He is a literary darling, that’s for sure. Whether he’ll cross over to popular fiction is TBD. If he wants to even!

Not yet. I read Spring awhile ago. I found it exquisite yet maddening. Exquisite because of the writing. Maddening because of its inconclusiveness. James & Katherine drift around like "half-abstract beings" in spring, vaguely uneasy about how things stand, neither willing to do much about it. 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♂️

The mix of literary high-brow & cultural low-brow. The narrative switch-ups from 1st person confession to 3rd person observation. The tension between real & fake—“Where does the character end and the self begin?” Margo is an unwed mother. Hence the money issues. Amusing, surprising, and endearing.🅰 ️

Hi, Ian #devonbookhour No book news. I just looked thru my goodreads for any 5-star books this year, and sadly not that many except classics which I reread a lot of on audiobooks. And a couple of Ben Macintyre non-fiction books both about WWII spies. My fave new novel was Margo’s Got Money Troubles.

I looked at the shortlist. But as usual none of them appealed to me much at all. Gone are the days when the Booker signposted really great reads. #devonbookhour

Thanks, Rob! Fun with Gulls🤓

Thanks, Shiboof! 🙋‍♀️

My one regret is never got called for jury duty when I lived in DC😎

Or two sides to the same man? He seems to have written Places in Between before he went into politics (and after he left the diplomatic corps). Which would explain my blanking out on the fact he was in the Cabinet. Thanks, Jennifer!🙏🏻

I honestly don’t recall him mentioning anything about that (of course I read the book 15 yrs ago, so its possible I’ve forgotten it if he did). Did he head to Afghanistan to clear his head after losing? Or was he always interested in travel and the places in between (culturally & geographically)?

Oh, I didn’t realize he was even in politics. Before or after penning the book?

Thanks, Ian, I’ll keep an eye out for it (not all foreign lit makes it into print over here). Winning le prix Goncourt should be reason enough! #devonbookhour

Love Rumi🙏🏻
And thought The Places in Between was terrific. Rory Stewart makes a great traveling companion, as the best travel writers so often are, dont you think? Eric Hansen springs to mind. And Richard Holmes. #devonbookhour

Hi, Ian! Still enjoying the non-fiction book Agent Zigzag by Ben Macintyre (as mentioned on a non #DevonBookHour post). It’s about a criminal rascal who became a double agent during World War II. True-history thriller.😎📚

I always find comfort in books no matter what the circumstance. Channeling your feelings into writing often helps. #devonbookhour

All his books are, really. Haven’t read one that I didn’t like. He’s a superb writer & has a knack for picking such interesting people to write about. This one is like a true-history thriller.📚