tour de force and despaired of ever reading anything as brilliant again. Then Jorge introduced me to Donna Tartt and The Goldfinch - or was it Bernie?
tour de force and despaired of ever reading anything as brilliant again. Then Jorge introduced me to Donna Tartt and The Goldfinch - or was it Bernie?
Not me. Never got on with Tartt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
His journalism was good - The Right Stuff and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. Don't think he was much of a novelist, though, if I'm honest.
A Man in Full - also brilliant. I found Electric Kool Aid Acid test to be a bit dull mind. Possibly because it was more fact than fiction and I'm not convinced Wolfe was as good at that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
Still, very sad he's gone. :-(
You don't think the foremost champion of The New Journalism was very good at non-fiction?Quote:
Originally Posted by World's End Stella
Righto.
Stick to engineering. ;-)
You didn't think Bonfire was a masterpiece? Stick to hammering your bellend in that allotment shed.
Couldn't get past 20 pages of A Man in Full. I think he had maybe just he one brilliant novel in him.Quote:
Originally Posted by World's End Stella
The Right stuff was an excellent read.
Probably used long words, bQuote:
Originally Posted by Burney
No. I thought it was yet another self-conscious attempt at 'THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL' and - like most such attempts - overblown, grandiose and with a positively chasmic discrepancy between reach and grasp.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
'fess up - you didn't even read the ****ing thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
It's hack work, h. Full of ciphers masquerading as characters and metaphors masquerading as plot. :shrug: Go and read Tolstoy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
Balls to Tolstoy. Du Maurier's where it's at. The one with the French pirate is the best. :cloud9:Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
She was a good, solid storyteller, certainly. Nothing against her and it could be argued she is unfairly overlooked.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
Jamaica Inn's a bit shít, mind. The King's General and Rebecca are ace.Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
Yes. And sadly for many that's one of the only of her books people have read.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
Since you're all about the Cumbria these days, have you read Rogue Herries by Hugh Walpole. It's set around Keswick.
I've read the first one. It's an odd story, really, given that nothing seems to actually, you know, happen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
I did say 'possibly'. :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
I can judge him only on Electric Kool Aid which I found to be hard work but ultimately satisfying.
Bonfire and A Man in Full I could barely put down I enjoyed them so much. :shrug:
Pretentious nonsense, if you don't mind me saying so, Burney. I prefer novels written in my lifetime as I can - unsurprisingly - relate to them more easily. In the same way that Sympathy for the Devil means more to me than Beethoven's 5th.Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
People who rave about novels/music from days gone by frequently do so because they think it makes them look intelligent and sophisticated.
Not that I'm accusing you of this, of course. :-)
Give The Right Stuff a lookQuote:
Originally Posted by World's End Stella
"The New Journalism." What a gay term. Anyway I prefer Hunter S Thompson. Admittedly this is "Gonzo Journalism," but same difference. When I lived in NYC I lived like five blocks from Thompson.Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
I had no idea what this even was but after googling it (you aren't the only one who can google, Burney :-) ) I am unconvinced re your view.Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
Firstly, because someone was a champion of something that doesn't necessarily mean they are particularly good at it. Secondly, I loved In Cold Blood but as mentioned, found Electric Kool Aid not only hard work, but in comparison to In Cold Blood it was written much less in the manner described by The New Journalism than In Cold Blood was. It's been a few years since I read it, but as I recall the parts of the book I didn't like were those which moved away from The New Journalism approach. Perhaps Wolfe just got it wrong that once.
Finally, I think you are being mean with respect to your view of him as a novelist. He was outstanding.
In Cold Blood is the sh!t. Capote, very talented writer.Quote:
Originally Posted by World's End Stella
Agreed. I didnt think much of it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
Mercy me, is this the bitter invective of envy? Are you a failed novelist b?Quote:
Originally Posted by Burney
Who isn't a failed novelist, h? I think we've all felt, at one time or another, as if we had a book within us, if only we could release it...Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
A great many of the contributors to this board clearly have the gift of the mot juste , not least yourself and Berni, but I think it's rather like being able to crack out the intro to Layla on guitar but lacking the sheer stamina needed for the whole song. This succinctly describes my own axemanship :-(Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
The further frustration, of course, is that even if one is capable of mastering the whole of Layla, Clapton's genius lay not in the playing of the song, but in the making of the song, a whole different level of endeavour again. :-(Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
ty for the kind words, btw.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
I'm sure you'll remember this next time you feel tempted to write something about jobbies.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
tell me c, your rather splendid line "A man needs no drug save a glass of good wine and a love of his country" - your own?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
I remember no such line, h. If it fell out of me one day, that is pleasing, but I am reminded of Lord Nelson's reported comment when offered a cloak on a dark, cold night on deck, "I have love of my country to keep me warm." So if I said it, I basically nicked it. :-(Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
Are you cautioning me not to be horrid to h, a? :-( He knows I don't mean it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ash
Oh I hope not!Quote:
Originally Posted by Ash
I would class that as influence rather than plagiarism c. Well done you!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sir C
You're too generous, h. It looks suspiciously like theft, to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Herbert Augustus Chapman
Or be like Monty and just release a book with lots of pictures inQuote:
Originally Posted by Sir C