Splutter

by Cloud McStrange, Maria Eftimie (Illustrator), Teodora Grapa (Illustrator)

Splutter was conceived in a feverish state and at a feverish pace. Its process of construction resembled sending vowels and consonants downstream towards a waterfall and making a story out of the words formed by the letters that cling desperately to one another and to the driftwood as they fast approach the drop. The book is packed with words, most of them comprehensible and all of them ready to play a part in delivering ponder fodder.

102 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 4, 2017

Reviews

[Kady Monroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Splutter is an unusual book in that it seems to be a meandering of someone's thoughts in the here and now. It jumps from the real to the surreal and has some funny moments. I didn't really know what to make of the novella as there isn't really a plot or a cast of characters.
Definitely one for when you want to read something different.
I give 2.5 stars, rounded-up to 3.

[James Maxstadt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Splutter is a short book that you’re going to either love or hate, I can’t imagine a middle ground with it. I will caution any potential reader to utilize the “look inside” function. What you see in those first few pages is what you get for the entire book.
It’s a well-written, cleverly worded mess. I never reveal plot in reviews that I write, but in this case, I don’t have to worry about it, since there isn’t one that I can see. There are no characters, other than the narrator, and no dialogue. Just paragraph after paragraph of….something.
For me, the book fails. I didn’t enjoy the stylistic approach and found it hard to get through, so I can’t recommend it.
However, I will say again that it is well-written, for what it is. The author has a good sense of humor and sharp wit. There are some funny phrases and some great sentences that will make you groan.
Check out the “look inside”. If you like the first several pages, pick it up, you’ll enjoy the rest. But if you don’t, the remainder of the book won’t change your mind.

[Laurette Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this novella was a bit like being in a psychiatrist’s office doing the Rorschach inkblot test. Individual readers will probably come up with their own theories as to what it all means; personally, I was bemused but curiously charmed by this sort of Beckett-like theatrical monologue in which an un-named narrator (Cloud?) decides to ‘explain himself’ through, he tells us, different conversations. The result is pure absurdism, wildly inventive and very funny in parts. Cloud (?) certainly has a way with words, which he strings together impressively while not necessarily conveying any clear message. But then Cloud, as his name suggests, is somewhat nebulous himself being a bit of a protean shape-shifter, sometimes assuming a male form, sometimes a pregnant female, and we’re told, in the past manifesting himself in the form of parakeet, kangaroo or snail. He/she/it also inhabits a time and place of some elasticity. He can be found near a dumpster full of rat shit, in prison or in a turtle shell, having purchased, via a Premium package, the ability to move from present to future then past. Addressing one or more interlocutors, he expounds on numerous subjects: exploding fruit baskets, the spread of emotional fallout, water from Mars and the availability of buying ‘having fun’ credits on the black market.
The overall impression is a satire on modern, trendy, consumer-driven, society. Cloud, creator of the Slick Dick Enterprise–‘unlimited profit...the final frontier’–is a wheeler-dealer with the gift of the gab, out-sourcing all his social interactions, exploring new avenues such as bi-location technology, and using a mandatory purchase order to buy people’s opinions which he then retrofits to suit his needs. He can sell anything to a public willing to be conned into buying–insults, compliments, hopes, recipes for happiness. ‘Celebrate’, he tells them, ‘finger-paint with your toes,’ ‘make love to disaster’. ‘The con is their life in general,’ he observes, commenting on the trend to breathe gasoline instead of ‘un-clean’ air, resulting in huge queues at petrol stations and a reliance on foreign suppliers.
The ending of the book is equal to the beginning and the middle. If you asked me what the whole thing was about, my answer would probably be ‘42’. But for its breadth of imagination and often dazzling style of writing, it will surely charm readers looking for something well off the beaten track.

[E.M. Swift-Hook · Rating 3 out of 5]

...and now for something completely different.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to live in someone else’s head for a few hours? Well, reading this book is about as close as you are going to get. It is a series of free-ranging, unrelated pieces of writing strung together like random thoughts pegged out on a washing line, where proximity more than theme or continuity provides the ongoing link. At the end, it feels odd to be alone and at peace in one’s own head again.

What I really liked:
The language. There is some wonderful use of words in this book. The author enjoys playing with words and phrases and tips them up on end or flips them into alternative meanings with exuberant delight before charging off down the newly opened passageway behind.
The creativity. There is a sense as one reads that this could be kept up indefinitely, each concept pushing the next or making a quantum leap across a line break. Some of the concepts explored were engaging and made me put the book down for a few moments to think more about them before going on.
The humour. There is a fair bit of this from groan-worthy, to laugh out loud moments.


What I struggled with:
At one point in the flow, the author describes the idea of a jigsaw where the pieces themselves can be altered by pulling bits out and pushing other bits in and notes that the box this jigsaw came in had no picture on it. For me, that is this book.
It is a stream of apparently random snippets, thoughts and anecdotes, stuff that probably means something to the author, but comes over as sound waves beating on the eardrums with no melody, to this reader. It could be a profound take on postmodern literature, but for me, it tries a bit too hard to be clever.
There are some journeys you make which you regret because the destination is somewhere you would rather not be. Others the ride is too bumpy and you can’t relax and enjoy the views on the way. For me, this book is a bit too much of both.


Overall thoughts.
This book is pure ‘marmite’, as we say in the UK. You will love it or hate it. It might one day become a cult-classic and I think those who are interested in alternative, avant-garde, writing would be well advised to pick up a copy right away as it will offer them something completely different.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half stars.

