Author:Anthony Thwaite,Geoffrey Bownas,Anthony Thwaite
Poetry remains a living part of the culture of Japan today. The clichés of everyday speech are often to be traced to famous ancient poems, and the traditional forms of poetry are widely known and loved. The congenial attitude comes from a poetical history of about a millennium and a half. This classic collection of verse therefore contains poetry from the earliest, primitive period, through the Nara, Heian, Kamakura, Muromachi and Edo periods, ending with modern poetry from 1868 onwards, including the rising poets Tamura Ryuichi and Tanikawa Shuntaro.
The beauty of Hrabal's book is how he is able to make this tightly-wound object move...what Hrabal has created is an informal history of the indomitable Czech spirit. And perhaps...the human spirit
—— The TimesFirst-hand experience informs Hrabal's work with a wonderful detail, irascibility and charm
—— Los Angeles TimesHrabal has invented some of the most memorable characters in world literature
—— Los Angeles TimesReaders won't be able to pull themselves away . . .
—— Publishers WeeklyThirteen Reasons Why is a mystery, eulogy, and ceremony. I know, in the years to come, I will often return to this book
—— Alexie Sherman, author of the award-winning Diary of a Part Time IndianReaders won't be able to pull themselves away...
—— Publishers WeeklyFonseca's prose is fluent, confident and often funny ... she has a gift for satire that glimmers through this novel. And a near-perfect ear for nuances of speech. Attachment is ferociously well observed. Both physiologically and socially ... as a first novel, the signs of greater things are clearly there
—— GuardianFonseca's voice - poised, particular, exotic - rises above her plot
—— ObserverHer prose is elegant and wry
—— Daily TelegraphFonseca's talent lies in describing the texture of daily life: the mango with a 'skin like sunset', the pizza boxes that open 'like laptops' ... she is good on the sweep of history and the cultural climate of previous times ... telling details of character - particularly the male characters, are captured well
—— New StatesmanIsabel Fonseca's slinkily assured debut novel shows a wry appreciation of the complexities of modern love...a novel that presumes to put a woman's mid-life crisis - sexual, spiritual and intellectual - centre stage
—— Emma Hagestadt , IndependentInvolving novel
—— Observerthis smart, clammy drama, manages to be both unsettling and touching
—— GuardianFabulous and very clever
—— Marilla Frostrup , PsychologiesA witty exploration of the preoccupations of middle age - sex, serious illness, the death of a parent - its main attraction being the voice, at once tough, funny and lonely, of the inimitable Jean.
—— Arminta Wallace , Irish TimesFonesca's debut novel is a funny, heart rendering account of the virtues of love and desire, confounded against the everyday.
—— www.harpersbazaar.co.ukBeautifully written
—— Image MagazineIt is expertly written in its way, and oddly compelling - like a slushy movie you can't help but respond to
—— GuardianMoving and thoughtful ... Poignant and compelling, this lyrical novel lifts the veil on an internal world of love, rivalry and misunderstanding; an intricate depiction of sibling relationships
—— Good Book GuideA beautifully evocative and intelligent novel
—— Woman & HomeThis impassioned tale is a gripping read
—— James Smart , The GuardianJones is fabulous...offering titbits of danger and discord, yet keeping a cool matter-of-fact tone for the big horrors
—— Sunday TimesHer second novel is a must-read; a devastating, brilliant account of what happens when everything a man believes in...begins to crumble
—— Cath Kidson MagazineFull of danger and discord
—— Sunday Times Summer Reading