Blogging the Bookshelf

Blogging my bookshelf – one book at a time

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Entries from August 10th, 2009

“Ulysses”, James Joyce

August 10th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Fiction, Literature, Owned But Unread, Unfinished

Synopsis: Leopold Bloom spends a day wandering through Dublin on June 16, 1904. Modern literature will never be the same again.
My Take: Ulysses is my literary white whale. I’ve sat down to try and read it a couple of times, but have never had the requisite endurance or appreciation. I get the feeling that I [...]

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“Lincoln”, Gore Vidal

August 8th, 2009 · No Comments · American, History, Literature

Synopsis: The second instalment of Gore Vidal’s Narratives of Empire historical fiction series follows the travails of the United States during the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. From the ballot to the bullet as it were.
My Take: It took me a while to give Gore Vidal a try. As regular [...]

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“McMafia”, Misha Glenny

August 6th, 2009 · No Comments · Crime, Economics, Non-Fiction

Synopsis: Guns, Drugs and Women – Misha Glenny travels from Eastern Europe to South America, Africa, Israel, India, Dubai, Canada, China and Japan tracing the globalisation of crime since the early 1990s. The globalised economy may well be ‘Flat’, but it also casts one hell of a shadow.
My Take: Misha Glenny is probably the only [...]

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“Johnno”, David Malouf

August 4th, 2009 · No Comments · Australian, Fiction, Literature, Queensland, biography

Synopsis: Thinly veiled autobiographical account of David Malouf’s adolescence and early adulthood and his changing relationships with his eponymous best friend, Johnno and the town of his birth, Brisbane.  A must for all Queenslanders.
My Take: I have a very warm spot in my heart for David Malouf. He’s the kind of writer that I would [...]

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