R.C. Sherriff's 1931 novel, The Fortnight in September, is about a happy family on a pleasant seaside vacation during which nothing really bad happens. Try selling that to a publisher. But when you think about it, it's actually a tantalizing premise. Pretty much all fiction illustrates what happiness isn't. It's much harder to write a … Continue reading The Fortnight in September
novels
Why Contemporary Novels Lack Substance
I recently finished a novel, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, and I can barely remember what happened except to say it had the general message that racism is bad, mixed race identity confusing. This message has been delivered a thousand times already. It seems to be enough to raise the same question over and … Continue reading Why Contemporary Novels Lack Substance
Diotima's Ladder 