Tag - Fiction

1
The 21 Books I Read In 2020
2
Food, Feasting, Fire & Free Fiction.
3
The Books I Read In 2019
4
6 Works of Dark Fiction
5
6 Works of Dark Fiction
6
Symbiosis Launch
7
The Books I Read This Year
8
Necropolis Countdown

The 21 Books I Read In 2020

Happy New Year everyone. As is my custom at this time of the year, I am devoting this blog post to the books that I read last year – the good, the bad and the ugly. Click on the titles to read my reviews. My hope is that you’ll find something here to add to your TBR. I am confident that you will.

Bottomless Cups by Joel Bresler This tepid, purportedly humorous offering is comprised for the most part of musings, quips and banter. 

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy This episodic tome boasts poetic prose and poignant and profane content. It is a must for all dark fiction aficionados.

The Rapture by Claire McGlasson It is loosely based on the ‘Panacea Society’, which followed the beliefs of a self-proclaimed 19th Century prophetess. A worthwhile read.

God Hates You Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by C.J. Werleman – An irreverent dismantling of The Bible. The humour is puerile and distracting but there is also plenty of thought-provoking content to ponder.

Glue by Irvine Welsh This Transgressive novel is about four friends from Edinburgh. Glue is a meandering but also highly entertaining read.

Rest In Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses by Bess Lovejoy This morbid read is brimming with interesting trivia. However, the matter-of-fact narration is relentless and monotonous. A book best dipped into.

Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau – Walden, which comprises the vast majority of this book, is an account of the author’s two years living in the New England wilderness. This is a rewarding but onerous read.

Spools of Red Twine by Rachel Pacelli Pretentious and laborious, this debut transgressive work is at least mercifully short.

My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite The intriguing premise, darkly humorous elements and dialogue-heavy content are an enduring combination. Excellent.

Six Days: How the 1967 War Shaped the Middle East by Jeremy Bowen – The book outlines in intricate detail Israel’s defeat of the Arab coalition. It is accessible and quite interesting but excessively long.

Disaster Inc by Caimh McDonnell This is the first instalment in a series by a former Irish stand-up comedian and successful television writer. It is humorous yet convoluted.

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy This episodic book is set in the 1800’s. It is almost unparalleled in its misanthropy and repugnant content. A superb novel.

Logging Off by Nick Spalding This ‘humorous’ novel has a pertinent theme; namely that we, or at least many of us, are spending way too much time online. But the message is banally communicated.

Black Hole Town by Henry Hinder This Transgressive novelette centres around two degenerate drinkers. An immensely impressive literary debut.

Out of the London Mist by Lyssa Medana The book boasts an unusual premise and an atmospheric, Gothic setting. I had some reservations. Overall all though this is a decent read.

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut What the book lacks in plot, it makes up for in farcical, cartoonish content. I appreciated its shrewd social commentary.

A Decent Ride by Irvine Welsh This is a work of Transgressive Fiction with a hint of crime caper. It is one of transgressive maestro Welsh’s best offerings.

The Rules of Attraction by Bret Easton Ellis A nihilistic, Transgressive novel about lost kids with no direction. It is chilling and authentic.

The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock This gothicesque, loosely assembled novel is replete with reprehensible rednecks, depraved content and frequent shifts in points of view. Utterly engrossing.

A Bolshevik Christmas by Yoel Bereket This satirical novella, set during The Cold War, merges reality with fantasy. It is repetitive and there is a great deal of unnecessary detail.

Written in Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel Written in Dead Wax is the first instalment in The Vinyl Detective series. I found it to be convoluted and turgid.

Happy New Year. Click here to sign up to my monthly book-related newsletter.

Food, Feasting, Fire & Free Fiction.

We are in the midst of Lockdown #2 here in the UK and fun is in short supply. It’s wet, miserable and gets dark really early. Fortunately, there is still pleasure to be found. It had been a long time since I had scampi and chips.

Here is a Tesco-originating, Italian-themed antipasto I assembled earlier.

News of the birdfeeder has spread like wildfire. There are often multiple tits on the feeder at any given time with more waiting in the wings.

I’ll probably only fill it once a week. Otherwise it is going to become a financial burden.

After weeks of mild weather, there has been a cold spell. It was 1°C this morning.

The first fire of the season.

Presently, there is a KDP free day promotion running for my satirical offering – Tomorrow’s World: Darkly Humorous Tales From The Future. It is the only one of my books exclusive to Amazon. The five day campaign ends tomorrow (Saturday).

1,302 Amazon users downloaded Tomorrow’s World yesterday and it reached #37 Free in Kindle Store in Canada this lunchtime. Whether any of this means anything, only time will tell. Regardless, I am pleased that the book appeals enough for people to download despite the fact that it hasn’t got many reviews. Now I need them to read it.

