with the conformity and regulation of adulthood. It also shows up the double standards in society, with a blind eye turned to some behaviours but not others. There are moments of humour and tenderness, but this story is much darker than Murata’s previous book.

Wasteland

Wasteland by Keith Crews came free with the first Kindle e-reader that my husband bought me in 2010. This edition was self-published by the author but has since been reissued in paperback and is seemingly the first in a series. It follows hitman Angelo Marchetti as he crosses a place known as the Wasteland armed with two guns he calls Thunder and Lightning.

Our Wives Under the Sea

Another debut novel, this time from Julia Armfield, who I heard speak about Our Wives Under the Sea at a literary event in March 2022. Her reading from the novel and her discussion of the strangeness within its pages captivated me.

Uncle Silas: A Tale of Bartram-Haugh

Read 07/04/2022-19/04/2022

Rating 4 stars

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1864 novel Uncle Silas is a locked room mystery centred upon the black sheep of a wealthy family, the titular Uncle Silas. A young woman is sent to stay with her uncle at his estate Bartram-Haugh, the location of the mysterious death of an acquaintance of Silas’s that led to him being shunned by his brother.

Six Degrees of Separation: From Our Wives Under the Sea to Mothlight

2 April 2022, the first Saturday of the month, and another Six Degrees of Separation rolls into view. This meme is hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best.

For this month’s Six Degrees of Separation, Kate has chosen a book that I own but haven’t read yet.

Random Thoughts: A gendered reading of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery

I’ve been thinking about Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery, which was the starting point for the October 2021 Six Degrees of Separation. In particular, I’ve been thinking about the character Tessie, and what she represents for me. I found a few essays online analysing the story in relation to public reaction, symbolism, the purpose of ritual, even Marxist theory. I didn’t find anything about gender roles that satisfied me, though, so I decided to marshall my random thoughts on the subject here.