The Steady Read

Your home for book reviews, recommendations, and more

Tag: Male Author

  • Review: Patriotism by Mishima Yukio

    Review: Patriotism by Mishima Yukio

    Perhaps one of the most tense and disturbing short stories I have ever read, leaving me unsure whether to praise it or regret having ever read it. The story itself follows the suicide of a young Japanese lieutenant, and his even younger wife, at the tail end of February 1936. The premise sounds simple and…

  • Review: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

    Review: The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

    A novel with an attitude, or that’s how it comes across to most readers. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye is widely recognised as a novel that wants to pick apart the superficiality of twentieth century society, but I feel that undermines its appeal. Societal critique is a common facet of many novels, so that’s…

  • Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

    Review: Animal Farm by George Orwell

    A novella that many people like to reference, Animal Farm is a suitable criticism of capitalism, greed, and the nature of how we humans — or perhaps any being — inevitably take advantage of the power afforded to us. Whilst not as deep or as clever as some claim it to be, Orwell’s relatively compact…

  • Review: South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami

    Review: South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami

    An excellent display of all of Murakami’s talents, bundled nicely into a much shorter package than that of his hit novel Norwegian Wood. South of the Border, West of the Sun follows Hajime, a flawed but very honest portrayal of a man who has had plenty of luck and success across his life, yet is…

  • Review: Behind the Prison by Kafū Nagai

    Review: Behind the Prison by Kafū Nagai

    A short story about a Japanese man, one who descended from a very well-off lineage, finding himself quite at odds once he returns home to his family’s large estate in Tokyo. Unsure of how to deal with his emotions and thoughts about the current state of Japan, he writes a lengthy letter to his Excellency….

  • Review: Tokyo Express by Seichō Matsumoto

    Review: Tokyo Express by Seichō Matsumoto

    A short, riveting tale of a mystery that involves what seems to be nothing more than a tragic lover’s suicide quickly becomes quite an entrancing step-by-step deduction to the true motive behind two cyanide-filled corpses – a government worker and a waitress – turning up on a secluded beach in Hakata, Japan. Despite not expecting…

  • Review: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Review: The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Beautiful, sombre, and touching. Often touted as Ishiguro’s most sincere and top-quality release, The Remains of the Day certainly earns that title. The story itself is unassuming, following Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, as he takes a short summer trip in his employer’s Ford. Despite being set in 1956, much of the story…

  • Review: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

    Review: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

    A return to form, that’s one way to put it. Klara and the Sun, as of writing, is Ishiguro’s latest in a strong library of works — but it seems to have prevailed as one of his more memorable novels. Following Klara, an Artificial Friend (AF), the reader is introduced to a dystopian, near-future vision…

  • Review: King Lear by William Shakespeare

    Review: King Lear by William Shakespeare

    King Lear stands as one of Shakespeare’s most dramatic and fast-paced works as it follows the downfall of a kingdom and hierarchy.

  • Review: Back Story by David Mitchell

    Review: Back Story by David Mitchell

    Whilst I’m not one to indulge in the life or pasts of celebrities, it is interesting to learn about the growing pains of a successful, if ever awkward, British comedian. Mitchell’s autobiography is rather simple: it talks of his early life — childhood, school, and the troubles his parents endured — to his first foray…