The Quarry: Iain Banks

Published by Little, Brown / Abacus, 2013, 336 pages. “Do not go gentle into that good night. / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”Dylan Thomas Guy is dying and has no intention of going gentle into the good night. He summons his best friends to his crumbling house by the quarry by telling …

Continue reading The Quarry: Iain Banks

A Book of Silence: Sara Maitland

Published by Counterpoint / Granta Books, 2009, 320 pages. “It is quite hard to remember which came first—the freedom of solitude or the energy of silence. … I became less driven, more reflective and great deal less frenetic. And into that space flowed silence: I would go out into the garden at night or in …

Continue reading A Book of Silence: Sara Maitland

The Memory Police: Yoko Ogawa

Translated from Japanese by Stephen SnyderPublished by Vintage, 2019, 288 pages. Original version published in 1994. “‘Things go on disappearing, one by one. … It doesn’t hurt, and you won’t even be particularly sad. One morning you’ll simply wake up and it will be over, before you’ve even realized. … People gather in little groups …

Continue reading The Memory Police: Yoko Ogawa