I read Richard Hughes's novel A High Wind in Jamaica every few years, and just finished reading it again. Many novelists have inimitable voices, Austen, Dickens, Trollope, G. Eliot, etc. but they're consistent from book to book. This novel, though, is absolutely unique even compared to Hughes's three others. It's more like a vision than anything planned out consciously. Wuthering Heights is the only other novel I know that feels like that, although (of course) they're nothing alike. Francine Prose explains more eloquently than I could do (but if you read the NYRB Classics edition skip her introduction at first because it's chock full of spoilers).

Oh, and it's about some children captured by pirates! Highly recommend!

#AHighWindInJamaica #RichardHughes #BritishLiterature #Pirates #FrancineProse #NYRBClassics #Bookstodon

Smith is a master in describing atmospheres, vibes, settings, and reading this felt like I was walking (and seeing, smelling, enjoying, enduring, feeling) London.
It's a pity the characters often felt like stereotypes with not very interesting stories.

NW, Zadie Smith

7/10

#BritishLiterature #NWLondon #ZadieSmith #bookstodon

I don't know how I feel about this. It's short, intense, and complex.
Is it love? Is it lust? Addiction? Helplessness? Or is it just desire in all its mysterious ways?

Well, I liked it.

Box Hill, Adam Mars-Jones

8/10

#boxhill #BritishLiterature #bookstodon

The two novels of Orwell I haven't read are "A Clergyman's Daughter" and "Coming Up for Air".

The former incorporates Orwell's supposedly unsuccessful stab at modernist literary technique; I'm curious to see if it really is a failure.

I know little about the latter, but both the completist and the cultural historian within me want to polish it off anyway.

"Burmese Days" is excellent, and should be pressed into the hands of Niall Ferguson fans and other right wingers inclined to wax lyrical about the British empire.

At some point in the future, I'll post my thoughts on "1984'".

Image: 1943 National Union of Journalists card photo -- Wikimedia Commons -- Public domain.

#GeorgeOrwell #Books #Literature #BritishLiterature #Fiction #AClergymansDaughter #ComingUpForAir #BurmeseDays #1984 #BritishEmpire #Imperialism #RightWing #LiteraryHistory

Orwell's 1936 novel sees Gordon Comstock quit advertisement copywriting to work on his poetry and maintain his integrity in the face of the "money god".

Comstock's rebellion, like that of Winston Smith a decade later, ultimately fails.

In addition to being struck by the parallels between Comstock's life under British capitalism in the 30's and Smith's under Ingsoc in Airstrip One, I was also impressed by Orwell's sharp descriptions of the indignities of genteel poverty.

#Books #KeepTheAspidistraFlying #GeorgeOrwell #BritishLiterature #LiteratureInEnglish #Novels #20thCenturyLiterature

I know that they still read "An Inspector Calls" in English schools, but I suspect that I might be one of very few who wants to read a JB Priestley novel today.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/09/jb-priestley-adventures-of-the-tradesman-of-letters

#BritishLiterature #Books #JBPriestley #20thCenturyLiterature #Fiction #Novels

Let me ask you something unusual:
Have you ever changed your nationality?

This time, I’d like to talk about Kazuo Ishiguro,
the Japanese-born British novelist.

If you're curious, feel free to take a peek 😌
https://introvert-path.com/en/embracing-e/reading-habit/20251012-1/

#NobelPrizeInLiterature #BritishLiterature #JapaneseLiterature
#Bookish #Bookworm #Booklovers #Reading

Though not really my thing, it's interesting and original and not unenjoyable.

Would I have liked it more if I read Bronte first?

Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

6/10

#widesargassosea #JeanRhys #BritishLiterature #bookstodon