Category Archives: Reading? Ugh!

Are you serious? Real thoughts on life, literature, art? What about dancing girls? I was promised dancing girls!

Can you re-read Atonement?

Posted on July 13, 2021 by rossmurray1

Happy summer, everyone! Inspired by the 20th anniversary of Ian McEwan’s Atonement, I decided to dabble in a little literary retro-criticism. The piece below originally appeared in The Sherbrooke Record, July 9, 2021. WARNING! NOTHING BUT SPOILERS AHEAD! * Before … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading? Ugh!, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Checking In

Posted on May 25, 2021 by rossmurray1

How’s everyone’s spring going? Got that shot in the arm yet? Got two? Convaxulations! Me, I got the AstraZeneca and achieved full not-clotting status with only minimal worrying. Who knows what my second dose will be. I’m hoping it’ll be … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading? Ugh! | 23 Comments

Haruki Murakami’s Fairy Tales

Posted on January 12, 2021 by rossmurray1

Goldilocks and the Three Bears One day, a salaryman named Tatsuhiro receives a phone call from a stranger who calls herself Goldilocks. Her voice reminds him of a young woman named Sakura who was found murdered in a field when … Continue reading →

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Things I Liked 2020

Posted on December 29, 2020 by rossmurray1

It wasn’t all bad… Books I read fewer novels than average in 2020, and I suspect I’m not alone. It was not a great year for concentration, although I did manage to glide through a re-read of Jane Austen’s Emma, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading? Ugh! | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

Margaret Freaking Atwood Is Stopping By My House!

Posted on November 5, 2020 by rossmurray1

Holy crap! Margaret Atwood just called to ask if she could stop by. She heard about our Halloween pumpkin that looks like author Gabriel Garcia Marquez and she hoped she could see it. What could I do? I said yes, … Continue reading →

Posted in Never Happened, Reading? Ugh! | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments