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What Precision, Such Restraint
A young man seeking to hack into his own unconscious mind. An academic conference on the metaphysics of flies. An apocalyptic world where punctuation has been outlawed. An eating disorder that produces collectible antiques.
A mix of allegory, satire, randomly generated numbers, spam messages rearranged into haiku form, plagiarism, and bad writing presented in the more sophisticated if still unpalatable guise of literary experimentation, Phil Jourdan's collection of stories is infuriating, challenging and other marketing buzzwords.
A mix of allegory, satire, randomly generated numbers, spam messages rearranged into haiku form, plagiarism, and bad writing presented in the more sophisticated if still unpalatable guise of literary experimentation, Phil Jourdan's collection of stories is infuriating, challenging and other marketing buzzwords.
- GenresShort Stories
121 pages, Paperback
First published March 11, 2013
1 person is currently reading
522 people want to read
About the author
Phil Jourdan
10 books109 followersPhil Jourdan is the author of Praise of Motherhood (Zero Books), What Precision, Such Restraint (Perfect Edge) and John Gardner: A Tiny Eulogy (Punctum Books).
He is editor of scifi and fantasy at Angry Robot, and managing editor at Repeater Books.
He is one of the co-founders of the online writing workshop and lit magazine, LitReactor.
He is editor of scifi and fantasy at Angry Robot, and managing editor at Repeater Books.
He is one of the co-founders of the online writing workshop and lit magazine, LitReactor.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 23, 2013
I had the great displeasure of reading this book AS I WAS WRITING IT. I couldn't believe the nonsense coming out of my head.
But the more I thought of it, the more I reconsidered my hatred of my own book. After all, they say you need to believe in yourself if you want to succeed.
Well, self-esteem IS a good thing, and I did write the book. I'm responsible for what's happened. So I have to believe in myself. I can't just pretend I didn't know it was being published.
I am responsible for this. I am part of the reason literature still isn't saved. Yet I need self-love.
Therefore, for the sake of my own self-esteem, I am proud to give my own book 5 stars.
But the more I thought of it, the more I reconsidered my hatred of my own book. After all, they say you need to believe in yourself if you want to succeed.
Well, self-esteem IS a good thing, and I did write the book. I'm responsible for what's happened. So I have to believe in myself. I can't just pretend I didn't know it was being published.
I am responsible for this. I am part of the reason literature still isn't saved. Yet I need self-love.
Therefore, for the sake of my own self-esteem, I am proud to give my own book 5 stars.
February 5, 2014
My interview with Phil at Monkeybicycle.
I stand by this review that I wrote immediately after finishing it, but I've bumped it up a star because I do think this is actually much more enjoyable than I gave it credit for. It's a very strong experimental collection, where the experiment is the book itself.
Original review:
This is a difficult collection to discuss and even more difficult to rate. I'll try, however.
The author's note tells you exactly what's in this book [and perhaps there's really nothing else to say about it but I guess I'll keep talking because this is a review, yes?]. If you read that and think it sounds interesting or awesome, then read on, because you'll likely love what you find inside. If you read it and say to yourself, Why? or What the fuck? or But who would do such a thing!? then it's probably better to just stop there and try something else.
It's a collection that's completely indifferent to its readers, which is pretty interesting, conceptually. It defies criticism because I don't think it's ever meant to be taken seriously or even to be read seriously. There's evidence of Jourdan's joke from the title page and then the epigraph and then, of course, the author's note.
And so what does the critic do? In part, that's why three stars. It's a book that lands ambivalently in the middle yawning at you as you try to judge it, tell it it's better or worse than anything it ever meant to be. The collection is exactly what it tells you it is from the first page, so who are you to condemn it for telling the truth about what and who it is? Who are you to expect more?
The other reason I'm giving it three stars is because certain of these stories are really great [That Lombardi Thing--which I read somewhere else a long, long time ago and remembered loving--and Letters, especially] while the rest range from curiously amusing to nonsense. As stories, they're rather conservative and singular in style. Punctuation! and What Technique What Restraint Bloody Good are by far the longest stories in the collection and they land with varying success. Punctuation!, for example, always felt like it should be more, should push this concept further, make it something really remarkable. It settles for an amusing peculiarity to a gripping thriller and then sort of descends into the nothingness of nonsense, which is, as we're told, perhaps the whole point.
