marina reads + writes.

A series of short stories linked by a mysterious chest of drawers. It feels like a reach - sure, the chest of drawers feature in each story, but does that make the tales any more coherent in their relationship to one another? Absolutely not. I really enjoyed ‘Swimming Holes’ and how it explored the importance of the past. Without revealing too much: the overwhelming emotion of discovering a long hidden betrayal and how the character processed the consequences was fascinating. I empathised with this character. While the rest of the stories features characters in complex and harrowing situations, namely the Holocaust, I found these characters to be cold and unrelenting in their distance. Krauss is clearly a brilliant author, her writing style is superb, but this novel felt demeaning in its haughtiness. 2/5 ⭐️ #greathouse #nicolekrauss #contemporaryfiction #orangeprizeforfiction #orangeprize #fiction #ukbookstagram #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CNaYBoYlP8i/?igshid=1suabfz5hr0jn

‘Such a Fun Age’ was impossible to put down, possessing a gripping and easygoing story that made it a pleasant read. But it’s far from flowery, fraught with important reminders of how necessary self awareness can be in regards to ‘doing the right thing’. The premise is simple enough. Emira Tucker is a young and broke black babysitter for the rich, white Chamberlain family. After being called late one evening for an emergency babysit session, Emira takes Briar, the eldest daughter, to the Chamberlains’ local Wholefoods-esque supermarket. The store security corner Emira and accuse her of kidnapping the Briar. This confrontation sets into sequence a range of various events. Throughout these events, Alix Chamberlain, the matriarch of the family, tries to do everything within her power to ensure she acts as ‘woke-ly’ and un-racist as possible. It’s a great social commentary that touches on uncomfortable topics, but I feel Reid should have been more heavy handed. 4/5 #suchafunage #kileyreid #bestseller #internationalbestseller #2020bookerprize #bookerprize #racism #bookclub #ukbookstagram #bookstagram #fiction #contemporaryfiction #bookrecommendations https://www.instagram.com/p/CNaVrTelux6/?igshid=etmdrh8whhyd

I am convinced that no one will ever write a debut novel as good as ‘White Teeth’ again. Smith’s novel about two intertwined but vastly different families trying to survive London is nothing short of a masterpiece. I couldn’t put this down from the start. Archie Jones immediately reminded me of Martin Freeman in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The juxtaposition of Freeman and Deschanel is replicated in ‘White Teeth’, the vivacious and hip Clara being the polar opposite of Archie’s stereotypical white British man. Archie’s best friend, the enigmatic Samad Iqbal, is fascinating. His internal battle, balancing his contemporary British interests and strict Muslim religion, is wonderfully written. The events that befall the families are both hilarious and tragic, each enduring trials and tribulations that encapsulate modern life in the capital. There are novels that everyone should read at least once. This is one of them. 5/5 ⭐️ #bookstagram #whiteteeth #bookrecommendations #zadiesmith #contemporaryfiction #literature #london #fiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CM-buFvFIT7/?igshid=nitl912bw98l

As far as old and slow Victorian novels go, ‘Middlemarch’ is not bad - which is a massive compliment from me. The characters are brilliant, especially Will Ladislaw, and the setting makes for a nice pastoral novel. There’s an excellent analysis of society, but good god, it’s just too long. The first 100 pages are all well and good, but then you realise there are 700 more pages of will-they-won’t-they-quaint-victorian-complicated-romances-are-abundant-style narrative. No one needs 800 pages of that. I’m definitely biased in my distaste for Victorian romance fiction, so me giving this an average score is a testament to Eliot’s abilities. Her progressive views amidst the never ending pages are a delight to see, I just wish there had been less. A lot less. 3/5 ⭐️ #middlemarch #books #victorianliterature #georgeeliot #victoriansociety #pastoral #literature #bookstagram #ukbookstagram #wordsworthclassics https://www.instagram.com/p/CM-Dd1slloH/?igshid=5staf3rmg9rf

