New Statesman book reviews
22 of the 52 New Statesman reviews here with a stated verdict were positive.
PanCommunion · J. D. Vance“he's still a jerk”PositiveLook What You Made Me Do · John Lanchester“darkly funny vision of bitter London professionals”Verdict not statedThe Last Kings of Hollywood · Paul Fischer“Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg and the death of the Hollywood dream”Verdict not statedA Hymn to Life · Gisèle Pelicot“Gisèle Pelicot is not your hero”Verdict not statedA World Appears · Michael PollanMixedBook of Lives · Margaret Atwood“can’t let go of criticism and past slights”PositiveDeparture(s) · Julian Barnes“moving and inventive final book”Verdict not statedElectric Spark · Frances WilsonVerdict not statedJan Morris · Sara WheelerPositiveJohn & Paul: A Love Story in Songs · Ian Leslie“The Beatles’ brilliant friendship”PositiveLife of M · Rachel Cusk“more artful than the gossip surrounding it suggests”MixedLong Island · Colm Tóibín“Is it more than a romance novel?”MixedThe Eleventh Hour · Salman Rushdie“reveals a venerable writer displaced by time”MixedFly, Wild Swans · Jung Chang“the exiled author reflects on China from her adopted British home”PositiveGlyph · Ali Smith“Ali Smith’s infectious hope”RaveLand · Maggie O'Farrell“Land is Maggie O’Farrell’s best novel”PanMark Twain · Ron Chernow“Chernow’s portrait cannot see beyond its subject”PositiveOur Evenings · Alan Hollinghurst“quietly remarkable novel”Verdict not statedA Sudden Flicker of Light · David ThomsonMixedDrayton and Mackenzie · Alexander Starritt“gets stuck at the start-up stage”MixedFamesick · Lena Dunham“the corrosive effect of living through one's work”Verdict not statedOn the Calculation of Volume III · Solvej BallePositivePerfection · Vincenzo Latronico“finely itemises his generation’s quirks and quiddities”MixedRevenge of the Tipping Point · Malcolm Gladwell“the dumbest – and baddest – of them all”PositiveShadow Ticket · Thomas Pynchon“Thomas Pynchon’s lasting triumph”Verdict not statedThe News from Dublin · Colm Tóibín“plenty of feelings but fewer words”PanThe Palm House · Gwendoline Riley“lacks her usual virtuosity”Verdict not statedThis Is Where the Serpent Lives · Daniyal MueenuddinPositiveTriage · Claudia Rankine“moved beyond didacticism and towards a conciliatory understanding of belonging”PositiveWill There Ever Be Another You · Patricia Lockwood“confirms her place as a major contemporary writer”PositiveAll the Way to the River · Elizabeth Gilbert“self-indulgent and shameless – like all good memoirs”Verdict not statedAnita Brookner · Hermione LeeVerdict not statedDidion & Babitz · Lili AnolikVerdict not statedGirl on Girl · Sophie GilbertVerdict not statedKids, Wait Till You Hear This! · Liza MinnelliPositiveTheft · Abdulrazak Gurnah“full of wisdom and free of judgement”RaveTwist · Colum McCann“His thrilling new novel traces the mysterious cables”MixedUnleashed · Boris Johnson“reveals surprising candour as well as self-vindication”MixedWe Did OK, Kid: A Memoir · Anthony Hopkins“both a tell-all and tell-nothing memoir”MixedA Different Kind of Power · Jacinda Ardern“seems more concerned with the symbols of politics than the actual politics”Verdict not statedAmong Friends · Hal EbbottPanCapitalism · Sven Beckert“How not to talk about capitalism”PanHow Not to Be a Political Wife · Sarah Vine“a study in overwhelming self-pity”Verdict not statedI Deliver Parcels in Beijing · Hu AnyanPanLázár · Nelio Biedermann“Nelio Biedermann is no wunderkind”Verdict not statedPatriot · Alexei Navalny“Alexei Navalny’s chronicle of a death foretold”Verdict not statedSwitzy · Emma ClinePositiveWhat If Reform Wins · Peter Chappell“is thrilling – and chilling”Verdict not statedAmbivalence · Brian DillonPositiveAudition · Katie Kitamura“a deeply unsettling story of reversals and doubles”Verdict not statedHooked · ASAKO. YUZUKIVerdict not statedJohn Berger: From Life · Tom OvertonPositiveLost Lambs · Madeline Cash“highly entertaining debut novel”Verdict