The mirror

On human rights, and whether they are a good idea

Austria — Radetzky March

Joseph Roth’s classic is very funny, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was weird

I couldn’t find a contemporary Austrian novel that fit the bill so I went for a classic, probably the classic, of Austrian…

Azerbaijan — Ali and Nino

Someone wrote a book once, of that much I am certain

I was intrigued when I heard about Ali and Nino and knew that while I probably should have looked for something more contemporary I wanted to read it.

Spoiled ballot

The Labour agent was pretty sure they’d won. Majority should be about a thousand, give or take. The anxiety hadn’t gone but it was ebbing; he hadn’t yet allowed the euphoria to take hold, and into that space rushed the exhaustion. So he threw himself into watching the count; partly because it still…

Bahamas — if i had the wings

Helen Klonaris’ short stories do a difficult thing so well they almost work

I cannot be 100% certain, but having spent a solid few hours searching I can say with reasonable confidence that if i had the…