Reading Catch-up

[rebness]

Maurice by EM Forster
There was so much to dislike about this book. Its irritating misogyny. Its wish-fulfilment. Its patronising portrayal of the thick, loveable working-class.

What really irritates me about British fiction is that the working class is so rarely portrayed as anything beyond caricature: it’s either mindless squalor and stupidity, or the patronising myth of a poor-but-happeh social underclass. Few authors ever seem to get it right (I maintain that Orwell did, missing pier and all) and instances like this, where rough-n-ready Alec comes crashing into Maurice’s life with his bullish, honest-ter-god authenticity, deeply irritate me. I understand the point Forster was making about hypocritical society, but that he had to reinforce stereotypes for another social group disappoints me.

However, it would be churlish to deny that this book isn’t at least worthy and notable as a milestone in gay fiction, if only because it represents a struggle that was so close to Forster’s heart. It’s just a pity that Forster’s considerable talents weren’t so much in evidence in the narrative; maybe it was too close to his heart.


The Fahrenheit Twins by Michel Faber
The short stories in this book are really, really strange. Really strange. The title story is a twisted Nordic myth about a pair of twins and their role in the world. Some of the stories are excellent, some a bit *meh*, but they were all pretty inventive. I…can’t really explain it, but I enjoyed the stories, anyway.


The War of Don Emmanuel’s Nether Parts by Louis des Bernieres
This story is set in a fictional South American country and serves as a parody of various historical incidents: guerrilla fighting, the collapse of Argentina’s economy, the drug cartels of Colombia. What I love about Louis des Bernieres is how, even with a dark story, he manages to weave so much humour and feeling into his characters. The story of Parlanchina and her ocelot was a beautiful bit of magic realism.

Unfortunately, des Bernieres also sucks at endings. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin was let down by its ending and the incredibly bizarre ending to this story rather jolted me out of what had been a wonderful read. Still, it was, overall, worth it.


The English Civil War by Diane Purkiss
This is my attempt to reconnect with my country’s history. I may have chosen the wrong book.

I am being driven to distraction by the incredible overuse of the term ‘the godly’ in this book. What does that even mean? Does the author not know any other adjectives? The term is used at least twice a page. I have always taken it to mean pious, but Purkiss uses it as a blanket term for Protestants, something I am finding rather offensive when compared with Catholics. Maybe it’s a stylistic term, to echo 17th century usage. But hello, Purkiss! You’re writing for a modern audience.

And there’s the rub: this book reads like an amateur love-fest for history. Like a bad Anne Rice novel, there are endless pages focusing on cherubs and the wallpaper and not the thoughts and feelings of people in the narrative. It seems like Purkiss just throws in every single scrap of primary evidence she can find, even completely irrelevant recipes and diary entries about a cat falling off a roof or a baby’s first steps.

The book reminds me of one of those starry-eyed tourists wandering around Versailles; it’s all very nice and pretty, but What Happened There may be slightly more interesting. The Amazon review states: Fixated on trees rather than the forest, Purkiss offers no clear overview of events or much coherent interpretation of the conflict. I couldn’t agree more.

I am also puzzled at how the author just assumes why someone acted in such a way and presents it as fact: Charles was briefly bullied as a child, so he therefore raised taxes on shipbuilding because sailors traumatised him. Or something. Antonia Fraser and Simon Sebag-Montefiore manage a really good balance between personal anecdotes and the wider scope of history. Purkiss doesn’t.


Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
So much darker than the television series and as devoid of empathy as Dexter purports to be. This was a light, fast read. The ending was so twisted, but it made me laugh out loud. I like the programme more than the novel, but it was still a fun read.

Comments

[mcgarrygirl78.livejournal.com]

God, I need to read more. I know I say that a lot but I mean it. I've been reading Bad Blood for too long considering its a 320 page book.

[saffronlie.livejournal.com]

And Maurice's random heteronormativity!! It feels so mean to fault Forster for that, but really, if you're going to write about an unconventional kind of love, why does it need a conventional ending? Could he not see past a type of marriage as an end? Was it more wish-fulfilment? I guess what I'm saying is WHAT THE HECK, E. M. FORSTER?

[mothergoddamn.livejournal.com]

The books suck, motherfucker.

[pandorasblog]

Working class characters - now you mention it, it's also something I was uncomfortable with in The End of the Affair by Graham Greene. That character, Parkis, is a good man but he's so stereotypically diffident that it's impossible to feel any sympathy for Bendrix when he teases Parkis... you get these little wtf moments when you wonder what Greene intended...

[stovetop00.livejournal.com]

What really irritates me about British fiction is that the working class is so rarely portrayed as anything beyond caricature: it’s either mindless squalor and stupidity, or the patronising myth of a poor-but-happeh social underclass.

Of course the people generally writing the books were upper-class and wouldn't know a day of manual labor if it spat on their...well, spats. I always got the impression that the idle upper-class took this grandeous, romanticized view of the working class. That "poor-but-happy" thing. Like that stupid scene in Titanic where Kate Winslet goes and dances with the 3rd Class passengers. Riiiight.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I tried to read Maurice, but couldn't. Maurice himself was such an idiot, I wanted to punch him in his stupid face. I don't think I even got halfway through.

I still kind of want to see the film, though, bc Hugh Grant = ♥

[wiebke.livejournal.com]

It's been previously established that you and I disagree about books more often than not, but... I quite, quite like Maurice, writing-wise and theme-wise. Not bothered by the things that bothered you, although I do see your point. The writing is fine Forster writing. Now if you want to read a crappy Forster book, try one of his first, Where Angels Fear to Tread. Ew. Should be called Where Forster Fans Fear to Tread.

[mothergoddamn.livejournal.com]

You forgot "Vanishing Acts" ?

Further to the whole why-can't-lit-people-write-the-working-classes thing...

[pandorasblog]

...here's a very nice column saying the same thing and offering an alternative reading rec:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/mick_hume/article4419279.ece