|
Jan 2018
10:16pm, 18 Jan 2018
1,970 posts
|
DazTheSlug
of course it's possible to write well-crafted "novellas" (Old Man & The Sea, L'Etranger, Animal Farm, Joyce's The Dead, )
CMOD-E just felt "rushed" to me
I still enjoyed it and gave it 7/10 
|
|
Jan 2018
4:52pm, 25 Jan 2018
14,754 posts
|
Columba
Rather late in the day, FWIW and in no particular order, here are my thoughts (before going back and reading everyone else's).
The little asides between the author and Christie, and those addressed to the reader or commenting on aspects of the novel as novel, didn't bother me in the slightest. I rather liked them.
The possible significance of Christie's name didn't strike me until the very end, when he is referred to as Xie, and given that Christmas has been referred to as Xmas throughout. A teaming-up of a figure commonly considered to embody human goodness with a surname referring to evil (Mal - maleficent, malady, mal-de-mer etc.). Not that that helped, particularly, in illuminating any aspects of the book. But there it is.
An interesting idea: to make explicit the "eye for an eye" balance, to express the desire for revenge in numerical terms. It doesn't occur to Christie that when Life deals him a few good cards (a delightful and obliging girlfriend, for example) he might respond to Life in similarly generous terms. Nor are we given any idea how he assigns numerical values to incidents. Deaths (as a recompense) are 1.30 each, whereas "Wagner's tongue-lashing" (as aggravation) is 3.50. Bit of an imbalance? For a while I thought "He's writing about a psychopath". Then I thought "It's a poisonous book, and I'm not surprised that the author committed suicide shortly after finishing it"; then I stopped feeling involved. I shan't keep it and I shan't re-read it.
|
|
Jan 2018
5:12pm, 25 Jan 2018
14,755 posts
|
Columba
I have now read back.
Well, well!
Never read Tristram Shandy. We used to have a cooy on the bookshelf but it's not there now. May try to get hold of another.
|
|
Jan 2018
6:01pm, 25 Jan 2018
26,205 posts
|
Diogenes
The deaths are impersonal whereas the tongue-lashing is personal and so attracts a higher tariff.
I found it a delightful book.
|
|
Jan 2018
9:40pm, 25 Jan 2018
14,761 posts
|
Columba
Yes, I realize you did.
The deaths are impersonal. As are deaths caused by dropping a bomb from a great height on people you can't actually see.
|
|
Jan 2018
9:46pm, 25 Jan 2018
32,837 posts
|
McGoohan
I thought the scale of damage/recompense was deliberately ludicrous and uneven: Christie charges a huge amount for the smallest slight against him, but the actions he takes never amount to enough to balance the books when he 'recharges' his time.
|
|
Jan 2018
10:12pm, 25 Jan 2018
26,210 posts
|
Diogenes
Delightful is not really the word I’d use to describe the book. Nor do I actually believe it is the greatest book ever written. However, it is a work of fiction, and one that goes to lengths to highlight the precarious nature of fictional existence. As McG says, Malry’s overreaction is ludicrous but resembles our own reaction to the smallest of inconveniences: the bus being late, the rain, the dawdling tourists. Malry is not a hero, and he is killed off quite unceremoniously. Account closed
|
|
Jan 2018
7:47pm, 26 Jan 2018
14,766 posts
|
Columba
Written off as bad debt, I believe? (Haven't got the book to hand at the moment)
|
|
Jan 2018
8:06pm, 26 Jan 2018
21,369 posts
|
LindsD
I'm not reading back until I've posted. I absolutely loved this. In fact, I love it more in hindsight. I gave it a 9.
It was so dark, funny, clever but not too clever, and beautifully economical. I didn't look up the words as I read most of it on a train or in bed. I really enjoyed the fact that it was so sinister and his deeds were so monstrous that I just couldn't take them seriously. Then he was packed off to an early death.
I loved the way that BSJ alluded to their sex life and managed to suggest so much, and then at other times was totally vulgar. I didn't think I would like the dialogue between author and character and the deliberate intrusion of the author in the story but actually I did.
I'm aware that I'm gushing and not making a lot of sense, but it's been a long week. I liked it, OK?
|
|
Jan 2018
8:13pm, 26 Jan 2018
39,078 posts
|
Bintmcskint
Funnily enough, I mentioned this book to a colleague (and friend) today and she said it was one of her all-time favourites.
I was trying to explain the book group thread and why I was randomly hugging someone I didn't know
|