I don’t think I’ve ever had to study a novel as extensively as ‘Madame Bovary’ (hence a million bookmarks). Three different modules have necessitated that I read it, forcing me to shift between loving and hating it. Now that I’m done studying (for now, who knows) ‘Madame Bovary’ is a delight. Flaubert’s tragic narrative about a woman who resents her husband is comedic, witty, and exceptionally well written. The plot revolves around Emma Rouault, a young and seemingly beautiful farmer’s daughter who marries Charles Bovary, a doctor. Charles adores his young and brilliant wife, yet once she bores of his cash and the resultant boost to her standing within society, her attitude towards him follows. Poor Emma has spent her life reading romance novels which have tainted her view of relationships, transforming her into a sort of Icarus character as she acts upon her lust. She therefore succumbs to the-grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side syndrome and swiftly manages to ruin her life. There’s a bit in the middle where the plot slows and becomes terribly boring, but the drama of the ending makes up for it. 5/5 ⭐️ #madamebovary #frenchliterature #gustaveflaubert #literature #pastoral #emmabovary #bookstagram #ukbookstagram #romance https://www.instagram.com/p/CM-Ch1Olrvk/?igshid=1kh6c2rbojuu4

‘Age of Iron’ is about Mrs. Curren, a former Classics professor who realises life is turning against her. Her husband has left her and since died. Her daughter will not reply to her mail. Her body is riddled with incurable cancer. And now, her housekeeper Florence has moved her children into Mrs. Curren’s home as they have nowhere else to go. The main theme of the novel is not the omnipotent threat of death, or the cancer consuming her body. Instead, we witness Mrs. Curren reconciling with her internalised racism through a series of events. The first of these is her unexpected relationship with a homeless man named Vercueil, who begins camping near her house. The latter is her beginning to care about the children in her home after the police begin to racially profile Florence’s son and his friend Bheki. It’s a tragic novel, transformed by the character of Vercueil into a borderline-horror, but not in the conventional sense. While the plot is rich, there’s something extraordinarily unlikeable about every character. 3/5 ⭐️ #coetzee #jmcoetzee #southafrica #apartheid #nobelprizeforliterature #ageofiron #contemporaryfiction #bookerprize #bookreview #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CM4ZQWTFpxe/?igshid=ra0zxe0ma20j

In the film Synecdoche New York, a pastor makes a speech. He claims “There are a million little strings attached to every choice you make; you can destroy your life every time you choose. But maybe you won't know for twenty years. And you'll never ever trace it to its source.” ‘The Dew Breaker’ is about a series of lives connected through the actions of one man. The identity of this mysterious character is left purposefully ambiguous until the denouement when we realise his involvement in each of the tales. Part of the ‘Tonton Macoutes’, a paramilitary group from Haiti, his actions have directly and indirectly altered the fates of copious others. Some of the stories, including the opening story ‘Seven’, struggled to pique my interest. However, both ‘Water Child’ and ‘The Bridal Seamstress’ are incredibly captivating chapters. The final chapter is excellent, tying together the loose ends, allowing us to trace the Dew Breaker back to his source against all odds. 3/5 ⭐️ #edwidgedandicat #dandicat #thedewbreaker #tontonmacoutes #contemporaryfiction #fiction #bookreview #bookstagram #synecdochenewyork https://www.instagram.com/p/CM4SzRaFX_P/?igshid=oz7ppwh4cjz4

Gissing’s writing style is similar to Dickens’: there are a plethora of long, winding sentences on many pages, where nothing really happens. Dickens’ meandering produced some of the most beautiful sentences in the history of literature. Meanwhile, Gissing occasionally writes a nice line, but none are memorable. We have an average writing style, and therefore ‘New Grub Street’ is an average book. ‘New Grub Street’ is about London. Specifically, it is about the literary society within London. The novel focuses on Edward Reardon and his friends on ‘Grub Street’ as they battle poverty with their love of writing. There are various scenes of classic Victorian melodrama, but none in particular stand out. It’s frankly a boring novels with some interesting characters, who love to write. And what saves this novel from a bad review is precisely that love of writing. For anyone who reads or writes, the struggle for these men to get their work published while refusing to abandon their craft is relatable. Sorry E.M Forster, the past isn’t a foreign country. Nothing has changed. 3/5 ⭐️ #gissing #georgegissing #bookstagram #bookreview #newgrubstreet #literature #writing #dickens #review #fiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CM4PxoeFyAj/?igshid=s6aip85eme3z