Links: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon CA, Amazon AU

Have a good weekend.

The Books I Read In 2019

As is my custom at year’s end, this post is devoted to the books that I read in 2019 – the good, the bad and the ugly. Click on the book titles to read my reviews. The following 20 books are presented in the order in which I read them.

Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk (1999) – The last survivor of a cult has hijacked an aeroplane, which is now flying on autopilot. This innovative and erudite social commentary is brimming with satirical observations.

Spencer’s Risk by Andy Greenhalgh (2018) – This third person, thespian-themed work offers an authentic insight into the mind of a compulsive gambler.

Women by Charles Bukowski (1978) – A concise, visceral story about the exploits of degenerate drinker, gambler, womaniser and ageing lowlife Henry Chinaski; Bukowski’s alter ego.

Neon Empire by Drew Minh (2019) – Set in the near future, this dystopian sci-fi novel is based in a high-tech city. The book’s scant storyline is submerged beneath a sea of detail.

Child of God by Cormac McCarthy (1973) – A tautly written and compelling work of ‘country noir’. This bleak book’s themes include loneliness and necrophilia.

Job by Joseph Roth (1930) – The fableesque story’s themes are loss, faith and, as is the case with all of Roth’s fiction, nostalgia. While Job is far from being the author’s finest work, there is much to like about it.

The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami (1993) – This curious and comical compilation of seventeen first-person short stories is set for the most part in Japan during the economic boom of the eighties.

American Pastoral by Philip Roth (1997) – Much of this elegiac tome is devoted to detailed character exploration, which takes the form of extensive internal dialogue.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) – The story is about a father and son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. This reader was impressed by this unrelentingly bleak and minimalist work.

The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort (2007) – This tome is teeming with escapades entailing stock manipulation, brushes with the law, prostitutes, family drama and copious amounts of drugs, particularly Quaaludes.

The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong (2016) – The Good Son is a psychological thriller set in Seoul. There was too much analysis and not enough first-hand action for this reader’s taste.

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (1995) – Set in the 1990s, High Fidelity is a wryly humorous, music-themed novel that analyses man’s fixations and foibles.

Papillon by Henri Charrière (1969) – ‘Papillon’ is determined to escape from his penal colony in French Guiana. The story is highly entertaining, if somewhat relentless.

Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (1961) – Howard W. Campbell was a Nazi propagandist. Now he is in prison awaiting trial for war crimes. This ambiguous morality tale is brimming with satirical observations.

Red Russia by Tanya Thompson (2017) – The story is about a pair of Americans visiting Russia for a business trip. It could best be summed up as a frenzied, post-Soviet satirical transgressive work.

Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre (1996) – A police procedural type book purporting to be a comedy-cum-crime caper. This tepid offering has an excess of toilet humour.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890) – We all know what the story is about. The poetic prose, dark Gothic theme and plethora of barbed epigrams will appeal to many; the convoluted storyline less so.

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn (1989) – The Binewski’s are a clan of freaks who run a travelling carnival. There are numerous subplots and endless meandering.

Checking Out by Nick Spalding (2018) – A black comedy sprinkled with hope about a young man with a terminal illness. Many will be drawn to its protagonist due to his wry wit and likeable personality.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (2009) – This dark psychological thriller shifts between two time periods. The suspense, unpalatable subject matter and reprehensible characters intrigued this reader.

6 Works of Dark Fiction

Dark Fiction is concerned with the sinister side of human nature. It is often distinguished from the mainstream horror genre in that it tends not to be fantasy-orientated. Dark fiction may contain elements of black or satirical humour.

Here are six works of dark fiction, some of which are humorous, some of which are anything but. They are presented in the order in which they were published. Click on the links to read my reviews.

 

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899)

Heart of Darkness is a disturbing, multi-layered story about what can occur when man exists outside of civilisation’s constraints. Readers are challenged to question the existence of being.

My Review: Heart of Darkness is a novella about a steamship sailing up a river through the jungles of The Congo, in search of Mr Kurtz, a mysterious ivory trader, who has reportedly turned native…(more)

 

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (1915)

The Metamorphosis is a bleak, existential nihilistic tale that comments on the human condition and the futility of life. This reader appreciated its dark humour.

My Review: Protagonist Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find that he has been transformed into a beetle. This awkward situation is exacerbated when Gregor’s boss turns up at his house…(more)

 

Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler (1940) 

Koestler’s seminal work is a powerful and poignant political novel that examines issues of morality, particularly that of justifying the means by the end.

My Review: Darkness At Noon is dedicated to the victims of ‘The Moscow Trials’, several of whom the author Arthur Koestler knew. Though the characters in the book are fictitious, the historical circumstances…(more)

 

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis (1991)

This satire of the yuppie culture of the 1980s comments on our obsession with the meaningless and trivial, and questions the inherent value of capitalist society.