While the individual stories aren't especially innovative, the book itself somehow manages to be. As an artefact and a collection, it has a singular vision of pretending to be experimental but also manages to reach that word almost ironically, but also quite seriously.
I'd say it's a flummoxing collection, but, as I've already gone over, Jourdan tells you where we're going and how we're getting there, so pay attention. This book doesn't care about you and it doesn't care if you care about it either, but perhaps that's not as clever a goal as it seems.
So, yes: What Precision, Such Restrain. It's all there on the first page.
And, there's this:
And if any words could translate that permanent and lucid intoxication
better than others, perhaps they would be ‘passionate indifference’...
I stand by this review that I wrote immediately after finishing it, but I've bumped it up a star because I do think this is actually much more enjoyable than I gave it credit for. It's a very strong experimental collection, where the experiment is the book itself.
Original review:
This is a difficult collection to discuss and even more difficult to rate. I'll try, however.
The author's note tells you exactly what's in this book [and perhaps there's really nothing else to say about it but I guess I'll keep talking because this is a review, yes?]. If you read that and think it sounds interesting or awesome, then read on, because you'll likely love what you find inside. If you read it and say to yourself, Why? or What the fuck? or But who would do such a thing!? then it's probably better to just stop there and try something else.
It's a collection that's completely indifferent to its readers, which is pretty interesting, conceptually. It defies criticism because I don't think it's ever meant to be taken seriously or even to be read seriously. There's evidence of Jourdan's joke from the title page and then the epigraph and then, of course, the author's note.
And so what does the critic do? In part, that's why three stars. It's a book that lands ambivalently in the middle yawning at you as you try to judge it, tell it it's better or worse than anything it ever meant to be. The collection is exactly what it tells you it is from the first page, so who are you to condemn it for telling the truth about what and who it is? Who are you to expect more?
The other reason I'm giving it three stars is because certain of these stories are really great [That Lombardi Thing--which I read somewhere else a long, long time ago and remembered loving--and Letters, especially] while the rest range from curiously amusing to nonsense. As stories, they're rather conservative and singular in style. Punctuation! and What Technique What Restraint Bloody Good are by far the longest stories in the collection and they land with varying success. Punctuation!, for example, always felt like it should be more, should push this concept further, make it something really remarkable. It settles for an amusing peculiarity to a gripping thriller and then sort of descends into the nothingness of nonsense, which is, as we're told, perhaps the whole point.
While the individual stories aren't especially innovative, the book itself somehow manages to be. As an artefact and a collection, it has a singular vision of pretending to be experimental but also manages to reach that word almost ironically, but also quite seriously.
I'd say it's a flummoxing collection, but, as I've already gone over, Jourdan tells you where we're going and how we're getting there, so pay attention. This book doesn't care about you and it doesn't care if you care about it either, but perhaps that's not as clever a goal as it seems.
So, yes: What Precision, Such Restrain. It's all there on the first page.
And, there's this:
And if any words could translate that permanent and lucid intoxication
better than others, perhaps they would be ‘passionate indifference’...
March 17, 2013
4.5
This is a difficult book to review. Partially because it does so much, but also, at the same time, it’s difficult to say what it does. Jourdan seems to be writing in the tradition of the great postmodernists, and maybe the odd thing is that he does it successfully. But he packages the book as if he doesn’t. Like an 18th century text, the collection has an introduction that tries—and fails—to outline its own aesthetic project; and then, each story also has a preface explaining its function, which become progressively more nonsensical as they go. Despite being very readable for the most part, this book seems to push experimentation to and past its limits: to make stories so interesting they HAVE to be good… and with only a few exceptions, I think it succeeds. This is a book much more about thinking that feeling, in my opinion, and it tends to engage with esoteric ideas from literary theory and philosophy, which might alienate some readers; about the nature of self and language; the relationship of one text to another, and ultimately to itself. But if you’re interested in conceptual writing, or anything in tradition of postmodernism, I think you basically have to read this.
I don’t usually do individual mentions for stories in collections, but here I feel like I sort of have to. So, some of the more notable pieces (good and bad):
“That Lombardi Thing”—One of my favorites. A sort of Borgesian story, with elements of SF, about a medical operation that replaces consciousness with the subconscious, in an attempt to cast aside all language.