not statedNobody's Girl · Virginia Roberts Giuffre“bleak memoir shows how the struggle for justice warps those who've been hurt most”PanOne Aladdin Two Lamps · Jeanette Winterson“Jeanette Winterson’s thousand and one yawns”MixedShow Don’t Tell · Curtis Sittenfeld“dated by their cultural references, but their astute observations are timeless”RaveThe City Changes its Face · Eimear McBride“exhilarating fourth novel”Verdict not statedThe Golden Road · William DalrympleMixedVanishing World · Sayaka Murata“a surprisingly fearful book”Verdict not statedDo Not Go Gentle · Kathleen Stock“The philosopher's new book on assisted dying is part of a developing critique of moral libertarianism”MixedI Want to Go Home But I’m Already There · Róisín Lanigan“caustic social commentary of renting in London is undercut by supernatural horror”PositiveIntermezzo · Sally Rooney“something more mature”PositiveOn Friendship · Andrew O'Hagan“Andrew O’Hagan’s ode to friendship”Verdict not statedProto · Laura SpinneyVerdict not statedStranger than Fiction: Lives of the Twentieth-Century Novel · Edwin Frank“an eccentric, provoking list of 32 books”Verdict not statedThe August Coup · Robert ServiceVerdict not statedThe Family Man · James LasdunVerdict not statedThe Silence of the Choir · Mohamed Mbougar SarrVerdict not statedThose Passions: on art and politics · T. J. ClarkMixedWhat We Can Know · Ian McEwan“fiction’s problem with climate change”Verdict not statedYour Life Without Me · James Meek“draws from his reporting on a dysfunctional nation”Verdict not statedAugustus the Strong · Tim BlanningVerdict not statedBeginning Middle End · Valeria LuiselliVerdict not statedCameo · Rob DoyleVerdict not statedConverts · Melanie McDonaghMixedDomination · Alice Roberts“lacks an appreciation of why Christ appealed to so many”Verdict not statedGoethe: His Faustian Life · AN WilsonMixedGoing Nuclear · Tim Gregory“overlook its deadly past”Verdict not statedI’ll Never Call Him Dad Again · Caroline Darian“can memoir be the antidote to doubt, shame and silence?”PanKatabasis · R. F. Kuang“struggles to satirise chronic illness and pain”Verdict not statedLove in Exile · Shon FayeVerdict not statedMay We Feed the King · Rebecca Perry“asks how much stillness a novel can hold”Verdict not statedMinor Black Figures · Brandon TaylorVerdict not statedOpen, Heaven · Seán HewittMixedOur Better Natures · Sophie Ward“Ideas overpower meaning in Sophie Ward’s packed novel”Verdict not statedShe's Always Hungry · Eliza ClarkMixedThe Genetic Book of the Dead · Richard Dawkins“strays into speculation”Verdict not statedThe Silver Book · Olivia LaingVerdict not statedThe Ten Year Affair · Erin Somers“The Ten Year Affair made me hate myself”PositiveWe Do Not Part · Han Kang“Han Kang’s radical empathy”Verdict not statedIt Used to Be Witches · Ryan GilbeyVerdict not statedJesus Christ Kinski · Benjamin MyersPositiveThe Asset Class · Hettie O'Brien“reveals how a morally dubious business financing model swallowed the public sector”Verdict not statedThe Boys · Leo RobsonVerdict not statedThe Loves of My Life: A Sex Memoir · Edmund WhiteVerdict not statedThe North Road · Rob CowenVerdict not statedWater in the Desert Fire in the Night · GETHAN. DICKVerdict not statedAll That Matters · Sir Chris Hoy“tested his resilience to the limit”PanDawn’s Early Light · Kevin Roberts“preaches the necessity of burning Washington’s “elite” institutions to the ground”Verdict not statedHigh and Low · Amanda CraigMixedLessons for Young Artists · David Gentleman“His advice is not highfalutin, but at least it is straightforward.”MixedSomething Lost, Something Gained · Hillary Rodham Clinton“Despite moments of frustrating caution, her memoir Something Lost, Something Gained is revealing”PanThe Care Dilemma · David Goodhart“David Goodhart’s care delusion”Verdict not statedThe Golden Throne · Christopher de BellaigueVerdict not statedThe Shape of Things Unseen · Adam ZemanVerdict not statedThe Sound of Utopia · Michel Krielaars