Fiction
Iain Banks: a double life
His disturbing debut, The Wasp Factory, is being reissued this year
Rosemary Sutcliff
A writer of genius, capable of conveying the feelings and lives of those who lived in the distant past
Murders for April
April is the cruellest month, breeding detective fiction out of the dry land
Three novelists pushing the bloat out
Some novels still dare to leave the reader’s hand unheld — without universal success
You can’t judge a book by its cover
All novels should be like this: stripped of the necessary but boring connective tissue
Murders for the New Year
From Oxford to Italy, the murders continue in 2024
Satire, sci-fi and a sting in the tale
It’s time for our annual guide to the best new fiction of the year
France’s philosopher king
There is a jarring disconnect between Michel Houellebecq’s critiques of sexual liberation and his dissolute lifestyle
The Pan Book of Horror Stories: top-drawer gore
Their lurid covers were catnip to bloodthirsty, impressionable teenagers
The death of dystopia
Fictional nightmares can provide childish escapism rather than harsh truths
The Conservatives deserve to be taught a lesson
Bad behaviour has to come with consequences
Urban insecurity and conflict
The medieval English town was subject to fire, flood, plague — and revolution
Dad’s army
We’re all doomed
Farage bursts the green bubble
Nigel Farage is right about the unrestrained pursuit of Net Zero
Sensitivity of a high order
Sibelius and Prokofiev: Violin concertos (Decca)
The Greens are worse than useless
Their reputation for being nice if a touch naive is far too generous
Latte populism
Nigel Farage wanders over to the wrong side of the tracks, clutching his coffee
Posh pinks
Upscale rosés sans biodynamic woo-woo, please
Sunak of many colours
He has become all things to all people, that he might save some seats
Guardrails of civilisation
If politics is downstream from culture, culture is downstream from the campus
Racing’s shame
British racing should have nothing to do with Sheikh Mohammed
