bengriffin's reviews
2677 reviews

Relentlessly barrels along whilst managing to be both funny and sad, often at the same time. It's grim, and I'm sure he was a total dick, but that doesn't stop this being one of the most entertaining books I've read in a good while. It may have been made even better by reading it whilst at my menial job, but this review stands.

A very quick, frivolous, light read. I enjoyed how airy and French it was, and was impressed by Sagan's age when she wrote it, but it came and went leaving no important memories to cherish.

Humour, fragility, and spiraling madness.

Fun, bawdy tales of lusty wenches, nunnery seductions and wicked revenge.

Maybe I'll appreciate this more when I'm old, or maybe it'll just finish me off then, rather than being mostly apathetic towards it now. His style is good and easy to read, and I enjoyed the gravedigger, but I felt nothing for the main character, and a disinterest in the bleak outlook.

An ethereal haze surrounds everything in this novel, from the macabre humour to the sublime descriptions. It's dreamy, elegaic, wistful, haunting, and downright beautiful. Read it or watch it [preferably both], you can't go wrong.

I feel like I should have liked this more than I did. The idea is really strong, and some of his sentences and descriptions are beautiful, but it felt a little shallow perhaps, and I doubt I'll remember anything from it in a few months time. Actually, on flicking through quite a few of these little stories made me smile quite a bit [Kingquats, angel bread, mushroom devils, and the taste of other peoples mouths] so I'm bumping it up to 3 stars.

A very brief slice of Borges' writing, which should be enough to give people a taste and want more, although anyone not taken by these seven may be put off exploring more and missing out. I enjoyed them though.

A self-indulgent little novel which would probably appeal more to parents or the pretentious intelligentia than it did to me. Having said that he does have quite the knack for tapping into certain evocative memories, such as the taste of sun-warmed water pistol water, and it can be quite nice to escape into someone elses musings for an afternoon, even if they are somewhat idyllic, personal, and self-important.