Synopsis: The nephew of an eccentric Professor of Anthropology discovers the horrors of the inter-galactic, flying cephalopod worshiping “Cthulhu Cult” while investigating the circumstances of his grand-uncle’s death. First-rate, tongue-twisting horror.
My Take: While I’m not much of a science fiction fan (relative to its real adherents), as a general principle I do try to give [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Short Stories'
“The Call of the Cthulhu”, H.P. Lovecraft
November 25th, 2009 · 1 Comment · American, Fiction, Sci-Fi, Short Stories, Under-Rated
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“I Love Dollars”, Zhu Wen
September 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Asian, Chinese, Fiction, Short Stories
Ok, so I’ve been MIA from Blogging the Bookshelf for a while now (a few weeks in fact!). Things have been fairly busy work wise so I’ve had to cut back on discretionary activities and the blog was the first to go. Unfortunately I think work will continue to be quite demanding for the foreseeable [...]
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“The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming”, Elliot Perlman
July 24th, 2009 · No Comments · Australian, Fiction, Literature, Short Stories
Synopsis: Series of nine short-stories published before Perlman really hit the big time with “Three Dollars” and then “Seven Types of Ambiguity”. Not badly written, but just not to my taste.
My Take: The way I remember it (and it could have course been completely different for everyone else), the mid-90s were a strangely depressing time. [...]
Tags:Elliot Perlman
“Magical Thinking: True Stories”, Augusten Burroughs
July 20th, 2009 · No Comments · American, Literature, Non-Fiction, Short Stories
Synopsis: An assortment of hilarious vignettes from the periods of Burroughs’ life not already canvassed in “Running with Scissors” or “Dry”. Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant.
My Take: Here’s the thing about Augusten Burroughs. I love him – at its best, his writing zings and fizzles with caustic, but good natured wit. Sadly, my fiancée’s first exposure [...]
Tags:Augusten Burroughs
"The Elephant Vanishes", Haruki Murakami
July 2nd, 2009 · No Comments · Asian, Fiction, Japanese, Short Stories
Synopsis: A collection of 15 of Haruki Murakami’s most surreal short stories.
My Take: The Elephant Vanishes is classic Murakami – strange, whimsical, reflective and more than a little confusing. You don’t find stories based on of the disappearance of a man’s favourite elephant or a woman being haunted by a gardening, green monster in every [...]
Tags:Haruki Murakami
"The Boat", Nam Le
June 30th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Asian, Australian, Fiction, Literature, Short Stories
Synopsis: Young former Melbourne corporate lawyer turns hundreds of other young, former Melbourne corporate lawyers green with envy by publishing a phenomenally successful collection of nuanced and beautiful short stories.
My Take: Sigh. I guess it is an inevitable part of getting older to be confronted with the increasingly spectacular public successes of people who were [...]
Tags:Nam Le