Books I Read February 6th, 2024

January was a month best seen from the back end. Better hopes for February. Since last, I read...

Sudden Arrival of Violence by Malcolm Mackay – The concluding volume in Mackay's trilogy chronicling Glasgow's premier hitman is as well-written and downbeat as the first two installments. A clever serious take on a classic format.

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons – A charming if slightly overlong parody of a particular brand of morbidly rural English literature.

Operation Massacre by Rodolfo Walsh – The events of an early massacre in post-Peronist Argentina as reconstructed by a crime writer turned journalist. Impactful in its depiction of the brutality and stupidity of fascist regimes.

Short Letter, Long Farewell by Peter Handke – A German pursues/is pursued by his ex-wife across America. Not for me.

The Dark Frontier by Eric Ambler – After a knock on the head, an English professor adopts the persona of a pulp hero, stops world war from breaking out in a small, Eastern European country. Ambler's first novel, more staight adventure novel than true satire, and less effective than his later work.