Sample Saturday is when I wade through the eleventy billion samples I have downloaded on my Kindle. I’m slowly chipping away and deciding whether it’s buy or bye.
Merciless Gods by Christos Tsiolkas
Why I have it: Latest from Tsiolkas.
Summary: Love, sex, death, family, friendship, betrayal, tenderness, sacrifice and revelation – all in short-story format.
I’m thinking: Yes. Tsiolkas just knows how to hit that middle-class nerve.
Starvation Mode by Elissa Washuta
Why I have it: No idea.
Summary: A memoir about food and control, told as a series of rules to eat and live by.
I’m thinking: No. I’ve had enough hunger stories after reading Wright’s excellent essays earlier in the year.
Among the Thugs by Bill Buford
Why I have it: Came across it via my sports novels top ten.
Summary: The experience and attraction of (soccer) crowd violence.
I’m thinking: Maybe. Was my extensive reading after the Hillsborough tragedy enough…?
Another reviewer recently said Merciless Gods was brilliant.
I’ve loved his other books and his feature articles so I reckon it’s a safe bet.
This jogged my memory that I have The Slap yet to read…
The Slap is a confronting book (lots of strong language but all in context) but very good and a ripping choice for book groups – guaranteed to generate lots of discussion!
The first one gets my vote, even though I haven’t read The Slap (on the TBR…) The other 2 sound arduous!
Highly recommend reading The Slap at the same time as a friend – you will need to debrief!
I have to admit I hated Merciless Gods. HATED it. Only read half I couldn’t stand to keep going. It felt as if he was trying too hard – raising as many issues as possible but then only dealing with them in a really superficial way. I finished most of the stories thinking… “That’s it?”
I really want to like Tsiolkas. I think I’ve said to you before that I gave up on The Slap quite early on (but would like to give it another go), and the only other book of his I’ve read was Loaded. I liked that, but didn’t love it. I am a fan of his feature articles though – the guy knows how to string a sentence together, that’s for sure. I just need to find that one book of his that enamours him to me and then I’ll be ok.
He’s certainly a compelling author and I do like his non-fiction. I reckon you should give The Slap another go… Or maybe just watch the mini-series? 😉
I tried watching the adaptation, but Melissa George annoys me so I gave up. I own The Slap, so I feel like I need to read it one day. I think now having read Loaded and some of his feature articles puts me in a better position to try it again – I just couldn’t get into his writing last time and all of the characters were pretty awful.
Yes, all the characters are awful but knowing that going in might make it an easier reading experience.