Search

Search only in certain items:

Other Names for Love
Other Names for Love
Taymour Soomro | 2022 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry, LGBTQ+
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This rather enjoyable novel is harder to describe than it is to read, so I’m not going to describe it!
I think at the heart of this is the need of the main character to be accepted for who he is: his personality, his sexuality, his life choices. He doesn’t want to carry on with the family businesses of either farming or politics, and he likes his life in London. This is only reinforced for him when he needs to go back to see his ailing father.

The language is evocative of the places and times, especially when Fahad is living in the countryside. It’s a place that’s barely contained - the jungle wants to reclaim the farmland, much like Fahad wanting to claim his own life.

You can feel how repressed Fahad is by cultural and familial expectations, as much as the oppressive heat seems to smother him as well.

I enjoyed this melancholy read, and look forward to seeing what the author writes next
  
The Woman on the Bridge
The Woman on the Bridge
Sheila O’Flanagan | 2023 | Fiction & Poetry
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is a wonderful story based on Sheila O’Flanagans own grandmothers experiences.

It’s the 1920’s and Ireland is fighting for its independence. There’s so much going on in this story: the fight for Irelands independence; domestic violence; poverty; tuberculosis; women’s rights; emigration of the Irish to the USA and other European countries.

Winifred O’Leary is a strong woman who wants to be independent, both as a woman and as an Irish woman. The book doesn’t go too much into the ins and outs of the political situation, but I’ve certainly learnt more about what went on during this time. It was a hard time to be living in.

Winnie’s husband certainly experiences a lot of this hardship. He’s imprisoned for his actions with his fellow freedom fighters.

This is a love story as well as a story about the politics at the time. I really enjoyed it and I realise that it was first and foremost a love story - and an enjoyable one at that!
  
Dune: The Graphic Novel, part 1
Dune: The Graphic Novel, part 1
6
6.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
So, Dune

My only frame of reference is the 2021 movie.

Oh, I knew the basics prior to that: Spice, the giant worms, space politics, but beyond that ... ?

Released in the wake of that movie, this is - apparently (or so the authors say) - a straight visual retelling (as much as is possible) of Frank Herbert 1965 epic, rather than putting their own stamp on it.

Never having read that original, I'm in no position to say whether it is or not.

What I will say, however (if it is) then so is the 2021 movie, although there are distinct visual differences between the two mediums.

This also ends in a different place, slightly earlier than the movie, with Paul and Jessica alone in the desert and before their run-in with the Fremen.

So, yes, engaging if dragging slightly in parts and well set-up for the release of Part 2 in Autumn 2022 ...
  
40x40

ClareR (6062 KP) Apr 13, 2025

Thanks for the links 😊