Articles written by Philip Spires - Page 5

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About me - Philip Spires

I was born in 1952 in Wakefield, UK and spent my first ten years in Sharlston, then a mining village, followed by eight in Crofton, a mile nearer Wakefield. I went to London University, obtaining a BSc from Imperial College and a PGCE from King's. After two

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Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: Fatelessness, by Imre Kertesz: 1 of 1
Some writers try to shock. At least it often seems that they embark upon a novel with that in mind. They create books set in times of conflict, amid war or pestilence, where the context is vivid, horrific or even repulsive. And often it is so well known that we engage with the setting, the context or scenario, rather than th... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, by Mario Vargas Llosa: 1 of 1
Mario Vargas Llosa, novelist, Peruvian, is a word painter, an artist of consummate skill, capable of simultaneous intimate ecstasy and detached observation, skill that constantly surprises, titillates and intensifies. Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is a novel that details how an eighteen year old writer of hack news stories... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: The Black Book, by Orhan Pamuk: 1 of 1
I have visited Turkey, but not Istanbul. It's one of those iconic places that keeps cropping up in travel plans, but then gets overlooked, possibly because its name fits so easily into my thoughts that I convince myself I have already been there. Having just read Orhan Pamuk's The Black Book, that illusion will be orders of ... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: Black Snow, by Mikhail Bulgakov: 1 of 1
Black Snow is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov. This apparent platitude is full of contradiction. The book is perhaps better described as an autobiographical episode, with Bulgakov renamed as the book's central character, Maxudov. It's also a satire in which the characters are precise, exact and often vicious caricatures of Bulga... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: The Blind Assassin, by Margaret Atwood: 1 of 1
Sometimes, when reading a big book, one gets the feeling that the author set out to achieve size, as if that in itself might suggest certain adjectives from a reader or reviewer weighty, significant, deep, serious, complex, extensive, perhaps. Sometimes rarely, in fact one reads a big book and becomes lost in its size, lost ... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: July's People, by Nadine Gordimer: 1 of 1
In July's People Nadine Gordimer presents a scenario laden with fears. Written in 1981, the book presents a South Africa afflicted by near-worst case Cold War disintegration. With rumoured external support, the urban black population has instigated a revolution of sorts, transforming the cities into war zones. No longer "nic... More..
Arts & Humanities > Horror, Mystery & Suspense Book reviews: Willie The Actor, by David Barry: 1 of 1
At one level Willie The Actor by David Barry is a crime novel in which a ruthless criminal commits bank robberies. On another it achieves the feel of dramatised documentary, for its eponymous anti-hero, William Sutton, is not fictitious and lived a real life. David Barry introduces us to Willy in 1923 and we bid him farewell... More..
Arts & Humanities > International Writers & Literature Book reviews: The Heather Blazing, by Colm Toibin: 1 of 1
The Heather Blazing by Colm Toibin is a deeply emotional, deeply moving book. It's the story of Eamon Redmond, a complex man, grown on tender roots, influential friends, a keen intellect and a tangible distance between himself and those whom he loves. The book is set in three parts, each of which dips in and out of time. We ... More..
Arts & Humanities > British Literature Book reviews: Stamboul Train, by Graham Greene: 1 of 1
Stamboul Train was the novel that made Graham Greene's name. Published in 1932, it catalogues a train journey that, a few years later, would have been impossible, a journey across Europe that was about to be changed for ever. The novel is set in a time when the Orient Express travelled from Western Europe to Constantinople a... More..
Arts & Humanities > British Literature Book reviews: The Waterfall, by Margaret Drabble: 1 of 1
It's almost 40 years since Margaret Drabble published The Waterfall, a novel, therefore, of the swinging, liberal, liberated sixties.. The scenario is simple. Jan and Malcolm and Lucy and James are two (heterosexual) couples. Then Jane initiates a shuffle of the cards and has an affair with James. By 2007 standards, this mig... More..