The Purple Cloud (1901, revised 1921) by M.P. Shiel 311 pages Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press ===== Adam Jeffson is living his life in the later years of Victorian London when his fiance schemes to give him an opportunity to be part of a voyage attempting to reach the pole for the first time. She [...]
Archive for March, 2010
The Purple Cloud
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged m p sheil, science fiction, uk on March 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Lost City of Z
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged biography, brazil, david grann, ebook, history, percy fawcett on March 25, 2010 | 1 Comment »
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (2009) by David Grann 325 pages Doubleday ===== Percy Fawcett was one of the most well-known and respected explorers of his generation when, in 1925, he headed a widely publicized expedition in the Amazon to find a rumoured city which some equated [...]
In Patagonia
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged argentina, bruce chatwin, chile, history, travel on March 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
In Patagonia (1977) by Bruce Chatwin 260 pages Vintage Classics ===== Englishman Bruce Chatwin spends months travelling, mostly on foot, through Patagonia, the sparsely populated and half-wild southern peninsula of South America which is divided between Argentina and Chile. One of the products of that journey is this book, which is very episodic, and details [...]
Double Indemnity
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged james m cain, usa on March 14, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Double Indemnity (1935) by James M. Cain 115 pages Vintage Crime/Black Lizard ===== The narrator of this short and direct crime novel is Walter Huff, who begins by doing his job as an insurance salesman, checking in on a client whose policies need to be renewed. He instead meets the man’s wife, and from the [...]
The Doors of Perception / Heaven and Hell
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged aldous huxley, essays, philosophy, psychology, uk on March 11, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
The Doors of Perception (1954) / Heaven and Hell (1956) by Aldous Huxley 144 pages Penguin ===== Two collected essays by Aldous Huxley, the product of his experiences with mescaline and LSD. The first essay, The Doors of Perception, deals with the experience of taking mescaline and what Huxley sees as similarity to the mystical [...]
Time and Again
Posted in Book Reviews, tagged fantasy, jack finney, usa on March 8, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Time and Again (1970) by Jack Finney 399 pages Fireside ===== Time travel stories usually come with a fair dose of both fascination and frustration. Fascination in journeying to another time, either in the future, or, in this case, the vanished past. Frustration from the almost inevitable logical traps and inconsistencies that the narrative falls [...]