“Acts”—Basically a prose poem with biblical imagery. Best prose in the book.
“Letters”—An epistolary piece with an (extremely) unrealiable narrator. Reminds me a little of Dennis Cooper.
“The Maturity of the Fly”—A compressed, sort grotesque mediation on race and mortality… that takes place at an academic conference on flies.
“Punctuation”—Unlike the others I’m mentioning, which I really liked, this was probably the weakest story in the book. Fascinating concept (a world where periods are outlawed), and very interesting formally, but otherwise it felt like a generic dystopian story, despite some extremely strange things that happen at the end. This is the one that in the end knocked my rating to 4.5, because it's also the second-longest piece in the book.
“What Technique What Restraint”– A discursive beast that feels like a hybrid between Nobakov and William Gass. The longest and probably most polarizing piece in the collection. Not even going to attempt to summarize it, other than to say: it’s about sexuality, murder…and a train.
Basically: this is an intensely erudite book, and also an intensely polished one, and definitely worth checking out despite a few flaws. At 100 pages, I also think it’s the perfect length for a short story collection—and considering how great the rest is, one bad story definitely doesn’t hold it back. “That Lombardi Thing” alone makes it totally worth picking up. “Letters” makes it mandatory.
This is a difficult book to review. Partially because it does so much, but also, at the same time, it’s difficult to say what it does. Jourdan seems to be writing in the tradition of the great postmodernists, and maybe the odd thing is that he does it successfully. But he packages the book as if he doesn’t. Like an 18th century text, the collection has an introduction that tries—and fails—to outline its own aesthetic project; and then, each story also has a preface explaining its function, which become progressively more nonsensical as they go. Despite being very readable for the most part, this book seems to push experimentation to and past its limits: to make stories so interesting they HAVE to be good… and with only a few exceptions, I think it succeeds. This is a book much more about thinking that feeling, in my opinion, and it tends to engage with esoteric ideas from literary theory and philosophy, which might alienate some readers; about the nature of self and language; the relationship of one text to another, and ultimately to itself. But if you’re interested in conceptual writing, or anything in tradition of postmodernism, I think you basically have to read this.
I don’t usually do individual mentions for stories in collections, but here I feel like I sort of have to. So, some of the more notable pieces (good and bad):
“That Lombardi Thing”—One of my favorites. A sort of Borgesian story, with elements of SF, about a medical operation that replaces consciousness with the subconscious, in an attempt to cast aside all language.
“Acts”—Basically a prose poem with biblical imagery. Best prose in the book.
“Letters”—An epistolary piece with an (extremely) unrealiable narrator. Reminds me a little of Dennis Cooper.
“The Maturity of the Fly”—A compressed, sort grotesque mediation on race and mortality… that takes place at an academic conference on flies.
“Punctuation”—Unlike the others I’m mentioning, which I really liked, this was probably the weakest story in the book. Fascinating concept (a world where periods are outlawed), and very interesting formally, but otherwise it felt like a generic dystopian story, despite some extremely strange things that happen at the end. This is the one that in the end knocked my rating to 4.5, because it's also the second-longest piece in the book.
“What Technique What Restraint”– A discursive beast that feels like a hybrid between Nobakov and William Gass. The longest and probably most polarizing piece in the collection. Not even going to attempt to summarize it, other than to say: it’s about sexuality, murder…and a train.
Basically: this is an intensely erudite book, and also an intensely polished one, and definitely worth checking out despite a few flaws. At 100 pages, I also think it’s the perfect length for a short story collection—and considering how great the rest is, one bad story definitely doesn’t hold it back. “That Lombardi Thing” alone makes it totally worth picking up. “Letters” makes it mandatory.
November 11, 2013
There is a boldness in the language, an enthralling engagement that dares you to read more. The ideas are wild, as in the “punctuation police” from the story “Punctuation” who are “giant insectoids with human voices and inhuman gurgles” or a fascinating discussion at a conference about flies: “The fly is the martyr, the sufferer, the dog of animals… Of all the great poets, I believe only Blake ever managed to capture something of the condescension with which we address the Other that is the fly.”
