Sam Burt

Teacher and would-be writer of articles, stories, poems and dormant novels. Blog at: #writer #literature #books #journo #publishing

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #33: 'Intimacy' by Hanif Kureishi.

Pretty slight, by-numbers treatment of male commitment-phobia, with a few acute observations not really justifying the running time.

'...velvet curtains, soft... https://t.co/eNwXWbXkV9

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

Quite hard to take seriously a novel that has a character named 'Seefax.'

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #32: 'No Signposts in the Sea' by Vita Sackville-West.

Very effective use of something approximating the three unities (on a cruise, days are interchangeable) to chart the unchartable waters of... https://t.co/52OCVYfcSn

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #31: 'Letter to the Amazon' by Marina Tsvetaeva.

Letter from one lesbian writer to another on the pain of love without possibility of procreation, its barely 30 pages weighed down with the guilt... https://t.co/Ss21OuWSKI

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #30: 'The Iliac Crest' by Cristina Rivera Garza.

Raises interesting questions such as 'why am I still reading this?' and 'how many pages left?'

'"Did you know that apples are a paradox?" she... https://t.co/jvnffIuDlD

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #29: 'Flaubert's Parrot' by Julian Barnes.

Against the odds, a hugely enjoyable, sometimes moving and consistently funny novel about an amateur Flaubert enthusiast exploring his reasons for his... https://t.co/ZeBb5l4XK5

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #28: 'The White Tiger' by Aravinda Adiga.

Tedious: agree with Nadine Gordimer's non-recommendation on the inside cover: '...too determined to shock.'

'...sentences of history or mathematics... https://t.co/t1jhVY4bKj

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #27: 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' by Ocean Vuong.

Insanely good debut novel, devoured in a day, an unbroken series of lingering imagery, most impressive for its mastery of 'a deep purple... https://t.co/4jPd0sGXqf

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #26: 'The Writer's Voice' by Al Alvarez.

I assume Alvarez wrote it as a pithy antidote to the worst date I've ever been on, which was with an Eng Lit PhD student who dismissed all my literary... https://t.co/XRJxTH6bsj

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

Very excited to have my work featured in a brand new journal!

If you fancy some of my quality wittering, or those of other talented authors, or just fancy supporting independent journalism - please pre-order a copy on the website. Early bird offer... https://t.co/H9klVJy1S0

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

Turns out I need a laptop with Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 - for exam marking, until end of July.

Does anyone here:
a) have one of these that they're not using, and that I could borrow?... https://t.co/la1dLa3zks

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #25: 'Invisible Cities' by Italo Calvino.

Meditations on 100+ imaginary(?) cities, with some inevitably failing to hit home or seeming a little redundant, yet the ones that work, work perfectly.... https://t.co/apjtNOilH8

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

Six years on and my hooves have never looked better. https://t.co/GXYnsK8WhY

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #24: 'Please Look After Mother' by Kyung-Sook Shin.

The literary equivalent of someone playing the same piano key, over and over and over (and over and over and over).

''So, whatever happens,... https://t.co/CQzjzl4WyD

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

First published poem! Thrilled to be featured in Ink Sweat and Tears.

Hope y'all enjoy. https://t.co/pzRUhe23cK

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

First published poem! Thrilled to have my poem featured in Ink Sweat and Tears.

Hope y'all enjoy reading it. https://t.co/cgSwfDw0N2

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

https://t.co/eMKonDDT43

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #23: 'Goodbye to Berlin' by Christopher Isherwood (or 'Herr Issyvoo').

Wait...Sally Bowles is *English*?

'The sun shines, and Hitler is master of this city. The sun shines, and dozens of my... https://t.co/Krgnf6xnFp

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

One-line review #22: 'Maigret and the Saturday Caller' by Georges Simenon.

All seemed a bit anti-climactic, presumably in the same way that it is for a detective closing a case and having to settle for the... https://t.co/kBT9BHT9nb

[Sam Burt @wordsburt]

https://t.co/qdscyaj785