I was reminded of Berger's Ways of Seeing, enfolded in tender and exuberant personal narratives - it's so sophisticated and fascinating, yet has a Calvinoesque light touch; all the textures and nuances come through without labour. Rigorous and mercurial.

The prose, in Thomas Bunstead’s translation, is restrained, funny, by turns (and at once) luminous and melancholy… We are left with a profound inquiry into the place and function of art… as remembrance, as joy and consolation, as meaning, as refuge

A highly original, piercingly beautiful work, a book you’ll want to savour… Gainza is a writer who feels immediately important

Quietly revelatory, and often fascinatingly so

When reading The Optic Nerve, works of art are like songs: they carry the excitement and mystery you feel when you stumble upon them. This is the stunning, lucid debut of a writer who finds gold in the most forgotten folds of experience.

The organizing principle of Optic Nerve is arresting and non-linear: the love affair between its protagonist and visual art… This is a book to read with a search engine at the ready. When the images [of art] are viewable, however pixelated and distorted by a screen, the deftness of Gainza’s visual descriptions brings them to life

Dynamic sense of perception is what Gainza captures in her elegant prose and acute psychological insights

A piercingly beautiful debut novel… clever, surprising and deeply seductive

Completely original, gorgeous ... this woman-guide, who goes from Lampedusa to The Doors with crushing elegance, is unforgettable'

Absorbing and beautifully written, Foulds’ novel is particularly illuminating on the actor’s craft and the nature of fame.

[A] lucid, richly detailed and tense novel.

[Adam Foulds's] signature psychological sensitivity and attention to detail... shine through [in Dream Sequence].

[Foulds] is an astute observer of behaviour and speech… acutely tuned in to his characters’ physical experience… many sentences in this book have wings.

Foulds… does not disappoint with this psychological exploration that tests the limits of control.

[A] live-wire exploration of sex and power.

Foulds’s style is the instrument of a virtuoso, at once rich, resonant and startlingly precise… in sentence after perfect sentence, [he] has created something altogether more strange: an acid, amoral tale of hunger and haunting.

Dream Sequence notices everything… intimate and visceral, scratching at the glossy surface of the lives of the characters and underpinning the “vacuum” they move through, together but apart.

Foulds' prose is both evocative and scrupulous… It's a novel wired with anticipation of the central characters' eventual meeting, and it doesn't disappoint.

With shades of JG Ballard, Foulds teases violent subtexts from the blandest urban environments. His polished prose fits the two empty lives perfectly… [a] chilling tale.

Recovering fuddy-duddy Chandra is a droll creation, and his journey of self-realization feels like the real thing

There's a long tradition of trying to describe the spiritual search and the ineffable mystery without sounding like a pretentious snob or a sappy Pollyanna. Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss manages to pull it off. The book tackles perennially difficult and deep questions with humor and humanity, beautiful writing, and a page-turning storyline. I gave myself over to Professor Chandra's journey as he opens himself to self-examination, family healing, and a more courageous experience of being alive

Witty and uplifting, this is a must-read

Heartrending, hilarious, and deeply wise, this novel about the clueless Professor Chandra – emotional blockhead, Cambridge don, and Nobel-wannabe – left me in tears when I wasn’t laughing. His crash course in self-realization at 70 reveals how little he actually knows, about himself and the crazy family he loves, and that it’s never too late to grow up or follow your bliss wherever it takes you. I could not put this novel down

Rajeev Balasubramanyam wields considerable humor, the perfect antidote to our polarized and exhausting present, while crafting a tender and thoughtful tale. This is an absolute gem of a book

I loved this beautiful beautiful book. It's tender and compassionate, it's written with exquisite care and verve and it's so so SO funny

A heartfelt, very funny story

[A] beautifully realised book… Very lovable