tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post7038099358555679218..comments2023-11-05T05:01:58.563-05:00Comments on Ward Six: Crace CrazeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-23819851414675342912008-07-28T10:42:00.000-05:002008-07-28T10:42:00.000-05:00Please note that Thag is "The Far Side" automatic ...Please note that Thag is "The Far Side" automatic name preset for a caveman, and is not the name of the character in the book.ed skooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03031257497473281838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-13360358438603296772008-07-28T10:41:00.000-05:002008-07-28T10:41:00.000-05:00AC, the passenger trains have fallen apart and the...AC, the passenger trains have fallen apart and they are still running. <BR/><BR/>I highly recommend Gift of Stones. It's a strange little book, a caveman Catcher in the Rye. Immediately I regret writing that, not the Catcher part, but "caveman." The book has enormous sympathy for Thag, and suggests that being a human is and was always difficult.ed skooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03031257497473281838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-73925489964923450532008-07-28T05:55:00.000-05:002008-07-28T05:55:00.000-05:00I don't mind a little Jesus in my fiction, but not...I don't mind a little Jesus in my fiction, but not as a character. Too much politics, plus it bothers me to be able to see all the array of scholarly opinions the author has decided to draw on for his or her personal "christology". I'd be kind of interested to read Anne Rice's Jesus novel, if only because it's such an about face. <BR/><BR/>Jim Crace sounds like someone worth looking up. The Gift of Stones is the one that's drawing me, just based on your description. Are there still passenger trains running? I thought they had all fallen apart by now.AChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15077988599467518893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-70243703174018227082008-07-27T22:00:00.000-05:002008-07-27T22:00:00.000-05:00Holy. Bejesus. I need this author immediately: a ...Holy. Bejesus. I need this author immediately: a trochee? Really? It's too bad that (1) I'm poor, and (2) I no longer have sweet, sweet access to Cornell's Library. I'm public librarying tomorrow...or smuggling some books out of some university whose name will now remain nameless..bigscarygiraffehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16806095510307166962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-17067868561213232342008-07-27T16:30:00.000-05:002008-07-27T16:30:00.000-05:00You're right, of course, about Devil's Larder, it ...You're right, of course, about Devil's Larder, it is mostly fiction, but fictional essays more than stories, which is what put me in mind of Guy Davenport (or Calvino or Borges).ed skooghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03031257497473281838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-20501906781177622612008-07-27T15:50:00.000-05:002008-07-27T15:50:00.000-05:00Skoog, are you serious? We really haven't posted ...Skoog, are you serious? We really haven't posted about Crace? He's very good, and though I have The Pesthouse, I read like ten pages a year ago then got distracted. I'll restart.<BR/><BR/>I love "The Devil's Larder" (which I read as fiction), and "Quarantine" as well--Jesus is a sideline character in it, and is treated in a daring and wildly successful way. I read the whole thing on a transcontinental flight.<BR/><BR/>At first I thought Crace might be humorless, but "Devil's Larder" is like a skeleton key to his other stuff--it lets you see where he's being wry. And I'm with you on the prose.<BR/><BR/>Hope you don't mind, I adjusted your formatting a bit, to meet the terribly exacting W6 standards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-87533639498785225682008-07-27T14:50:00.000-05:002008-07-27T14:50:00.000-05:00I had the same concerns with the Jesus novel but h...I had the same concerns with the Jesus novel but having read and liked a few of his books I forged ahead and found it as rewarding as any of the others, so I add my voice to the read Quarantine bunch.<BR/><BR/>You did not mention one of my favorites Arcadia which I would also recommend. Genesis however is one I did not quite cotton to at all. <BR/><BR/>Good comments on the prose which I'll keep in mind when I read him next.<BR/><BR/>And I know what you mean about the tricks (re Being Dead)...felt that way about Amis' Time's Arrow which felt thin and obvious for the first bit and then gained power over the ensuing pages.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14424478095917821743noreply@blogger.com