My full review below:
http://tieryas.wordpress.com/2013/07/...
My full review below:
http://tieryas.wordpress.com/2013/07/...
June 25, 2013
Phil's work in What Precision, Such Restraint, borders the sublime and perverse, and for this reason, I adored this collection. His ideas are perfect: their inception, their reasoning, their structure, and their execution, yet they dance around the edge of what humanity knows as reasonable and acceptable.
The best example of this is That Lombardi Thing, one of my favourite stories, and one of the most popular stories in this collection. In That Lombardi Thing, a specialist (of sorts), provides the service of “Freudhacking”, switching his client’s consciousness with his subconscious at an exorbitant price. The story explores ideas of the subconscious, consciousness and the ramifications of such a procedure. Brilliant? Engaging? Perverse? Yep, all of the above.
Phil's prose is a delight to read. I find his style in the manner of older writers, yet without the flowery prose that hampers modern reading of such texts. Yet it's also steeped with surrealism, due to the absolute seriousness that the perverse subject matter is dealt with in.
His characters are another subject of interest to me. I feel I came to know Phil as a person reading this collection, and because he favours the first person point of view, I found myself naturally listening to his (at times, unreliable) narrators as if I was listening to Phil himself. "But there's nothing wrong with Wuthering Heights," I wanted to scream. "Emily Bronte is an amazing author, particularly for a time when female writers had to pretend to be men," I thought, reading Ex Libris. But then I had to remind myself that these were just characters. Which is a good mistake to make when reading a book, thinking the characters are real.
Most of this collection seems to focus on the themes of sex, death, Christianity, and psychotherapy. His deliberately vague, almost obtuse manner at times invites the reader to make what they will of these themes. What I took away from two stories (Letter and What Technique What Restraint Bloody Good!) was a reminder that death happens so needlessly, unnecessarily and without meaning. At first I thought "Death of the author" -- every reader is going to make something different out of these stories, they'll find their own personal slant on them and derive their own meaning from them. But then again, I think perhaps Phil may write like this on purpose.
If you're looking for a light read, look elsewhere. But if you're interested in stimulating, intelligent, thought-provoking text, I highly recommend this short story collection.
The best example of this is That Lombardi Thing, one of my favourite stories, and one of the most popular stories in this collection. In That Lombardi Thing, a specialist (of sorts), provides the service of “Freudhacking”, switching his client’s consciousness with his subconscious at an exorbitant price. The story explores ideas of the subconscious, consciousness and the ramifications of such a procedure. Brilliant? Engaging? Perverse? Yep, all of the above.
Phil's prose is a delight to read. I find his style in the manner of older writers, yet without the flowery prose that hampers modern reading of such texts. Yet it's also steeped with surrealism, due to the absolute seriousness that the perverse subject matter is dealt with in.
His characters are another subject of interest to me. I feel I came to know Phil as a person reading this collection, and because he favours the first person point of view, I found myself naturally listening to his (at times, unreliable) narrators as if I was listening to Phil himself. "But there's nothing wrong with Wuthering Heights," I wanted to scream. "Emily Bronte is an amazing author, particularly for a time when female writers had to pretend to be men," I thought, reading Ex Libris. But then I had to remind myself that these were just characters. Which is a good mistake to make when reading a book, thinking the characters are real.
Most of this collection seems to focus on the themes of sex, death, Christianity, and psychotherapy. His deliberately vague, almost obtuse manner at times invites the reader to make what they will of these themes. What I took away from two stories (Letter and What Technique What Restraint Bloody Good!) was a reminder that death happens so needlessly, unnecessarily and without meaning. At first I thought "Death of the author" -- every reader is going to make something different out of these stories, they'll find their own personal slant on them and derive their own meaning from them. But then again, I think perhaps Phil may write like this on purpose.
If you're looking for a light read, look elsewhere. But if you're interested in stimulating, intelligent, thought-provoking text, I highly recommend this short story collection.
July 22, 2017
I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.
Wow! What can I say about 'What Precision, Such Restraint'.
First off, this is not the sort of book I would normally choose to read. I'm more of a romance/happily-ever-after girl, so I was both excited and hesitant to read this, knowing that it was a form of literary experimentation, but I'm so glad I did!
