Books

At what stage does a disgruntled reader give up on his/her book? It’s an issue that troubles many a book club. Some have rules that provided the member gives a cogent reason he/she can give up. I was guest at one where Saul Bellow novel The Adventures of Argie March was “set”. At least half [...]

Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong made a huge impression on me as a First World War novel. It was well researched, moving, with a powerful story. I have never found his subsequent novels matched this. He is nonetheless an author with a wide and loyal readership up there with Julian Barnes and Ian [...]

One of the many joys of writing for The Rust is the collegiate atmosphere. I am no sports buff though I follow the fortunes of West Bromwich Albion and I value the opinions of  Alan (Tanner) Ivan (Conway), Doug (Heath) Rex (Williams) and  Tom (Hollingsworth) on any book I review with a sporting [...]

I do not like my reading to be prescribed by others and for this reason tend to avoid book clubs. However an erudite and cultivated friend of mine invited me to such a group and I accepted. The book to be discussed was The Rehearsal by Eleanor Carton     her first novel written when she was [...]

Simon Mawer returns to the historical Czechoslovakian theme of The Glass Room in this novel set in 1968 Prague. It is seen through the prism of two couples: James and Ellie, two university students hitchhiking randomly through Europe, and diplomat Sam Wareham in the British Embassy and his [...]

At The Rust we do have our pet topics and debates: sporting attendance v TV watching; Simon Campion-Brown’s anarchic – some might say sclerotic – view of the body politic; and here in the book review department these last few months we have become rather obsessed with British fascism [...]