"Before Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl,' the state of poetry in America was a little bit the way it is today - poetry about poetry, language about language."

This!!!! In general I dislike self-referential art--novels about novelists, songs about life in the band, movies about show business. But poetry strikes me as by far the worst for this trait. (Any poem that contains the phrase "these lines" is an immediate fail for me.)

(The interview the quote comes from is about Allen Ginsberg, not self-referentiality in poetry and art.)

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I believe part of the problem, in literature at least, is part of a "write what you know" syndrome. For many budding contemporary writers, what they know is Iowa Writer's workshop, MFA programs, and the daunting wall of frustrations, of sources internal and external, that beset a would-be writer.

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Possible unrelated observation: most potential readers enjoy ryhming language from time-to-time. Example: Hamilton lyrics.

Criticisms of Le Carre's "The Night Manager"

I love John le Carre, and enjoyed The Night Manager. However, I did not love it as much as almost all his prior books, because it seemed so implausible. WAYYYYY to many low-percentage things are banked on; my quick inventory:

• The fake kidnapping won't result in an innocent being killed.
• A slimebag like Thomas taking so much risk to save a random child is a big stretch.
• Roper will take the bait on Apostoll's bad-mouthing of Corkoran, and choose to replace him with Thomas.
• The crucial info they got was because Thomas went rogue (snooped in Roper's study, when his handlers expressly told him not to). What was likelihood they would have obtained such compelling intel, had Thomas not taken that risk?
• The ensuing scene with Jed, where he bets everything on her goodwill, is a huge stretch.
• That whole priest signing the photo that got him the passport was totally unforseeable? Was that just a bonus?

That is all bad enough. But one thing I really appreciated about le Carre is the "anti-James Bond" approach. Very little physical drama, and none of it involving the protagonist exhibiting physical prowess (more likely, the protagonist is knocked unconscious).

But Jonathan is quite Bond-like, a near-superhero. He is great at sailing, tennis (though that didn't figure in the story), mountain climbing (figured slightly), cooking. And despite only being an enlisted man (I think that is right?), he cultivates the refined manners manners to make a first-rate manager at 3-star hotels. And he is a top-notch streetfighter. And a ladykiller. And able to shrug off tortute.

I still enjoyed the book, but would have enjoyed it more if it had not gone all Bond.

Goldfinch vs Downton Abbey

I really enjoy the great BBC miniseries, such as Downton Abbey and Selfridge. I know many people accept that fact that they are really just extremely high-class soap operas, but I don't. I think they could do better.

A characteristic of the soap opera genre is a huge number of plot twists. That is a big part, I guess, of what keeps people hooked on daily dramas, for months and years on end. And while sprawling, multi-character stories such as Downton Abbey will always have lots of plotlines and subplots to work with, I think fewer would be better..The surprises cease to be surprising--while the audience may not be able to guess exactly what direction the twist takes, they can usually predict the twist well before it arrives.

Closely related to the high number of plot twists is the implausibility. There are so many, and they come so fast, that most of the time, there is not enough set-up done. "Hand of God"appears with annoying frequency, to sweep the story in the necessary direction. Very unfulfilling, to me.

I recently read The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. In the exposition of the book, she spends more than 20 pages, painstakingly fleshing out the improbable, so that is it no longer implausible. She spends many more pages setting up that incident, and then connecting it seamlessly with the rest of the plot.

Now I'll agree that the genre of a traditional novel is much different than a multi-year miniseries. The former will be much more linear. My only point is that if the miniseries cut the plot twists by half, and spent more time refining those that remain, the result would be much more satisfying, in the long-term.

My Goodreads Review of The Goldfinch

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Terrific. Beautiful writing. Good balance of plot, theme, character-development. Always interesting to me that a female author can create such fleshed-out, believable male characters, including the protagonist.

Although some may not agree, I appreciate the indeterminateness of the ending. It wrapped up the plot--anything less would be too unsatisfying--but did not wrap up the character's lives. That works for me.

For almost the entire book, I was mystified by Theo's obsession with Pippa. But by the end of the book I think I get it. Somehow symbolic, twinned with his obsession with The Goldfinch painting, a longing for something that can never be obtained. In his case, the loss of his mother in adolescence, and with that, the chance for a normal, safe, not-self-destructive life.

The sense of place is well-done. Particularly post-great-Recession Las Vegas. I have never been there, but that is just how I imagine it.

Beautiful, lyrical writing, likely to send anyone at least occasionally to the dictionary.


View all my reviews

Idea: New Twist on the Mystery

Mysteries are fun, but they can get rather stale, due to being so formulaic. Here are a couple of ideas that might freshen up the genre:

• One: the case is solved, but still have the perpetrator go free. NOT as Act 1 of a to be continued, but as the end-state.

• Two: Let the audience see the solution to the case, but the detective never is able to solve it.

Why fiction is good for you

I thought this article was an especially good case for what I have always believed--reading fiction is good for you in many ways, including morally/spiritually. I am always surprised by how many people say they never read fiction.

The Problem of the Rifle

I just re-read the poem "The Highwayman"  for the first time in years, helping my sophomore daughter with it. I enjoy the poem, but I found myself wondering--exactly what is the deal with the rifle?

They had bound her up at attention, with many a sniggering jest!
They had tied a rifle beside her, with the barrel beneath her breast!
"Now keep good watch!" and they kissed her. She heard the dead man say, 

Why specifically did the soldiers tie it beneath her breast? It is certainly instrumental to the plot that it be there:

The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers! 
The tip of one finger touched it, she strove no more for the rest; Up, she stood up at attention, with the barrel beneath her breast. She would not risk their hearing, she would not strive again, For the road lay bare in the moonlight, Blank and bare in the moonlight, And the blood in her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love's refrain. 

Tlot tlot, tlot tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hooves, ringing clear; Tlot tlot, tlot tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear? Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, The highwayman came riding-- Riding--riding-- The redcoats looked to their priming! She stood up straight and still.  

Tlot tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot tlot, in the echoing night! Nearer he came and nearer! Her face was like a light! Her eyes grew wide for a moment, she drew one last deep breath, Then her finger moved in the moonlight-- Her musket shattered the moonlight-- Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him--with her death. 

But it seems way too contrived. It just doesn't add work for me. The best theory I can come up with is that the soldiers thought The Highwayman would embrace her and cause the rifle to discharge. But that seems less than half-baked. Am I missing something? Because I hate to be a spoil-sport[1], but to base such a central plot element on such an illogical circumstance just undermines the whole enterprise.

(I think Noyes could have achieved the same plot effect with more plausible details...she could have tried to wrest a gun away from one of the redcoats, and been shot in the struggle.)


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[1] Okay, those who know me will realize that I don't actually hate being a spoil-sport in questioning things this way, it is probably more fair to say I thrive on it...