Three Monkeys Online

A Curious, Alternative Magazine

Is there a book in this blog? TMO's Litblog brings you reviews, reflections and literary news

The TMO Litblog

The TMO litblog is a collection of short posts, reviews, and tweets dedicated to literary fiction and book news.

Tim Winton and the short-sighted booker longlist

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

It’s the elephant in the corner really, isn’t it? Last week’s announcement of the Booker prize longlist has been one of the main talking points for literary minded souls, and not just in the Commonwealth and Ireland. Delays in the launch of this blog meant that it was hardly worthwhile posting on the longlist – […]

A book made for film – The End of Mr Y

Wednesday, August 6th, 2008

IFC.com publishes a list of titles of recent books that, according to list compiler Maud Newton, would make great movies. Amongst the interesting choices* is The End of Mr Y by Scarlett Thomas – a book which I feel inclined to agree would make a good film, but not, perhaps,  for the same reasons. Newton correctly laments what […]

Frank O’Connor and torture in the novel

Tuesday, August 5th, 2008

Glamourising torture didn’t start with Fox TV’s 24. It’s an international, or at least anglo-saxon sport with a proud pedigree. “What I cannot understand is why, in America, the last middle-class country, you still cannot beat this loss of faith in the individual. I’ve had this argument out. I was reviewing for a London newspaper, and […]

A questionable voice – The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

Saturday, August 2nd, 2008

Having just finished Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, it was a pleasure to stumble upon an interview with the author (on his site, via Powells.com) where he discussed the process that led him to choose the narrative voice of the novel. I had tried variations of minimalism in the third person, with voices ranging fable […]

Giles Coren’s Winkler

Saturday, August 2nd, 2008

I have only myself to blame. After I read the e-mail rant heard around the world, my curiosity got the better of me when I spotted a copy of Giles Coren’s first novel, Winkler, on the shelves of my local library. When I say “novel”, I should point out that Coren’s book is not really […]

The Minotaur – Benjamin Tammuz

Friday, August 1st, 2008

With a sparkling lack of imagination, perhaps,  I find the best way to approach this  intriguing novel by the late Benjamin Tammuz – former literary editor of Israeli newspaper Haaretz – is through his co-national Amos Oz. But, read the following passage about opening gambits between author and reader, from Oz’s collection of essays on […]