I’ve read copious novels about the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian genocide, but few have moved me as much as Thien’s. ‘Dogs at the Perimeter’ is about running from the past and the impossibility of doing so. It reminds us that our experiences are inseparable from our identity, and that to remove these delicate building blocks unravels the self. ‘Dogs’ revolves around ‘Janie’, a Cambodian woman who survived the terror of genocide and escaped to Canada. Since then, she has gained a successful career, a husband, and a son. I wish that was the end. Instead, Janie is haunted by her past and allows it to erode her present. She abandons her family and takes refuge at the home of a colleague who has disappeared. As she tries to unravel his mystery, her own is unlocked. This is a rare novel where beauty and horror intertwine perfectly. It also contains the most important and stunning line I’ve read about the importance of bearing witness: "Inside us, from the beginning, we are entrusted with many lives, from the first morning to the last we carry them until the end." A must-read. 5/5 ⭐️ #book #books #ukbookstagram #madelinethein #dogsattheperimeter #contemporaryfiction #fiction #cambodianliterature #khmerrouge #cambodiangenocide #manbookerprize #bookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2ql_llis_/?igshid=3tip9nch6ryb

Boggling. Another university read, ‘Houses of Ravicka’ was my introduction to Gladman’s writing. It is set in the topsy-turvy ‘Ravicka’, a made up world wherein gender and reality are far from accessible or sensical. It is the fourth book in the series, but I don’t think reading the prior novels would have made reading this any easier. The plot revolves around a ‘comptroller’ who has lost their home. It’s unclear what the home actually is - a physical home? Metaphorical? Metaphysical? Regardless, it is evident that a loss has been experienced. The novel is divided into two parts, the first with narrative structure relating to the aforementioned plot while the latter seems to be a poetic stream of consciousness about the concept of identity. The latter was my favourite, windswept yet embedded with beautiful lines such as “you’re still passing each other, exchanging novels, trying to find the right reader for your words”. It’s hard to describe, but it’s beautiful. 4/5 ⭐️ #books #bookstagram #ukbookstagram #housesofravicka #ravickaseries #bookreview #bookrecommendations #lgbtq #contemporaryfiction #reneegladman #fiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2nFuYlgCf/?igshid=8f5qev1ssdnv

Jay Rayner looks like the kind of person I’d hate. He sounds like the kind of person I’d hate. He has the upbringing of people I hate. But I love this grumpy old man’s mind so much that all of these things are immediately null and void. When I die, please track him down and have him write my eulogy. Jay Rayner’s positive reviews nourish my soul, but Jay Rayner’s bad reviews are like a particularly tantalising new brand of heroin. Each of Rayner’s words is an ingredient for the perfect high. I am wilfully addicted and cannot stop coming back for more. If there is anything wrong with this book, it is that there isn’t enough of it. It’s only a starter, and I want a buffet. I’m therefore wishing a thousand horrible meals on Rayner so I can fill my greedy gob with more. 5/5 ⭐️ #books #bookstagram #ukbookstagram #jayrayner #wastedcaloriesandruinednights #foodcritic #offmenu #masterchef #nonfiction #bookrecommendations #bookreview #booklove https://www.instagram.com/p/CM2G-TmFmN6/?igshid=gxwwkg6et3h4

I had to read ‘The Underground Railroad’ for a module at university and dreaded it, thinking it was going to be a stereotypical story about slavery. I finished it in a day. ‘The Underground Railroad’ is about exactly that, as Whitehead subverts the metaphorical route out of slavery into a physical one, where slaves can catch the train towards their freedom. This makes the novel sound suitable for young adults, but the fantastical element of this is reduced by the horrors unleashed by Whitehead throughout. The novel has a primary narrator, Cora, although we also follow Caesar, a fellow slave. The novel is written in third person which I thought worked well for the narrative - there are a host of monstrosities in these pages, from sexual assaults to lynchings, and the distance provided with the third person is a safety net for the reader. Witnessing the scenes as an outsider is painful enough. Since reading this, I’ve also studied ‘Zone One’ by Whitehead and read ‘Sag Harbor’ and ‘The Nickel Boys’. After reading all of these, I think it’s important to mention his novels should always be read at least twice. They are multifaceted and complex books, with new information becoming apparent each time. ‘The Underground Railroad’ is no exception to this, Cora and Caesar’s stories become exponentially poignant with intimate knowledge. 5/5 ⭐️ #books #bookstagram #ukbookstagram #colsonwhitehead #pulitzerprize #zoneone #theundergroundrailroad #slavery #contemporaryfiction #fiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CMzbRUdFkV1/?igshid=y8e8gd23ld8

