Book reviews written by alvin r. c.

Reviews

Sort by:

1 2 3 4 5 | Next »

Displaying 1-10 of 46 reviews

The Sailor Who Fell From Grace with the Sea (Vintage International)

by John Nathan, Yukio Mishima
- Rated 4 stars
“Disturbing. Well-written though.”

alvin r. c. wrote this review 11 days ago. ( reply | permalink )
The Road

by Cormac McCarthy
- Rated 4 stars
“so bleak yet so good”

alvin r. c. wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )
Waiting for Leah

by Arnost Lustig
- Rated 4 stars
“Fine writing. Sad but not melodramatic.”

alvin r. c. wrote this review Tuesday, December 1 2009. ( reply | permalink )
Miguel Street (Vintage International)

by V.S. Naipaul
- Rated 3 stars
“In Miguel Street, V.S. Naipaul (winner of 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature) writes several stories, believed to be a tribute to his childhood in Port of Spain in Trinidad. The nostalgic stories concerning the people of Miguel Street are all interconnected; they are all integral part of the coming of age of the narrator. This is my second Naipaul, the first being In A Free State, a Booker Prize-winning novel, which I read eight years ago. This is a decent read.”

alvin r. c. wrote this review Sunday, November 22 2009. ( reply | permalink )
Seeing

by Jose Saramago
- Rated 5 stars
“There isn't even a little hint in me that the novel disappoints. Although I like Blindness more, Seeing is effortlessly impressive. This is my fifth Saramago and I'm already used to his writing style. Reading a Saramago slowly does the trick. (4.5/5.0)”

alvin r. c. wrote this review Friday, November 13 2009. ( reply | permalink )
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich: A Novel

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
- Rated 5 stars
“The story tells an account of repression under Stalinist rule. Ivan Denisovich Shukov was accused of espionage after being captured by the Germans as a prisoner of war. The novel begins with Shukov waking up late because he was sick; as a consequence, he was forced to face a minor punishment. The novel ends with Shukov providing a special service to an intellectual who was able to get out of manual labor and do office work instead.

This is one of my most satisfying reads.”

alvin r. c. wrote this review Tuesday, November 3 2009. ( reply | permalink )
The Pyramid

by Ismail Kadare, David Bellos
- Rated 4 stars
“A dark 'fictional' account of the grim history behind the building of the pyramids. A recommended reading for fans of Kadare.”

alvin r. c. wrote this review Tuesday, October 27 2009. ( reply | permalink )
The Tenth Man

by Graham Greene
- Rated 4 stars
“This novella is a morality tale that is simple yet highly entertaining - suspenseful and dramatic, with a convincing conclusion.”

alvin r. c. wrote this review Sunday, October 25 2009. ( reply | permalink )
Broken April

by Ismail Kadare
- Rated 5 stars
“This haunting story of vendetta or blood feud is told in plain text. ”

alvin r. c. wrote this review Friday, October 9 2009. ( reply | permalink )
Kaddish for an Unborn Child

by Imre Kertesz
- Rated 5 stars
“This short novel is an impressive declamatory introspection of a concentration camp survivor's feeling of loss, longing and regret.”

alvin r. c. wrote this review Saturday, October 3 2009. ( reply | permalink )