March | 2019 | Guy Portman's Blog

A Personal Update

Mar 29 2019

It’s Friday again. They come around pretty quickly when one is in a routine. This week I have been immersed in my garden, removing bamboo. The insidious stuff nearly defeated me, but it’s finally gone. The garden is now being dug up and landscaped.

This is my agricultural building/glorified garden shed. I am considering doing some of my writing in there this summer.

The breakfast of champions.

The below is cockle popcorn. I had it in the pub the other day. Tasty, but frustrating trying to pierce them with cocktail sticks.

My dog Trigga in reflective mood.

This idea might just save telephone boxes from extinction. I came across this one in Southampton the other day. It is a book sharing depot. Perhaps I’ll deposit some of my books in one of these.

6 Books for 6 Moods

Mar 22 2019

This week sees the latest instalment in my books for different moods series. Here are 6 books for 6 moods/different states of mind. Click on the links to read my reviews.

In the mood for something shocking? If so then your search is over:

Newspaper Diapers

This compilation of vignettes about child abuse and group homes left an indelible mark on this reader’s mind. What it lacks in length, it more than compensates for in disturbing content. Click here to read my review.

In the mood for a Transgressive classic? If the answer is yes, you can’t do much better than this:

Survivor

Survivor is an innovative and erudite social commentary, brimming with satirical observations and irreverent humour. It is without doubt one of the author’s best efforts. Click here to read my review.

In the mood for something heavy and intellectual? This tome has the added benefit that it can also be used as a doorstop.

The Brothers Karamazov

This philosophical tome, Dostoyevsky’s last novel, is widely regarded as one of the great literary works of the last century. Click here to read my review.

Feeling like escaping from reality? Then you might like this dystopian classic:

The Man In The High Castle

This alternative history dystopia is set in a world in which the allies lost The War. It is a somewhat chaotic work, containing many intrigues. Click here to read my review.

Requiring something sleep-inducing? If so, then forget the pills and read this instead:

Go Set A Watchman

Set in the 1950s, Go Set A Watchman is essentially about a young woman maturing mentally, and very little else. It compares unfavourably to the author’s seminal work, To Kill A Mockingbird. Click here to read my review.

In the mood for something satirical?

Candide

Candide is an eighteenth-century satirical classic that evaluates optimism; the prevailing philosophical ideology of The Enlightenment. Click here to read my review.

5 Disturbing Reading Recommendations

Mar 15 2019

I am an avid writer and reader of dark and disturbing fiction. Here are five disturbing books that I would recommend. Click on the links to read my reviews.

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy

Child of God is a tautly written and concise work of ‘country noir’. Themes include loneliness and necrophilia.

My Review: Having been dispossessed of his land, Lester Ballard is now homeless and eking out an existence in the backwoods of Sevier County, East Tennessee. For food, he steals and forages. For … (more)

Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis

Less Than Zero is about a privileged group of L.A. youngsters, who appear on the surface to have an idealistic life.

My Review: Set in nineteen-eighties Los Angeles, the story follows eighteen-year-old Clay, returned home for Christmas from college in New Hampshire. Clay immediately falls back into the L.A. social … (more)

The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh

The complex and manipulative protagonist, sordid characters and squalid descriptions will appeal to fans of the Transgressive genre.

My Review: Reformed Scottish ex-con Jim Francis (formerly Franco Begbie) is now a successful sculptor living the dream in sunny California with his former prison art therapist now trophy wife … (more)

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

First published in 1962, A Clockwork Orange is a ground-breaking and controversial work boasting an intriguing and intelligent narrator.

My Review: Alex is an eccentric 15-year-old delinquent with a penchant for classical music and drinking milk. He and his fellow ‘droogs’ assault, rob and rape with impunity, that is until a … (more)

The Killer Inside Me

The Killer Inside Me is a suspenseful and unrelentingly bleak first person narrative about a psychopath.

My Review: Twenty-nine-year-old Lou Ford is a Deputy Sheriff from the West Texas town of Central City. Lou, who is in a long-term relationship with childhood sweetheart Amy Stanton … (more)

My Reading Plans

Mar 08 2019

I have fallen a bit behind with my reading of late. I’m blaming Netflix. To date I have read only two books in 2019. However, I have ordered some more from the antichrist that is Amazon. No doubt many of you are sticking to eBooks these days, but I am going through a paperback phase and as I don’t have a good bookshop near me, online is the best option. The break from staring at a screen is welcome. Anyway, without further ado here are the books I have lined up.

As an avid fan of dark fiction, this iconic work has been on my radar for quite some time now. No doubt some of you have already read it. Child of God will be my next read.

Despite being a long term eclectic reader, I am yet to read anything by the legendary American author Philip Roth. That is poised to change.

This compilation of short stories has been recommended to me. I wasn’t overly enthused with the only Murakami book I have read to date, but I have high hopes for this one.

Another Roth, but this time it’s Joseph. I am a big fan of this Austro-Hungarian Jewish novelist who only came to prominence in the English-speaking world in recent years. His melancholic tone appeals to me. You can find reviews of two of his books, including his seminal work The Radetzky March, in the review section of my blog.

Happy reading.

5 Dark Humour Reading Recommendations

Mar 01 2019

Here are five ‘dark humour’ books that I have read and would recommend.

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk

Survivor is an innovative and erudite social commentary, brimming with satirical observations and irreverent humour.

My Review: Tender Branson, the last survivor of the Creedish Church cult, has hijacked an aeroplane, which is now flying on autopilot. His objective: to dictate his life story onto …(more)

Spencer’s Risk by Andy Greenhalgh

Spencer’s Risk is a third person, thespian-themed work that offers an authentic insight into the mind of a compulsive gambler.

My Review: Spencer Leyton’s life is spiralling downhill. He has split from his wife, is virtually estranged from his kids, his career is in tatters, and he has a serious …(more)

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Fortunately for the author she has a sense of humour, and she needed it for this book.

My Review: This non-fiction work investigates the more unfamiliar scenarios involving our dead bodies. Topics include human crash test cadavers, bullet-testing cadavers, and … (more)

Rashōmon and Seventeen Other Stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

A sense of doom and despair permeates this somewhat disparate and at times darkly humorous assemblage.

My Review: The book, which is divided into four parts, begins with the sinister tale Rashōmon. Set during the Heian era (11th century) it sees a confrontation between …(more)

The Voyeur’s Motel by Gay Talese

The Voyeur’s Motel is comprised of the confessions of Gerald Foos, a former Colorado motel owner and voyeur.

My Review: Foos’s lifelong obsession began in childhood, spying on his aunt through the window of her bedroom. It was his purchase in the 1960s of the Manor Park Motel in …(more)

Archive - March 2019

A Personal Update

Like this:

6 Books for 6 Moods

Like this:

5 Disturbing Reading Recommendations

Like this:

My Reading Plans

Like this:

5 Dark Humour Reading Recommendations

Like this:

Archive - March 2019

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: