well that sucked
>>24739771I'd like to know why. I hated the Novelist, so I'm not surprised.
>>24739818There’s barely a plot or characters. The prose is fine. The closest it comes to being good are in the moments of social commentary but they don’t last long or go anywhere. 260 pages of oddly homoerotic “meh” I kept hoping would amount to something.
>>24739860Damn, that sounds almost exactly like my experience with the Novelist, minus the homoeroticism. A few interesting ideas that only come through in what are effectively monologues. I think his point in that novel was about some kind of generational distractedness and self-obsession, but he didn't do it well; it only felt like a description, and not a particularly insightful one.You read anything contemporary that's actually good? Did you glean much in terms of intent from Muscle Man? because I'd like to see someone do a better job with simialr ideas.
>>24739951Honestly, given what I know of The Novelist that seems more understandable/ excusable. I guess this might maybe constitute a commentary on modern academia and masculinity? It’s a big maybe.In terms of recent stuff I’ve read and liked, I confess I do a lot of genre reading, but How I Won A Nobel Prize was the better book in a vaguely similar vein. I did also quite enjoy Colum McCann’s most recent book Twist.