'What Precision, Such Restraint' is both genius and mind-boggling, yet even when I didn't understand some of the context, I couldn't bring myself to stop reading. Each of the short-stories, whilst very dramatically painted, were so true to real life and everyday issues and people. Phil Jourdan's writing style was electric and I can't think of any other book where I have been so captivated by the inner thoughts of, quite frankly, unlikeable people.
Although I found it difficult to know whether I'd understood the basic message of each story, as there were many components to them, I liked how I immediately saw how each story represented a real life issue in today's society. I loved the strong metaphor's used throughout the book, with the society repressed by the 'Punctuation Police' almost tragically mirroring many of today's societies where communities are repressed by the government. I think it also gives readers a real wake up call. If regimes and governments continue on in the repressive way they currently are, in addition to further scientific discoveries, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine the simplicity with which they freedom of thought could be taken away.
As I think this book is very individual to each person who reads it, I feel that what people take from each story will be very different. In the story on Bulimia, I felt strongly that the message was about addiction. The woman with Bulimia doesn't want to stop because, through this act, she produces antiques. Why would she want to stop it? It strongly mirrors the thought processes in a Bulimic girl who would wonder why they should stop. If it's making them thinner then something good has come out of it surely? It was sadly tragic how much this represented this issue in everyday life.
A fantastic, enthralling read, which although did confuse me at times, was so inspirational and quite frankly genius that I would grab up any other book by Phil Jourdan in a heartbeat.
(I'll also be recommending to my tutor's at my university that Phil Jourdan write all the textbooks on my course, as I understood more of the unconscious mind from his descriptions in one of these short stories, than I have ever understood in three years as a Psychology undergraduate.)
5 Stars and a definite recommended read.
Wow! What can I say about 'What Precision, Such Restraint'.
First off, this is not the sort of book I would normally choose to read. I'm more of a romance/happily-ever-after girl, so I was both excited and hesitant to read this, knowing that it was a form of literary experimentation, but I'm so glad I did!
'What Precision, Such Restraint' is both genius and mind-boggling, yet even when I didn't understand some of the context, I couldn't bring myself to stop reading. Each of the short-stories, whilst very dramatically painted, were so true to real life and everyday issues and people. Phil Jourdan's writing style was electric and I can't think of any other book where I have been so captivated by the inner thoughts of, quite frankly, unlikeable people.
Although I found it difficult to know whether I'd understood the basic message of each story, as there were many components to them, I liked how I immediately saw how each story represented a real life issue in today's society. I loved the strong metaphor's used throughout the book, with the society repressed by the 'Punctuation Police' almost tragically mirroring many of today's societies where communities are repressed by the government. I think it also gives readers a real wake up call. If regimes and governments continue on in the repressive way they currently are, in addition to further scientific discoveries, it wouldn't be difficult to imagine the simplicity with which they freedom of thought could be taken away.
As I think this book is very individual to each person who reads it, I feel that what people take from each story will be very different. In the story on Bulimia, I felt strongly that the message was about addiction. The woman with Bulimia doesn't want to stop because, through this act, she produces antiques. Why would she want to stop it? It strongly mirrors the thought processes in a Bulimic girl who would wonder why they should stop. If it's making them thinner then something good has come out of it surely? It was sadly tragic how much this represented this issue in everyday life.
A fantastic, enthralling read, which although did confuse me at times, was so inspirational and quite frankly genius that I would grab up any other book by Phil Jourdan in a heartbeat.
(I'll also be recommending to my tutor's at my university that Phil Jourdan write all the textbooks on my course, as I understood more of the unconscious mind from his descriptions in one of these short stories, than I have ever understood in three years as a Psychology undergraduate.)
5 Stars and a definite recommended read.
December 18, 2022
I read an early version of this collection, What Precision, Such Restraint, a few years ago, during which time I must have been drunk, since though I recall enjoying the collection I don’t remember it being so front-loaded with genius.
I want to focus on the amazing story, “That Lombardi Thing” which encapsulates what I consider to be the absolutely best kind of story: voice-driven, thought-provoking, and never too full of itself. This is why I love José Saramago. This is why I love Brian Evenson (though his characters do tend to be a bit full of themselves, the stories aren’t). This is what I try to write.
