What I’ve been reading

1. Pierre LeMaitre, Three Days and a Life.  French crime fiction, conceptual, very good for those who like to read in this direction.  I am glad I finished it.  The first half is pretty good, the second half excellent.

2. Fred Hoyle, The Black Cloud.  The legacy of Wells and Stapledon surfaces yet again, if you are looking for an early but compelling science fiction novel you haven’t read, try this.  The ecological features of the story are striking too.

3. John Wyndham, Chocky.  How would/should parents react if one of their children appeared to be possessed?  What weights should you assign to “possession by spirits,” as opposed to “possession by aliens”?  Both conceptually intriguing and well-written.  Also read his The Midwich Cuckoos on similar themes.

4. Margaret Atwood, Hag-Seed: A Retelling of the Tempest.  Given the author is so famous, it’s strange this book hasn’t received more attention.  Perhaps that is because it requires a reasonable degree of familiarity with Shakespeare’s The Tempest, worth the reread if you must or are so inclined.  This is one of Atwood’s best novels, and it focuses on an over the hill director’s attempt to stage Shakespeare at the local prison.

5. William Shakespeare, The Tempest.  Given that I basically never regret a Shakespeare reread, I suppose I should do them more often.  Folger edition of course.

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