What Book Did You Read Last Night??? (1 Viewer)

[Jill Hives]

Don't try discussing music with St. Fechin, believe me.

Ha.Ha.Ha. Will his head exploded with frustration?

I read half of that last year, what's the second half like?

I'd should probably read his complete oeuvre before commenting or there might be some apples thrown.

 

[тхеодоре кацзынски]

this thread got interesting.anyway

its definitely readable but at times (a lot of times) it seems like coupland is trying too hard to be himself.

 

[Nate Champion]

i liked the forever war. if i recall correctly the writing is kinda shite but the story carries it through

I found his prose a bit mediocre and lazily 'everyman' - and the 'space' jargon impenetrable and borderline ludicrious in places. It was so hyped by Adam Roberts (a man who should know better, if you ask me) in the introduction... the only part that really grabbed me was Mandella's initial return to earth. I didn't feel anything for Mandella because I never got any serious sense of dislocation from the narrative.

Anyway, I finished One Hundred Years of Solitude - it was laboriously quirky by the end, and there was no major shift in the style. I found it broken-fingerly tedious. The chap's got style in abundance, but still.

Just started Howard Norman's The Museum Guard. Funny, spare but weighty.

 

[St. Fechin]

Ha.Ha.Ha. Will his head exploded with frustration?




I'd should probably read his complete oeuvre before commenting or there might be some apples thrown.

Come on now, you were the one who started the "apple-throwing".

You butted in to answer the original question, and in my opinion answered it blunderingly, in a glib manner that would serve to distract from the sort of answer I would have given (not that I believe your intention was to undermine me, but it was presumptuous and a bit bad mannered). Fine.
I was initially content to just offer the mild correction, or modification if you will. Note what I said, it's deliberately halting, with a number of qualifications:

Erm, not quite.
'Vox' and 'The Fermata' certainly deal with sexual subject matter, but I don't think they could be called 'erotica' to be honest. Is 'Lolita' erotica?

'The Everlasting Story of Nory' isn't a children's book, it's a book written from the perspective of a child.

I didn't just baldy say "you're wrong".

I was happy to leave it at that, but your response was the escalating factor. Rather than accept or dispute the correction with good grace and reason you instead responded with the agressive (and I think spurious): "Most libraries would catalogue The Fermata under erotic fiction. FACT." and followed up with the lame condescension of: "Not all childrens books have pictures and rhyme." - neither of which were good arguments. I notice you still haven't addressed or clarified what I perceive as the patronizing tone of this first reply, even though I have mentioned it twice. I was able to acknowledge the possibility that what I posted may come across as patronizing even as I was writing it.

As for the "I'd should probably read his complete oeuvre before commenting" dig,
I didn't say anything of the sort, but if you decide (for whatever reason) to provide something so ambitious in its simplicity as a "one-sentence statement commenting on his spectrum" then yes, you very probably do need to have read his entire oeuvre to do so accurately. And of course, reading more and more of an author's work teaches you how to read or reread them.

You now say:

On a personal note, I do find the fact that the examples used published back to back extremely interesting.

So it's not a question of spectrum, it's more a matter of proximity i.e. back-to-back? Well, this isn't quite right, in between he published a non-fiction work 'The Size of Thoughts' (including new material, such as a 150 page essay on the word 'lumber'. How's that for subject matter? ). Even so, I personally think the proximity of the novels is only trivially significant.

Even if you don't personally agree with it yourself. Erotic literature is just not literature written to arouse the reader. Tropic of Cancer, imho, was not written with the purpose to arouse nevertheless it does for most and is considered erotic.

I would actually say there is a qualitative difference between something like 'Tropic of Cancer', and most "erotica". Just as I think there is a qualitative difference between 'Tropic of Cancer' and 'Lolita' (or the 'Fermata') say. Taking 'Nory', I don't think Baker, his publisher, whoever wrote that blurb and many many others would agree with it your view of it either. I'm not looking for a proliferation of categories at all, the very opposite in fact, books should be considered on their merits (whatever about the methods devised for the practicalities of storage and retrieval) and I think the familiar categories you employed pigeon-holed Baker in an unhelpful way. In reality I think there's only two categories of fiction: good and bad.

As for dashing posts off quickly while at work, well, posters on Thumped regularly dash off stuff that's brilliant, hilarious, and perceptive. I'm sure you have done so yourself many times. What I'm saying is in that in this particular case what you posted fell short.

I didn't realize we all had to write epic in depth analysis of each writer's work to be worthy of answering a question.

Now, I didn't say or even imply this at all (there's a bit of a theme developing here). I'll come back specifically to 'the epic in depth analysis' part in a minute...
Like I said, there are many stages between an (inaccurate) one sentence summation and an essay. An accurate one sentence summation would be progress for example. A careful paragraph. It's not an either/or choice.
Or you could just have let me answer it first. After all, the context in which the original question was asked was I that I had just posted that I was pages away from having read all of Baker's work, and John addressed me by my (user) name.

