Demob Happy

Changing places in changing times 7.5/10 ‘Changing Places‘ forms part of a trilogy of campus novels (along with ‘Small World’ and ‘Nice Work‘) by the popular British author that are now available to purchase as an anthology. Reading all three books is further necessitated by the fact they share common characters. ‘Changing Places‘ is about [...]

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Once upon a time in the Midlands 8/10 Nice Work is a clever, well-constructed comedy and social commentary about a clash of cultures in a fictional Midlands town in the mould of Birmingham. Well-paced and meticulously plotted, the novel revolves around the unlikely convergence of Dr Robyn Penrose – a professor of Women’s studies and [...]

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I am…. not that impressed 6/10 There is no denying Tom Wolfe’s capacity for writing deepy compelling fiction with modern relevance, but I would complain that his narrative structure is becoming a little formulaic. You could draw a graph to map the similaraties between ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’, ‘Man in Full’ and this, his tale [...]

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On ‘On Beauty’ 7/10 Having never read Zadie Smith’s ‘White Teeth’ or ‘Autograph Man’ – put off by the ubiquitous trendiness of the former and ambivalent reviews for the latter – I read On Beauty without the baggage of preconception and felt it to be a strong piece of work. Zadie Smith is clearly a [...]

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