The end of A Brief History of Seven Killings – and our reading group
After 700 gruelling pages, Marlon James finishes on a note of uncertain hope that leaves the reader wonderingThe final line of Marlon James’s A Brief History of Seven Killings is: “–Kimmy?” It may not...
View ArticleA Brief History of Seven Killings: unwieldy, occasionally tedious – and...
A book about Bob Marley, told by everyone but Bob Marley – in the vein of Gay Talese or James Ellroy, Marlon James’s Booker winner brings in a dozen competing voicesMarlon James says that when he was...
View ArticleA Brief History of Seven Killings is shocking but not gratuitous
The Kingston, Jamaica, that Marlon James depicts in the mid-1970s may be fiction, but it is drawn from hard and bloody factAs its title suggests, A Brief History of Seven Killings contains violence....
View ArticleReading group: A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James is our...
Its huge cast and range of styles has not stopped this study of the attempted assassination of Bob Marley winning global acclaim. I think we’ll enjoy it, tooA Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon...
View ArticleNominate your favourite book for the final Reading group
After nine years of fascinating discussion, the Guardian’s Reading group is coming to an end. Tell us your best-loved book and it’ll be in contention to be our book for OctoberThis October will be the...
View ArticleThe Age of Innocence is a gang story as brutal as Goodfellas
Some were surprised when Martin Scorsese filmed Edith Wharton’s novel, but its milieu is governed by codes of tribal loyalty as lethal as in any mobEven in 1993, it seemed surprising that Martin...
View ArticleThe Age of Innocence's high drama unfolds in its characters' souls
Edith Wharton makes her characters’ inner lives the scenes of turbulent psychic action that is barely visible to the world“Modern fiction really began when the ‘action’ of the novel was transferred...
View ArticleThe Age of Innocence is a masterclass in sexual tension
In Edith Wharton’s wonderful novel about New York high society, a simple tap of a fan or glance across a crowded room can feel intensely chargedEarly on in The Age of Innocence, Edith Wharton tells us...
View ArticleReading group: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton is our book for September
Some early readers found it old-fashioned, but a century after publication it’s a good moment to check how the novel has earned its classic reputationFor this month’s reading group, we’re going to look...
View ArticleA clumsy, cringey crescendo: why A Taste for Death is hard to swallow
PD James’s contempt for the political left and for almost all her characters leads to melodramatic moments in this zippy thrillerWhen Robert McCrum asked PD James if she believed in original sin, she...
View Article'I prefer a more domestic murder': the thrilling nastiness of PD James
A Taste for Death opens with the foul discovery of a murdered former Tory minister and a homeless man in a church vestry – and never lets upCrime is a nasty business, and PD James makes sure we know...
View ArticleReading group: A Taste for Death by PD James is our book for August
James’s acclaimed novel sees detective Adam Dalgliesh embroiled in a secretive and unhappy aristocratic family – please join us as we readA Taste for Death by PD James has won our vote and will be our...
View ArticleReading group: which PD James novel should we read this month?
James’s novels spanned cosy crime and tough police procedurals as well as an eerie dystopia and an Austen pastiche. To mark her centenary, help choose one This month on the reading group, we’re going...
View ArticleHow White Teeth brushes off the charge of ‘hysterical realism’
Zadie Smith’s debut was lined up alongside Pynchon and DeLillo as a morbid symptom of a trend towards fiction trying to cram too much inWhite Teeth is not only a publishing phenomenon and a historical...
View ArticleHow White Teeth transcends its many flaws
Zadie Smith is the first to cringe at her story’s excesses – but her novel’s vigour and invention leave readers rightly undeterredFamously, Zadie Smith sold White Teeth for £250,000 on the back of an...
View ArticleWhite Teeth seemed fresh and hopeful in 2000 – how does it read now?
Zadie Smith’s debut heartened many readers when it first appeared with its breezily multicultural story. It seems a more complicated tale in 2020Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, the back of my copy explains,...
View ArticleReading group: we're reading White Teeth by Zadie Smith in July
After astounding and confusing critics in 2000, Smith’s landmark debut is turning 20 as an established classic. Which should make it a cracking tale to read togetherZadie Smith’s White Teeth has come...
View ArticleReading group: which black British author should we read in July?
From the 18th century to the current crop of chart-topping bestsellers, there is a wealth of black British authors to choose from in this month’s reading groupAmong all the many astonishing things that...
View ArticleCharles Dickens webchat with Kathryn Hughes: your questions answered
The author of acclaimed books about eminent Victorians joined us to discuss Dickens and Our Mutual Friend, our June book on the reading groupdeadgod has a question unrelated to Dickens:You teach...
View ArticleCharles Dickens wrote no fairytale endings – or did he?
The great writer’s final complete novel, Our Mutual Friend, could be described as a typical Dickens fairytale – if only there were such a thingCharles Dickens webchat: post your questions for Kathryn...
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