Doctor Who #38: The Church and the Crown (2002)

The Church and the Crown (2002)
Cavan Scott and Mark Wright
Big Finish #38
Starring: Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant, Caroline Morris
One of the refreshing aspects of Doctor Who is the ability of the format to adapt to any type of story – so that one week we can have hard science fiction, the next a monster story, the [...]

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Vann, David (2008) Legend of a Suicide

Legend of a Suicide (2008)
David Vann
Penguin, 228pp
David Vann’s debut novel, Legend of a Suicide, is six short stories on a theme: the suicide of a father. Autobiographical in tone – Vann grew up in Alaska, as Fenn does in these stories, and his father did take his own life – they are stories distilled [...]

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Roth, Philip (2009) The Humbling

The Humbling (2009)
Philip Roth
Jonathan Cape, 140pp
Philip Roth’s thirtieth novel arrives with much controversy. The man often dubbed – by myself included – America’s Greatest Living Author – has written a book that for some is atrocious, for others another masterpiece of Roth’s late blossoming. I read it before reading a single review and [...]

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Roth, Philip (2008) Indignation

Indignation (2008)
Philip Roth
Jonathan Cape, 231pp
Philip Roth’s late blossoming continued with this, his thirty-ninth novel, his third in as many years. Indignation, unlike Everyman and Exit Ghost with their explorations of modern morality and ageing, is the story of a teenager, Marcus Messner, who leaves his father’s butchers in New Jersey to go study at [...]

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Müller, Herta (1986) Der Mensch ist ein großer Fasan auf der Welt (The Passport)

Der Mensch ist ein großer Fasan auf der Welt (The Passport) (1986)
Herta Müller
Translated by Martin Chalmers
Serpent’s Tail, 93pp
Herta Müller was awarded The Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009, bringing the fiction of this Romanian writer to a world audience. Before this accolade, there were no novels by Müller available in English – though this [...]

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Frank, Anne (1942-1944) The Diary of a Young Girl

The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 – 1944)
Anne Frank
Penguin, 351pp
With a week in Amsterdam it would have been remiss of me not to visit the Anne Frank Huis on Prinsengracht. The building, unassuming, almost invisible in the row that runs from the Westerkerk downward, was the hiding place of the Frank family and [...]

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Benson, Fiona (2009) Faber New Poets 1

Faber New Poets 1 (2009)
Fiona Benson
Faber & Faber, 17pp
For over forty years Faber has been publishing the best of new poetry from around the world. In 2009, with assistance from the Arts Council England, they have surveyed again the poetical landscape of Britain, seeking voices that they believe will become the defining one of [...]

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Doctor Who #37: The Sandman (2002)

The Sandman (2002)
Simon A. Forward
Big Finish #37
Starring: Colin Baker & Maggie Stables
In The Sandman we were promised a darker Doctor, a chance to see a side of the character not seen before. Colin Baker’s Doctor was the right choice for such a decision: ever since The Twin Dilemma, he has been the Doctor with [...]

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Doctor Who #36: The Rapture (2002)

The Rapture (2002)
Joseph Lidster
Big Finish #36
Starring: Sylvester McCoy & Sophie Aldred
The Seventh Doctor and Ace (now wishing to be called Dorothy McShane, after events in Colditz) travel at Ace’s instance back to Earth so she can have a week off from saving the galaxy. The Doctor takes her to Ibiza, so he can meet [...]

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Doctor Who #35: …Ish (2002)

…Ish (2002)
Phil Pascoe
Big Finish #35
Starring: Colin Baker & Nicola Bryant
The Sixth Doctor and Peri attend a conference of lexicographers where an unfortunate murder has occurred. They learn of The Omniverbum, a term used to describe the mythical longest word in existence, and according to records, no one who has found the Omniverbum has lived [...]

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