My Review: American Psycho is a highly controversial novel that brought its young author Bret Easton Ellis instant fame. The book is written from the perspective of a young Wall Street…(more)

 

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk (1999)

The book’s premise, the superficial vanity of the beauty industry, is used both to explore the unattractive side of human nature and, in customary Palahniuk fashion, to satirise society.

My Review: Shannon McFarland is a catwalk model, who is the centre of attention wherever she goes. That is until she ‘accidentally’ blasts her jaw shot off with a gun whilst driving…(more)

 

Newspaper Diapers by M. T. Johnson (2012)

What this book lacks in length, it more than compensates for in disturbing, child abuse themed content. This harrowing work is one of the darkest books I have read to date.

My Review: Newspaper Diapers consists of a series of loosely connected vignettes about child abuse and group homes being recounted by various perverse and narcissistic narrators…(more)

 

6 Works of Dark Fiction

Dark fiction is concerned with the sinister side of human nature. It is often distinguished from the mainstream horror genre in that it tends not to be fantasy-orientated. Dark fiction may contain elements of black or satirical humour.

Here are six works of dark fiction that I have read. The following books are presented in the order in which they were published. Click on the links to read my reviews.

 

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller 

Tropic of Cancer

About: Sexuality, freedom and the human condition are themes in this groundbreaking work. Tropic of Cancer was banned from being imported into the United States after its publication in France in 1934. 

My Review: Set in the late 1920s and early 30s, Tropic of Cancer is a semi-autobiographical first-person account of a young, struggling American writer living in Paris, and for a… (More)

 

The Plague by Albert Camus

The Plague

About: This is a philosophical work that explores destiny, the human condition, and absurdism, namely the tendency to try and find meaning in life, but failing to find any.

My Review: In the Algerian coastal town of Oran, an explosion in the rat population has not gone unnoticed. The infestation soon comes to an abrupt halt with the mysterious demise of the rats… (More)

 

Savage Night by Jim Thompson 

Savage Night

AboutSavage Night is a suspenseful crime novel written in its author’s trademark pulp prose style. Protagonist Carl is a paranoid and perplexing character, who is convinced that he is disintegrating.  

My Review: A shadowy crime boss known as ‘The Man’ sends contract killer Carl Bigelow to a small town, on a mission to kill a man, by the name of Jake Winroy. Jake is a key witness in a forthcoming… (More)

 

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess 

A Clockwork Orange

About: First published in 1962, A Clockwork Orange is a ground-breaking and controversial book with an intriguing and intelligent narrator, which leaves many questions to ponder. 

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 serious incident… (More)

 

Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis

glamorama

About: This satirical work adeptly captures the hedonism of 1990s New York. In typical Ellis fashion the text is punctuated with numerous pop-culture references, in addition to sporadic descriptions of violence.

My Review: Victor Ward aka Victor Johnson is a male model living in 1990s Manhattan. Victor is a vapid, soulless character, obsessed with celebrity culture, who lives an existence that revolves around…(More)

 

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk

Choke

About: Choke is in essence a social commentary about our innate craving for attention. Protagonist Victor is a victim of the selfish motivations at the very root of modern American society.

My Review: The protagonist, Victor Mancini, is a sex addict employed at an eighteenth-century historical re-enactment park. Victor attends various sexual addiction support groups, where he meets… (More)

Symbiosis Launch

I am pleased to announce that Symbiosis is now on sale.

Symbiosis

The Blurb:

Identical twins Talulah and Taliah have never been apart. Viewed as curiosities by children and adults alike, they coexist in an insular world with their own secret language. But being identical doesn’t necessarily mean being equal…

Soon a series of momentous events will send Talulah and Taliah spiralling out of control, setting them on a collision course with a society that views them as two parts of a whole. Will their symbiotic relationship survive?

Moving and laconic, with impressive attention to psychological detail…

Symbiosis

Here are 2 short extracts from Symbiosis:

A staccato burst of cryptophasia piercing the air preludes Talulah’s finger prodding Taliah repeatedly in her arm, each occurrence sending a ripple of anxiety coursing through Taliah’s body, that escalates into waves when her arm is shaken vigorously.

‘You will not regress to cryptophasias, not here!’ shouts Hunter-Thornton. The scarlet-cheeked psychiatrist views with consternation the two expressionless faces staring back at him. ‘At Hunter-Thornton Integrated Counselling Services we accept cognitive disorders in all their manifestations, but insolence we will not. You have been warned.’
‘Ugi derriii bothi baldi.’ It is Talulah who says this.

Amazon.com – paperback ($10.99) & Kindle ($3.26)

Amazon.co.uk – paperback (£6.99) & Kindle (£2.29)

Thank you.

