Category: Review

My guess is that most readers, on hearing the name Salman Rushdie, think first of the furor that accompanied the publication of his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses—the rage of Muslim extremists who saw the book as blasphemous in its treatment of the Prophet Muhammed. The book was subsequently banned in twenty different nations, including India,… Continue reading Salman Rushdie’s “Midnight’s Children”

Before his death in 2018 at the age of 85, Philip Roth had for decades been touted for the Nobel Prize in literature. As one of America’s most prolific and highly regarded novelists, and a favorite of odds-makers projecting the award’s winners, Roth had a right, or at least a hope, to expect the award… Continue reading Philip Roth’s “American Pastoral”

After the towering critical success of his first three novels, Thomas Pynchon was being considered by some, in the 1970s, as America’s greatest living writer. It’s true that, like his fellow early post-modernist John Barth, his reputation has declined significantly over the past forty years or so—though perhaps not as precipitously as Barth’s since his… Continue reading Thomas Pynchon’s “The Crying of Lot 49”

Phillip Pullman once said “I’ve been surprised by how little criticism I’ve got [for His Dark Materials]. Harry Potter’s been taking all the flak….Meanwhile, I’ve been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything poor old Harry has said. My books are about killing God.” Pullman has a point. While conservative Christian… Continue reading Phillip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials”

Here’s a trivia question for you: Who is the best-selling British author over the past 35 years whose name is not J.K. Rowling? Give up? It’s Terry Pratchett, author of the popular Discworld fantasy series, who has sold well over 100 million books and has been translated into 43 languages. Pratchett was the best-selling UK author of the 1990s,… Continue reading Terry Pratchett’s “Night Watch”

Edgar Allan Poe published mainly in the periodicals of his day, and never was able to publish a complete collection of his short stories during his lifetime. Collections of his stories have been edited and published many times since his death, and my recommendation here is that you find one and read his tales in… Continue reading Edgar Allan Poe’s “Complete Tales”

Eric Blair, better known by his pen-name George Orwell, published his ninth and last book in June of 1949. The dystopian novel depicts a totalitarian society characterized by mass surveillance of its citizens, the censorship of information coupled with widespread government propaganda, and the severe punishment of dissidence or nonconformity. It is especially noteworthy for… Continue reading George Orwell’s “1984”

I mentioned last week that The Things They Carried was not going to be the last short story collection to appear on my list of the “100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language,” because I’m allowing the list to include shorter forms of fiction. And indeed, here’s one now. Interesting coincidence that two of the most… Continue reading Flannery O’Connor’s “Complete Stories”

Okay, so when I say that I’m naming Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried as book number 65 (alphabetically) on my list of the “100 Most Lovable Novels in the English Language,” I can hear you saying “But wait Jay Ruud, how can you do such a thing? Your list says ‘Most Lovable Novels.’ This book doesn’t… Continue reading Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”

When most readers think of Vladimir Nabokov, the Russian émigré author who came to the U.S. to teach Russian at Cornell University and began to write novels in English, they think most often of his 1955 novel Lolita, which was a huge best seller and ranked number four on the Modern Library list of the 100… Continue reading Vladimir Nabokov’s “Pale Fire”