I can't say I enjoyed reading Cloud McStrange's Splutter. It purports to be a memoir of sorts, obviously fictional in nature that mixes real world situations with surrealistic occurrences and dry sardonic wit with no plot or clear structure, no obvious setting and conflicting details with reference to era (a mention of Y2K is at variance with what seemed to be more futuristic references - though the protagonist does claim to have acquired some kind of immortality through some widely improbable events.)

The prose as prose was clear and a few of the situations were satirically funny or witty or at least mildly amusing (the idea of a limit on fun, or of doing interventions on woe, the protagonist turns practically everything into a commodity, his unique take on business enterprises). Much of the time, it was more like hearing fingernails raked down a chalkboard. And it combines some heavy moralising ironically combined with a philosophy and way of life that seemed quite solipsistic in nature. In the end, once I surrendered myself to the inchoate stream and read it in small doses, as one would poetry or aphorisms, I found it bearable. In part, I felt like one of the characters who insisted on poison being randomly placed in his victuals, never knowing what each meal would deliver, poison or nutritious food.

Splutter did remind me of Slaughter House 5 in some parts - though far more unorganised and less grounded than that classic. I confess that I haven't yet read James Joyce's Ulysses - but I suspect there maybe some resonances there also.

If you are looking for a story, you won't find it in Splutter (or only in the most rudimentary sense), if you are looking for a dry, sardonic, cutting critique of modern life (especially, I suspect, commercialism) with a surrealistic, post-modern presentation you might wish to sip the nectar from this strange bush.

[Helen Mathey-Horn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual Rating - 2.5 Stars

This book was something. It felt to me almost like an amalgamation of people's random thoughts as they go through the day. The author tried something a little different and I believe there are people out there who will enjoy this style of writing. Me, not so much. From the first few pages, I felt enraged at the author, at what they were writing. I may be old school but I enjoy my stories with plots and character developments. This almost wrote more like a comedian's autobiography but with less flow and more randomness.

There are a lot of good little stories or ideas but they are hidden throughout the passages. Unfortunately, a lot of the good stories are hidden behind the bizarre and the strange. I say give it a try, you never know, you might enjoy the thoughts.

[Karen Carpenter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has a lot going for it. It’s well written. It’s filled with insightful passages. And it has its humorous moments. But for me, I prefer cohesion when I read–or at least some sort of realization as to what or why I’m reading in the first place. If a book is intentionally obscure (and I often favor that) I at least like to have some insight as to why it must be so. Absent these meaningful reading experiences–if an author can simply entertain me, I’m usually happy.
Unfortunately, none of those experiences were waiting for me in this book. Splutter is pretty much as described by the author. To me, reading it felt like I was witnessing someone just rattling off random words and thoughts that popped from his subconscious.
But since Splutter is so well written, I suspect more work went into it than just jotting down random thoughts. Though I do believe Splutter was conceived in a “feverish state” (as the author states) in compliment to the author, I suspect this work went through numerous subsequent drafts before being made available for human consumption. But that suspicion only left me wondering why such a talented author would invest a large amount of time in polishing off this particular project. Or, if the writer is actually blessed enough to be able to easily crank out polished, quality work like this, why not just present the world with a fine piece of work that the majority of us can enjoy?
The entire experience of reading Splutter left me wondering about the author’s intent. And yet, I’ve no doubt this book could potentially spark some stimulating conversations around the proverbial water cooler!
I definitely will not go out on a limb and say that Splutter couldn’t have its certain following of appreciative readers. This work is different, unusual, and as I mentioned before well done and insightful. I just fear that in the absence of any meaningful interconnections, the book’s potential audience will likely remain a narrow one. That’s disappointing to me, since I perceive the author to be talented, insightful and witty enough to reach out to a much wider audience–if he wanted to.
Then again, if the author’s intent was to stimulate readers into dredging up long-buried, random remembrances from their own psyches, I’d have to admit he succeeded. That definitely happened to me while reading Splutter! I say read it for yourself and judge what (if anything) happens.

[Stacie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Splutter, by Cloud McStrange, is a unique novel thats blurb tells readers perhaps all they need to know: it was written quickly, perhaps without stopping to consider character, plot or grammar - linking together words in a feverish state. In the classroom, this kind of writing is called freewriting (coined by Peter Elbow in the 1970s - “Don’t think, just write!”).

And while I believe that freewriting has many positive benefits in the classroom and outside of it, this approach in a novel - devoid of character, plot or dialogue - just didn’t work for me as a reader.

For those looking for a novel that is indeed, as its author’s name suggests, strange - perhaps Splutter will intrigue them. If nothing else, it does provide one with a few laughs, proof of McStrange’s dry, witty sense of humor - and random thoughts to chew on, for readers ready to swim through its manic sea.

[Bob Blanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was almost like reading Metamorphosis, the book progresses from absurd and self-absorbed to well absurd. It does a good job of showing how absurd much of our world is. How crazy it is to live in this electronic age where we seem to get everything that makes us feel good via the internet. I thought I did a good job of showing how absurd it is to wonder what others think of you. And if iI had a child so caught up in reading every post someone makes about them on the internet, I think I'd make them read this book.

However, what I wanted to know the most at the end of the book was; What was the Author Drinking While writing it. I'd like some of that, probably Irish Whiskey.

[S.D. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been spluttered!
The author's own words say it all. "Splutter was conceived in a feverish state and at a feverish pace."

This is not a novel nor an essay but an exercise in clever word usage. I'm not exactly sure who the intended audience is, but if you're looking for a story this is not the book for you. Here and there are some humorous words of wisdom/situations but you have to read a lot of "splutter" to find them.

On the plus side, many of the paragraphs (or paragraph starts) would make great jumping off points for a variety of potentially interesting novels. The writer obviously has talent but I prefer stories with a begginning, a middle and an end.