The Books I Read This Year

Happy Christmas everyone. This week’s blog post is dedicated to the books I read in 2015. This year I have read 20 books, which is 12 less than last year. This is because I devoted a great deal of time to my 3rd novel, Symbiosis. Symbiosis is a psychological thriller about twin girls called Talulah and Taliah. I will be revealing more information about Symbiosis next week.

The following 20 books are presented in the order in which I read them. Click on the links to read my reviews.

booksnew

My Childhood by Maxim Gorky (1915) – This is a harrowing account of a turbulent and cruel childhood.

Savage Night by Jim Thompson (1953)  – A suspenseful crime novel that explores the ugly side of the human condition.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (1950) – A thought-provoking and at times humorous work about the evolution of technology

Chess Story by Stefan Zweig (1942)  – This psychological novella examines the delicate divide that separates genius from madness.

Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas de Quincey (1800)  – A self-indulgent, turgid, grandiloquent language-laden ordeal.

Cocaine Nights by J.G. Ballard (1996)  – A combination of crime thriller and dystopian fiction.

Heart of Darkness & Other Stories by Joseph Conrad (1899)  – Three complex, atmospheric and insightful nautical themed tales.

Rant by Chuck Palahniuk (2007) –  This challenging book employs an innovative interview format.

Alva & Irva by Edward Carey (2003) – A quaint and quirky novel whose themes include twinship and loneliness.

Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1968) – The cancer ward serves as a microcosm of Soviet society.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (1940)  –This suspenseful but turgid text is set during the Spanish Civil War.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961) – A satire whose central theme is the futility of war.

2015

The Red Pony by John Steinbeck (1932)  – A compact, atmospheric and melancholic book that offers insights into the region’s history.

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925) – An innovative, intellectual, non-plot orientated work replete with pathos.

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934) – The parasitic protagonist is an American writer living in Paris.

The Day of the Locust by Nathanael West (1939) – This poignant novel is prescient in its prediction of a celebrity-obsessed society.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962) – A ground-breaking and controversial book boasting an intriguing narrator.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884) – A satire of American southern antebellum society that parodies slavery.

A Gangster’s Grip by Heather Burnside (2015) – A  fast-moving, plot-driven crime novel set in 90s Manchester.

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1962) – (2nd reading) – The author puts a human face to the plight of the untold millions who suffered in the Soviet Union’s Gulags.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1877) – Currently reading.

I look forward to hearing about the books you read this year.

Necropolis

Necropolis Countdown

There is only one week Day to go until the release of Necropolis (Release Day: Thursday, April 24th).  Necropolis is a humorous work of dark Fiction about a sociopath, who works for the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.

The following is an extract from Necropolis:

 

Monday 10:15 a.m. – Newton Community and Business Facility

So here I am at the quarterly cemeteries and funeral business professionals meeting.  It is attended by the majority of those employed in the death business in Newton and the adjoining boroughs, both public and private sector – the good, the bad and the ugly.  Other than our chosen profession there is something else that everyone in here has in common at this given time.  That something is boredom, rapidly descending into apathy.  To my left a Lithuanian gravedigger idly picks his nose.  To my right a mortician plays Sonic on his iPhone.  Next to him a bereavement councillor’s afro-styled head lulls to one side.  In the row in front a morgue rat, his head resting against his shoulder, snores loudly, a stream of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.  A fellow morgue rat in the adjoining seat glances at the watch on his wrist and then utters an obscenity in some Eastern European language, an action he repeats every minute or so.  That heavy set figure a few rows ahead, with spiky hair bent forward reading a book; that is Rebecca, the overseer of Boden.

At the front of the hall a thin, female, local Conservative councillor wearing glasses is giving a presentation about ‘team’, ‘teamwork’ and the Government’s plans to transfer power from Whitehall to local communities…

Necropolis

This is the blurb for Necropolis (Release Date: April 24th):

Dyson Devereux works in the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.  Dyson is intelligent, incisive and informed.  He is also a sociopath.  Dyson’s contempt for the bureaucracy and banality of his workplace provides ample refuge for his mordant wit.  But the prevalence of Essex Cherubs adorning the headstones of Newton New Cemetery is starting to get on his nerves.

When an opportunity presents itself will Dyson seize his chance and find freedom, or is his destiny to be a life of toil in Burials and Cemeteries?

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of the politically correct, health and safety obsessed world in which we live.

 

‘Not only a funny, twisted, erudite satire on the psychopath genre, this novel also boasts a compelling plot and finely sculpted characters’

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

‘I was at once fascinated and disturbed by the devious Dyson Devereux with his malicious pedantry, wicked schemes and grotesque good taste.  A barbed joy’

 

Copyright © 2019. Guyportman's Blog