“That Lombardi Thing” explores the made-up (I think made-up) concept of Freudhacking, which is the practice of switching a person’s conscious with their subconscious. Thought-provoking: check. The narrator is a one-time practitioner of Freudhacking who wants nothing more than to be left alone, never to practice again. Voice-driven: check. The occasion for the story is that this old man practitioner is approached by a man who wants to know what it’s like to live without language. The old man thinks he’s nuts. Never too full of itself: check.
The author, Phil Jourdan, tries to pawn this collection off as just a literary experiment without any merit beyond its own pages. He even calls the book a bunch of terrible names during a live reading in Boston a few months ago. It’s just proof of his genius that by telling the world of the book’s insufficient origins Phil can then be free to write whatever he wants, and the reader, having been briefed of the rubbish, can’t complain. Well, the reader won’t want to complain, so you failed, Phil.
I want to focus on the amazing story, “That Lombardi Thing” which encapsulates what I consider to be the absolutely best kind of story: voice-driven, thought-provoking, and never too full of itself. This is why I love José Saramago. This is why I love Brian Evenson (though his characters do tend to be a bit full of themselves, the stories aren’t). This is what I try to write.
“That Lombardi Thing” explores the made-up (I think made-up) concept of Freudhacking, which is the practice of switching a person’s conscious with their subconscious. Thought-provoking: check. The narrator is a one-time practitioner of Freudhacking who wants nothing more than to be left alone, never to practice again. Voice-driven: check. The occasion for the story is that this old man practitioner is approached by a man who wants to know what it’s like to live without language. The old man thinks he’s nuts. Never too full of itself: check.
The author, Phil Jourdan, tries to pawn this collection off as just a literary experiment without any merit beyond its own pages. He even calls the book a bunch of terrible names during a live reading in Boston a few months ago. It’s just proof of his genius that by telling the world of the book’s insufficient origins Phil can then be free to write whatever he wants, and the reader, having been briefed of the rubbish, can’t complain. Well, the reader won’t want to complain, so you failed, Phil.
August 31, 2013
I'm generally not one to write reviews, but being as how I received my copy of WHAT PRECISION, SUCH RESTRAINT free by way of the Goodreads Giveaways program, I feel it's the least I can do:
I first became aware of Phil Jourdan whilst stomping about in NOVA PARADE, via the beautifully bizarre bulimia of "Vomit As A Talent" (also collected here). I was taken by the tale's cool and detached tonal twist on body horror. It reads like David Rakoff commentary on a David Cronenberg film.
That's how I came to Phil Jourdan, but that's not the impression of him with which I have been left. WHAT PRECISION, SUCH RESTRAINT—the title no accident—reveals a skilled killer trained in the many tools of a nasty trade. Jourdan needn't just puke up your demise, he can trigger myriad reflexes to make you gag. He can run your tongue in endless laps, starving it of closure. He can bash in your brains with a letter. He can hack into your mind, flipping your Freudian dreams into German nightmares. Heed this warning, my mature little maggots: after reading Phil Jourdan, sleep with your mouths closed.
I first became aware of Phil Jourdan whilst stomping about in NOVA PARADE, via the beautifully bizarre bulimia of "Vomit As A Talent" (also collected here). I was taken by the tale's cool and detached tonal twist on body horror. It reads like David Rakoff commentary on a David Cronenberg film.
That's how I came to Phil Jourdan, but that's not the impression of him with which I have been left. WHAT PRECISION, SUCH RESTRAINT—the title no accident—reveals a skilled killer trained in the many tools of a nasty trade. Jourdan needn't just puke up your demise, he can trigger myriad reflexes to make you gag. He can run your tongue in endless laps, starving it of closure. He can bash in your brains with a letter. He can hack into your mind, flipping your Freudian dreams into German nightmares. Heed this warning, my mature little maggots: after reading Phil Jourdan, sleep with your mouths closed.
February 17, 2013
Never has a short story collection taking me down the rabbit hole so effectively. Jourdan doesn't hold back in his introduction, you know exactly what to expect, and yet, it defies your expectations. There are a couple absolute standouts in this collection (My favorites: Ex Libris and Letter). The stories are full of high minded, pretentious jokes, but can it be pretentious when there is no pretense attached? I know I laughed. Some of them are touching, and yes, confusing. The confusion adds to the over all feel of the collection, the reader's mind racing and backflipping to keep up with Jourdan as he leads you through the cobwebby corners of his mind, joking, tricking, and making you second guess yourself.
