Air by Christian Kracht

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

When it came to discussing Air by Christian Kracht, my book group didn’t do much discussing. Rather, it was an hour of questions and speculation –

  • was it an Arthurian myth?
  • the row boat, the screw, the gun – where did they come from?
  • is it a VR game?
  • why are they traveling south to the North Sea?
  • is it a commentary on climate change?
  • is it a story about belonging and outsiders?
  • does the main character fall into a memory bank?
  • …and what the hell was going on with the horses?!

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I Love the Whole World! by Victoria Hannan

Posted by Kate W in Fiction and tagged with , , , , , , ,

I went to the launch of Victoria Hannan’s new novel, I Love the Whole World!, last week. Hannan was in convo with fellow author, Kate Mildenhall, who described this book as a ‘joy bomb’. And I absolutely agree.

In summary, it’s about a woman named Leslie. Leslie’s husband, Dennis, a physiotherapist, divorced her (and quickly re-partnered with Kimberley, his Alexander Technique teacher). Leslie, having drifted along in the marriage for decades, is indifferent to what happens next…

Dennis had been the only man she had ever loved, and was now a person she felt a numbing ambivalence towards. Thinking about Dennis was like going to the dentist to get a filling: a slight pinch, and then nothing. Continue reading →