The art of being alone - two book reviews

Catching up on book reviews - I've started reading again, but I've yet to create any evidence of that. Two books I read in quick succession were essentially two treatments of being a woman living on your own.

Live Alone and Like It - Marjorie Hillis
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Alone-Like-Classic-Single/dp/0446178225
This is what would probably be described as either plucky or spunky. Written in 1936 to support the rise of the batchelorette, it is in fact still relevant and interesting today. I may just think that because it seems I've nailed it, the living alone thing, but there are great chapters on how to make the most of being single, buck up, be cheerful and make it a good thing. And it manages that without being annoying or patronising. This was a library copy but I'd purchase it as a joking/not joking present for people of any gender finding themselves alone for the first time in a while. People could learn from it :)

The Body Artist - Don DeLillo
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Body-Artist-Don-DeLillo/dp/033052495X

Been meaning to reread this for a while - I love some things about Don DeLillo. Mostly his writing style these days, rather than his cishetwhite-ness. But this is a peculiar, slim, haunting tale about a woman randomly left on her own after the death of her partner and how she deals with this loss. I still really enjoyed it on a second reading. Can recommend.

Stranger in a Strange Land - Robert Heinlein

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stranger-Strange-Hodder-Great-Reads/dp/034093834X/

This was a random gifting from whotheheckami , and I loved it. It suffered a bit from being The First Book I Read after a long reading break, but it actually didn't suffer that much to be honest. And I could certainly handle a re-read in the near future. It suffers a little from being a bit dated and sexist here and there, but there's plenty in the journey of the Man From Mars through his experience on earth that's actually amusing and topical, and I think in some ways it's probably a bit of a timeless classic. And I finally have gone to the source for my use of the word "grok". It could be said that I now truly grok "grok".

Good book, will read again. Happy to give it a home on the SF classics shelf <3

Dodger - Terry Pratchett

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dodger-Terry-Pratchett/dp/0552563145/


This opinion may get me scalped, but I'd got bored of Terry Pratchett a while back. I liked the collaborations he did but the rest was all blahblahDiscworld. Except I happily admit that I made a mistake - a friend recommended this to me, and I really enjoyed it. Terry Pratchett was always a good writer in my head, despite my Discworld issues, and this shows why - he's funny, he writes a good pastiche plotline and he can reuse historical figures without it setting your teeth on edge. Still not quite finished but although I wouldn't read it again, I would heartily recommend it if you've not read it already.

The Knife Thrower - Steve Milhauser

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knife-Thrower-Steven-Millhauser/dp/0753808218/

I can't remember how I came across this - I think it was one of those 10 Authors to Read if You're a Weird Fiction N00b articles. Anyway, I'm really glad I did. Apparently Steve Milhauser is a Proper Writer, which I didn't appreciate. It shows - these are a collection of small spare stories that take immense skill to write well. And they get under your skin - from weird marriages to villages of automata specialists. And into the rise and fall of the biggest theme park on earth. They are just faintly disturbing and unforgettable. I think they're supposed to be about American Values and their essential pointlessness. But that's a rather thin way of analysing something that works its effect so well.

Definitely read. I'm going to get more of his stuff.