This is, above all, a totally fun read. I might say it takes a certain type of reader to appreciate it, but if you find yourself smirking at the introduction, you are probably that type of reader.
This is, above all, a totally fun read. I might say it takes a certain type of reader to appreciate it, but if you find yourself smirking at the introduction, you are probably that type of reader.
February 7, 2015
I would fist like to say that I won this book through a Goodreads Giveaway and would like to say thank you.
What Precision, Such Restraint was a great and fast read. I have to admit that I am not used to reading this style of book but am very glad that I did! In all, this book contains ten short stories. Each and every one of them tackled a different issue or had a different message. Every story was mind bending and written so uniquely that I have say that Phil Jourdan is a great writer! Each tale will blow your mind and make you think.
My favorite story was Behold the Antique Show (Vomit as a Talent). It tackled the issue of a woman with bulimia. One day, suddenly and without warning, she produced a pocket watch. More and more often she started to regurgitate random items. With these objects, she was able to pawn them. While this was a good thing that was able to get her easy pocket money, she was also dying. With each and every item she was losing more and more weight. By the end of the story she weighted forty-nine pounds.
If you are looking for a thought-provoking, intelligent, out of the ordinary read this book is definitely for you!
What Precision, Such Restraint was a great and fast read. I have to admit that I am not used to reading this style of book but am very glad that I did! In all, this book contains ten short stories. Each and every one of them tackled a different issue or had a different message. Every story was mind bending and written so uniquely that I have say that Phil Jourdan is a great writer! Each tale will blow your mind and make you think.
My favorite story was Behold the Antique Show (Vomit as a Talent). It tackled the issue of a woman with bulimia. One day, suddenly and without warning, she produced a pocket watch. More and more often she started to regurgitate random items. With these objects, she was able to pawn them. While this was a good thing that was able to get her easy pocket money, she was also dying. With each and every item she was losing more and more weight. By the end of the story she weighted forty-nine pounds.
If you are looking for a thought-provoking, intelligent, out of the ordinary read this book is definitely for you!
October 13, 2013
Such a strange, dark and intriguing collection of short stories! I won this book in a giveaway and it took me a read or two to see the wide ground that Phil Jourdan covers. Each one of the stories is different and yet they carry threads of the others within their sentences. I admit, there were a few that were difficult to read because the paragraphs were so long and filled with a lot of information. I often found myself rereading them just to make sure I didn't lose anything!
I really liked how the stories put a bit of light into the darkness of humanity and the absurdness of living in certain ways. It makes you think about things a little differently than you normally would. Between the long-winded confession of an inmate to the circle of life directed by fate, there seems to be a bit of darkness directed at everyone.
I really liked how the stories put a bit of light into the darkness of humanity and the absurdness of living in certain ways. It makes you think about things a little differently than you normally would. Between the long-winded confession of an inmate to the circle of life directed by fate, there seems to be a bit of darkness directed at everyone.
Want to read
August 21, 2013I have won this book through the Goodreads giveaway. Thank you so much!
I will edit this review as soon as I read it.
I will edit this review as soon as I read it.
September 16, 2014
Would that Jourdan had been a bit more restrained....
[SPOILER ALERT]
This is a strong, well-written collection. Jourdan is a talented writer, and when he is good he is formidable. The best stories in this collection, "Letter" and "That Lombardi Thing", work off the simple conceit that the narrator knows more than the reader. This device often doesn't work, or is too obvious, but Jourdan manages to surprise the reader. Bravo.
The problem is the stories which I fear are the ones Jourdan may think are the strongest, such as "Punctuation!" Here Jourdan seems to say, "Look at me! I'm avant-garde! I'm post-modern! I'm inventive and don't have to follow conventional rules!" I have no doubt that Jourdan has the talent to do all this; I'm just not convinced that he can do this yet. Its like early David Foster Wallace - if one has already read Infinite Jest the earlier novels seem like practice. I believe that with the right editor, and with further development of his craft, Jourdan could be marvelous. I look forward to reading his future work. But I wish he realized the difference between techniques he has mastered and those which need to be honed further. Stories employing the latter should stay unpublished, until they can enhance, rather than distract from, his other impressive work.
