Reviews of Test Dept, Madli Marje Gildemann, and Heinz Holliger and Marie-Lise Schupbach
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Fantasy fiction with Andy Hedgecock
JOHN GREEN appreciates an informative and readable account of the nation state and its current dilemmas, but doubts the solutions this author has to offer
JOHN MCINALLY recommends that this rational, reasonable and devastating case against the End Of Life Bill be read by every serious socialist activist
CHRIS SEARLE urges you not to miss Mark Sanders’ three night residency at Cafe Oto, Dalston, London
JENNY MITCHELL surveys the work of Hurvin Anderson, now a centrepiece of Britain’s white-dominated art establishment, and explores some of the complexities it opens up about British Caribbean identity
SOPHIE STOLL wallows in a fine live recording of old blues-infused folk songs immersed in American blue-collar culture
ANGUS REID and MARIA DUARTE review DJ Ahmet, Redoubt, They Will Kill You, and The Magic Faraway Tree
FORTY-FIVE years ago, my favourite books included story collections by M John Harrison and Christopher Priest and it's a testament to their craft and vision that both writers feature in my “best of” list for 2020.
Harrison’s The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again (Gollancz) is a novel of quiet revelation. It dabbles with literary realism, sf and horror and transcends the limitations of all three. Crammed with conundrums, conspiracies and fleeting illuminations from the unconscious, it centres on a faltering relationship.
Shaw is living in London and recovering from a breakdown. Despite his aimless existence and inability to form lasting relationships, he begins an affair with Victoria, who has “bleak red hair” and works in a morgue.
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ANDY HEDGECOCK relishes an exuberant blend of emotion and analysis that captures the politics and contrarian nature of the French composer
MANJEET RIDON relishes a novel that explores the guilty repressions – and sexual awakenings – of a post-war Dutch bourgeois family
FIONA O'CONNOR recommends a biography that is a beautiful achievement and could stand as a manifesto for the power of subtlety in art
Generous helpings of Hawaiian pidgin, rather good jokes, and dodging the impostors