Gil Hates Literature
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The Siege Of Krishnapur: Gil Hates The Booker Prize Winners #6 (1973)
“The Siege Of Krishnapur”, by J. G. Farrell. I may have mentioned that I can’t get enough of novels set during the English occupation of India. Yes, even though we lost. Perhaps especially because we lost. Writers tend to use extreme cases to bring out their characters’ most secretly held views, and this is no Continue reading
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G: Gil Hates The Booker Prize Winners #5 (1972)
“G.” by John Berger. Oh thank god. This tale of a repressed young man who becomes what you might call a crap Casanova is at least interesting and has some history going on in it, specifically the whole business of Trieste getting annexed to Italy in 1921. No, shut up, it’s interesting. There’s also an Continue reading
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In A Free State: Gil Hates The Booker Prize Winners #4 (1971)
“In A Free State” by V. S. Naipaul Once again, not my kind of book. This is a long novella, two short stories, and a framing sequence, about the state of being in another country, and slowly letting go of your obligations to where you came from – being in a ‘free’ state, you see. Continue reading
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The Elected Member: Gil Hates The Booker Prize Winners #3 (1970)
“The Elected Member”, by Bernice Rubens. Well, I didn’t like this at all. We are confronted with our first family novel, and again, it’s all talk and no sense. Sigh. This is why Gil Hates Literature I will attempt to summarize. A Jewish family in the East End has a problem son, who has gone Continue reading
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Troubles: Gil Hates The Booker Prize Winners #2 (1969)
“Troubles” by J. G. Farrell. (Sarah suggested I give this series of reviews this time-honoured title, and why not indeed.) This book won the ‘lost’ 1970 Booker Prize – a change in the rules meant some books had missed out on the competition, so in 2010 they did a retrospective thing and chose this one. Continue reading
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Something To Answer For: Gil Hates The Booker Prize Winners #1 (1969)
“Something To Answer For”, P. H. Newby. So yeah, I thought a few months ago that I should read some more ‘literature-y’ books, so I thought for a bit and landed on this as a mission. The Booker’s been around since 1969 so we’re talking something comparable to the Stephen King pilgrimage, although I’m guessing Continue reading