[SPOILER ALERT]
This is a strong, well-written collection. Jourdan is a talented writer, and when he is good he is formidable. The best stories in this collection, "Letter" and "That Lombardi Thing", work off the simple conceit that the narrator knows more than the reader. This device often doesn't work, or is too obvious, but Jourdan manages to surprise the reader. Bravo.
The problem is the stories which I fear are the ones Jourdan may think are the strongest, such as "Punctuation!" Here Jourdan seems to say, "Look at me! I'm avant-garde! I'm post-modern! I'm inventive and don't have to follow conventional rules!" I have no doubt that Jourdan has the talent to do all this; I'm just not convinced that he can do this yet. Its like early David Foster Wallace - if one has already read Infinite Jest the earlier novels seem like practice. I believe that with the right editor, and with further development of his craft, Jourdan could be marvelous. I look forward to reading his future work. But I wish he realized the difference between techniques he has mastered and those which need to be honed further. Stories employing the latter should stay unpublished, until they can enhance, rather than distract from, his other impressive work.
January 11, 2015
5 stars for my overall enjoyment, 4 stars for the success/failure, so closer to a 4.5
As short story collections go, some of these were wonderfully weird and among my favorites. Others try hard to be experimental on purpose and it doesn't always work. Thus is the joy of sitting and reading What Precision, Such Restraint, a short story book I must have snagged for Kindle at some point during some weird fiction binge, but only got around to now.
The stories do get progressively stranger, with the final ones in particular being very out there, but some of the shorter early tales are really great even if they're strange. That's the point, and this is a great model to try things out. I really, really enjoyed my time with it.
Overall, I know this won't appeal to everyone, but if you've been dabbling in the weird stuff lately, this is worth some of your time.
As short story collections go, some of these were wonderfully weird and among my favorites. Others try hard to be experimental on purpose and it doesn't always work. Thus is the joy of sitting and reading What Precision, Such Restraint, a short story book I must have snagged for Kindle at some point during some weird fiction binge, but only got around to now.
The stories do get progressively stranger, with the final ones in particular being very out there, but some of the shorter early tales are really great even if they're strange. That's the point, and this is a great model to try things out. I really, really enjoyed my time with it.
Overall, I know this won't appeal to everyone, but if you've been dabbling in the weird stuff lately, this is worth some of your time.
September 1, 2013
First I would love to thank Goodreads First-Reads for this book and also Phil Jourdan. Wow...difficult at times was this arcane collection of short stories...a woman with severe bulimia who instead of vomiting bile..regurgitates collectible antiques; an apocalyptic word where all forms of punctuation is outlawed,and yet author uses it...such is the nonsensical stories hidden between the words of this novel.
If the author was going for goofy nonsense then he hit it on the nose Good Job! It was bold daring and out there.. Had its moments where it had then lost me. I cannot say if all good or bad. It was just simply OK.
If the author was going for goofy nonsense then he hit it on the nose Good Job! It was bold daring and out there.. Had its moments where it had then lost me. I cannot say if all good or bad. It was just simply OK.
March 11, 2014
A book that doesn't fawn, indeed feels actively hostile to the reader. In a world of sappy, eager-to-please writing, this is refreshing. The stories in this collection start strong, with intriguing, compelling premises, but hollow themselves out, before finally collapsing in on themselves; they cough up their lungs, retch up their guts, glaring at you defiantly the while. If this doesn't strike you as a good thing, then this collection isn't for you, but you're also wrong. Sublime and harrowing by turns. The obligatory hack reviewer cliché might be, 'The Beats on acid.' But the Beats were already on acid, and these stories are, in any case, a nightmarishly sober look at the world.
December 30, 2015
This was a very random read, but it was free, so I read it. I don't mind random, bizarre, crass stories generally speaking, and I am a fan of certain author's run-on sentence style, but I just didn't click with this book. I did appreciate a few of the underlying plot lines in some of the stores, but not enough to ever re-read this book.
November 17, 2013
Some of the stories in this collection are fairly difficult/confusing to read, though they're all pretty inventive. "Letter" was my favorite by far, a special story.
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