literature Archives - Page 44 of 58 - Home For Fiction

literature

Review of A Girl in Exile

February 7, 2019

Albania, book, fiction, Kadare, literature, review

Albanian literature is not something I’ve been exposed to a lot. Indeed, this review of A Girl in Exile, by Ismail Kadare, is not only the first opportunity for me to review a novel of Albanian literature, but also the first time I even read one.

The story seems deceptively simple. According to the book description:

During the bureaucratic machinery of Albania’s 1945–1991 dictatorship, playwright Rudian Stefa is called in for questioning by the Party Committee. A girl—Linda B.—has been found dead, with a signed copy of his latest book in her possession. He soon learns that Linda’s family, considered suspect, was exiled to a small town far from the capital. Under the influence of a paranoid regime, Rudian finds himself swept along on a surreal quest to discover what really happened to Linda B.

At first glance, A Girl in Exile seems like a mystery thriller with political aspects. Nothing could be further from the truth.

review of a girl in exile — Albania is a fascinatingly mysterious country, and the world of *A Girl in Exile* reveals that marvellously.

(more…)

Review of The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce

December 29, 2018

Book Review, Criticism

book, fiction, literature, review, Torday, wine

Writing a review of The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce, by Paul Torday, is an exhilarating experience. I get to talk about the brilliance of the novel and the hopeless mediocrity that surrounds us.

Indeed, it’s interesting to give you a quick briefing of how I discovered The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce.

I saw the book at the local library. As I sometimes do with authors I haven’t read before, I took a quick look at Goodreads reviews. The average rating of The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce is (at the time of this review) 3.49/5. The thing is, I have the experience to know that if a book (or a film) features bad ratings by the social masses, it might mean it’s actually good.

Taking a look at one or two reviews, I felt certain it was a book I wanted to read. People complained that there was no resolution to the story. Others gave the book 2 stars because… the protagonist was in denial.

The level of ignorance and mediocrity is appalling, when it comes to unsophisticated readers.

And so, let’s see what I thought about Torday’s novel. This is a review of The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce. It’s also another chance for me to express my dismay at the social mediocrity that has enthralled the world. Ironically enough, the two processes are metatextually related as you will see.

(more…)

Authors, Here’s How to Deal with Negative Feedback

December 17, 2018

Writing

comparing, criticism, feedback, literature

If you’re an author, whether of fiction or nonfiction, one of the things you must learn is how to deal with negative feedback.

As soon as a novel (or book in general) reaches a public audience, it becomes a potential subject of critique. Most authors welcome that – or at least they claim they do! And yet, what they really are after is not feedback but positive feedback.

To an extent this is human nature. Most people would prefer to hear good words and praises about their work, not criticism and reasons why someone thought it was bad. But you can’t please everyone – neither should you try – and hence it’s inevitable that negative feedback is something that you, as a writer, will have to deal with sooner or later.

In today’s article I show you how to deal with negative feedback. Sneak preview: it’s not what you think it is!

(more…)