Book World

Instead

I still get a few offers of review copies from publishers. One that I wholeheartedly accepted (a while ago now) was Canongate's offer of The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson.  I haven't got round to it yet, but the review in today's Guardian Review section makes it a likely candidate for next new read (when I've finished my current comfort re-reads of Bob Dylan Chronicles and Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer).  This is the best use of 'instead' that I've read in a long, long time:

"This is at once a redemptive love story, gothic horror, historical epic and tale of addiction, and Davidson would need a dab hand to chisel a balanced work from his twisting mix of genres. Instead, he has produced a colourful, sentimental and lopsided pageturner; it may be as unreal as Marianne Engel's [the novel's heroine] bestial carvings, but if you've the stomach for grisly detail and the patience to sit through icky prose, you'll find The Gargoyle a splendidly compulsive novel."

"Instead" now becomes my new favourite deadpan word.

Long time, no post

Yes, its been a long time since I posted here and I confess to missing the old blog from time to time.  I am still reading compulsively but I find that without the background thought that I will be summarizing or expressing an opinion on my reading, I've got lazy; both in the books I'm reading and my responses to them.  So I may, just may, pop back for the occasional post.

On the writing front, I recently started an introductory creative writing course and within 30 seconds of entering the room I was itching to write about my fellow participants.  The title of my first short story collection came to me instantly too: "Cruel and Heartless Stories About my Writing Class".  I may end the term with serious injury I am biting my tongue so hard. I can't decide if I am profoundly depressed or deliriously overjoyed that it confirms all my worst fears about creative writing classes.  Still, by the end of the day I had produced 3,000 words.  We are definitely talking quantity not quality though.