Read three novels in one week. (Why you ask? So I could nod knowingly tomorrow at a one day lecture course on reading modern fiction. See). Haven't done this sort of a thing since I was a wide-eyed teenager from the railway town Jolarpet who walked into his first proper library in the great city of Chennai. The original rush of youth has now been replaced with all the many layers of meaning that age adds to a reading experience. To the novels now.
'Never Let Me Go' by Kazuo Ishiguro
A novel set in an alternate/future world where clones are reared to accept, and in fact, believe, that donating their organs to greedy society, is their purpose in life. Follows the lives of a group of children who are reared thus. Science is in the periphery. Well written. Guardian review.
'Mother's Milk' by Edward St Aubyn
Got no blurb. Sorry. Good novel. Here's a quote I thought gives a flavor - if a novel's essence can be given in a quote at all: "when people hate offialdom, they either become craven or facetious". Precisely. Guardian interview with author.
'Saturday' by Ian McEwan
I've posted about it before. Great read. Immerses you in science and contemporary human experience. Times review.
If you haven't yet rushed off to read the novels, you should hang out for a few minutes at Desipundit where Ashutosh has a fabulous post on Dr Watson's statements.
Have a good weekend.
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