Ondaatje has written some exceptional novels, both ‘Anil’s Ghost’ and ‘The English Patient’ are works of art. ‘Running in the Family’, his auto fiction about his childhood in Ceylon, is absolutely phenomenal. My expectations were resultantly high, but ‘Warlight’ was a disappointment. The plot revolves around two children separated from their parents in the midst of World War II. Nathaniel and Rachel interact with a host of bizarre and nefarious characters in their parents’ absence, put under the care of ‘The Moth’, a mysterious friend of their mother. While the characters are the highlight, the narrative is slow and boring. The espionage route never takes off, and a variety of subplots that Ondaatje could have pursued and honed into a brilliant novel are ignored. The plot-line with Agnes in particular seems like an afterthought at the denouement of the novel, completely ruining the twist. 2/5 ⭐️ #books #bookstagram #ukbookstagram #ondaatje #michaelondaatje #theenglishpatient #bookerprize #worldwartwo #bookreview #fiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CMzPVpMFKWB/?igshid=3yu2toatckw3

Oh god, I did not enjoy this at all. Spinningfield’s little library has finally let me down. I’d not read anything by Haig other than ‘Reasons to Stay Alive’ which was whimsical and lovely and possibly the best thing anyone can read mid lockdown. This is the polar opposite. ‘How to Stop Time’ is about a man named Tom Hazard. The twist is that Tom is not a regular man, he is an ‘albatross’. This means he’s part of a secret society - cleverly named ’The Albatross Society’- who try to recruit all the other (there’s an alarming amount of them!) magical people who live for centuries. If this wasn’t cringeworthy enough to begin with, we have to endure a dual narrative that shifts between ‘Olde English’ Tom and present Tom. Present Tom is nothing special, a history teacher who is probably unfit to teach, as he continually loses himself and talks about historical figures in a personal way using the present tense. This is because Tom has somehow met the most bizarre smorgasbord of people to ever exist - Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald? Check. Shakespeare? Check. Omai? He’s an albatross too. And a surfer now. Bought ‘The Midnight Library’ the other day and I’m going to read it next because if it’s anything like this, I just want it to be over with. 1/5 ⭐️ #book #bookstagram #ukbookstagram #matthaig #howtostoptime #sundaytimesbestseller #bookreview #scifi #timetravel https://www.instagram.com/p/CMzND47Fyhu/?igshid=stzdsbe51vwh

‘Maps for Lost Lovers’ is about the honour killing of two lovers, Jugnu and Chanda, and the immigrant experience in contemporary Britain. It is moreover about retaining the Muslim faith in an “unsacred country” where assimilation is increasingly necessary and painful, with cultures clashing at every corner. Aslam’s diction is fiercely lyrical throughout which is something that I personally love, although I’ve seen many reviews where it is described as too ‘flowery’, or experienced fellow students complaining that it is too ‘metaphorical’. I say drown me in metaphors. I loved every page of this and have resultantly underlined a perfect sentence on almost every page. It’s slow moving, but it’s worth every tenderly turned page to absorb every last drop. I’d recommend this to anyone interested in novels about identity, the diaspora, assimilation or the impact of immigration. 5/5 ⭐️ #books #book #bookstagram #manbooker #bookerprize #nadeemaslam #britain #contemporarybritain #identitypolitics #diaspora #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookreviews #mapsforlostlovers #honourkillings #contemporaryfiction #fiction https://www.instagram.com/p/CMxxVZ_lpVF/?igshid=1xsq76zr32f

Lahore or Las Vegas? Hamid subverts all western stereotypes of Pakistan, portraying the glamour and glitz of a lavish, self-destructive lifestyle in the capital. The novel is about Daru, a young Pakistani man who finds himself spiralling after the loss of his job. He begins to smoke copious amounts of hashish, and eventually starts to sell and experiment with various other recreational drugs while harbouring feelings for his best friend’s wife. There’s a dangerous mix of Hollywood drama that is juxtaposed with the poignant poverty and deprivation that haunts Lahore, frequently nudging our reader to remember the importance of the novel’s setting. While the novel focuses on decadence and hedonistic urges, Hamid’s text resultantly warns us of playing Icarus with the western lifestyle - drugs and affairs have dangerous consequences. Daru learns this in due time. The title is as tantalising as the content, Hamid’s ability to spin poetic prose and craft epic narratives is just as potent as ever. 5/5 ⭐️ #book #books #bookstagram #ukbookstagram #lahore #pakistan #pakistani #mothsmoke #thereluctantfundamentalist #contemporaryfiction #hedonism #bookrecommendations #bookreview #bookreviews https://www.instagram.com/p/CMxt1NelugL/?igshid=19q565zdbaqfk