Anyway, I often don't have (decent) access to Thumped during work time hours and as a result my ideas are necessarily bunched up into one elongated form here. There's not much precedent to this in my posts, I know, but to be honest (and this isn't a dig), I don't usually find much on Thumped I feel passionate or knowledgeable enough about to bother going to the trouble to post anything at all. Hence my relatively modest post count: 500+ in five years. But perhaps I've been too punctilious in my posting up to now. I look forward to lots more rows in the future.

PS: I've been working/volunteering/training on and off in a library context for the past few years. I'm not a qualified librarian yet, but that's the goal. So there's another thing that can be added to my list of 'nothing againsts' -
St. Fechin: nothing against children's literature, erotica or libraries/librarians.

 

[St. Fechin]

Just to focus on a small part of this seismic row: to dismiss the importance of subject matter so thoroughly is extremely decadent. Enjoy the temptations of style, St. Fechin. I hope they console you in hell.

Heheh. I'll say "hi" to Oscar and the lads for you:

Jill Hives' latest read reminds of that Kafka quote John Banville is fond of trotting out (something like):
"The artist is a man with nothing to say".
Was poor old unpublished Franz Kafka decandent?

But yeah, you're right, I'd be wrong to totally dismiss subject matter - however, I do think style is much underappreciated, and Baker is a special case.

 

[Jill Hives]

HAHAHAHA. Dude, you're awesome but you really need to relax. The apple throwing was clearly a joke while still referencing the second part of Metamorphosis. I even put a damn smiley (which I hate) to make sure it was taken as one. Nor having I been having a 'row' with you. I've been laughing and smiling at every post. Most of what you've posted I agree with you just presume I don't because I'm willing to sometimes place things in genres without qualification. Stop typing. Have a pint. Listen to some pop music with John.

 

[jonah]

Yes, I think you have both argued your side well and should make up and be happy together now. It was a good read but really there is no correct way to talk about or understand literature regardless, so you're both right... er, yes.

 

[Denny Oubidoux]

its like one of those teen romances where they pretend to fight and hate each other but really they'll be at it in no time

 

[Jill Hives]

I do like to drive people nuts. I'm pretty good at the "I'm not touching you" game while my finger is only an inch away.

 

[jonah]

I have no idea what that game is but I'm intruiged!

 

[St. Fechin]

HAHAHAHA. Dude, you're awesome but you really need to relax. The apple throwing was clearly a joke while still referencing the second part of Metamorphosis. I even put a damn smiley (which I hate) to make sure it was taken as one. Nor having I been having a 'row' with you. I've been laughing and smiling at every post. Most of what you've posted I agree with you just presume I don't because I'm willing to sometimes place things in genres without qualification. Stop typing. Have a pint. Listen to some pop music with John.

Well, HMMMMMMM... anyway... yeah, we'll just agree leave it at that.
I thought it might have been one of those passive-aggressive smileys, you know the sort, just *grinning* at you - or at least not directed at me. By the way, that "rows" comment was some jokiness of my own.
I didn't pick up on the Metamorphosis ref - haven't read it. I'm not allowed to read any more Franz Kafka, I have to finish off Robert Walser first - now there's a guy who wrote about nothing. He's like Kafka without the bureaucracy.

 

[Jill Hives]

I have no idea what that game is but I'm intruiged!

You never did that growing up? Is it an American thing? Huh. When you want someone to pay attention to you but they aren't... you start poking them with your finger and when they say, "stop touching me" then you continue just falling short of contact and say..."I'm not touching you." Of course fast forward 10-15 years and it could potentially become entirely different game.

 

[jonah]

Hahaha yes, I know what you mean now. I love antagonistic kids games. Like when you sit on someone when you want their chair, but you're both too stuborn to get up so you go 'oh I'm SO comfortable'

 

[Jill Hives]

Someone choose my weekend book:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or As She Climbed Across the Table

 

[Reets]

You could do a poll.

My vote's for As she climbed across the table.

 

[Jill Hives]

Thanks. Done. I couldn't decide. Although I think I remember Jim D. raving about the other. I'll get through them both eventually.

 

[David Kronenbourg]

Someone choose my weekend book:

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close or As She Climbed Across the Table

Neither! read something by TC Boyle

 

[Moods For Mallards]

I'm too late but I'd advocate reading very slowly, never more than 20 pages a day.

 

[Jill Hives]

Neither! read something by TC Boyle

Of these what do you suggest I start with. I trust your taste.

Wild Child
The Tortilla Curtain
Women

 

[jonah]

Can someone recommend me about... three books to buy tomorrow. I've got a lot of alone, seaside time here and I want some really gripping reading, but just can't think of any contemporary novelists that I haven't already just masacred beyond belief. Any suggestions?