May was a great reading month, but I forgot to upload my notes until June was
nearly done. This month I read nine books, but one was an unpublished draft of
a novel that a friend is writing, so I won’t say more about that, until there
is more news to share. The other fiction reads this month could not be more
different from each other. Beyond the Light
Horizon
concludes Ken MacLeod’s most recent
politically charged Scotland-based near-future science fiction trilogy. The
ending was a bit rushed for my taste, but it was an enjoyable ride along the
way.
Alexis Wright’s
Praiseworthy
could not be more different. A gargantuan (736 page) novel, it reads like a
stream of consciousness. It is set in the north of Australia, with a cast of
indigenous characters making their way in a surreal world falling apart around
them. I was enchanted by the rhythm and the texture and the distinctive voice
of the words, sentences and paragraphs, while I struggled to hold the whole
thing in view. It’s not an easy read, but it is up there with the most
memorable novels I’ve read in the last few years.
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