Declan’s Comments (group member since Jul 21, 2011)

Declan’s comments from the NYRB Classics group.

'The Family Mashber' was the title I suggested last time, so I'll second Jonathan's mention of that book, but I would like to finally read 'Stoner' too because it has been getting so much attention throughout this year: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013... .

Lois wrote: "Wait, I'm confused—do we have a December pick yet?"

Yes Lois, the December choice is Autobiography of a Corpse. I think Guy wants us to start thinking about the book we might read after that one.

I hadn't thought of a comparison with Beckett's magnificent trilogy Jonathan, but now that you explain it, I can see that there are similarities of experience, even if the approach to language is quite different.

The book that came into my mind was This Blinding Absence of Light which is an astonishing account of a confinement which went on for years.

Like Jonathan I don't usually read thrillers, but I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. But is it a thriller? There wasn't, thankfully, much in the way of technical details (except for the construction of the ballista which had me baffled) and there was more talk than thrills. But however it might be classified, it was, as Lois says, "a lot of fun, extremely compelling and very interesting".

I, like everybody who has commented, found the period of his confinement particularly fascinating. I suppose there was a visceral thrill in imagining the discomforts and privations he was suffering, while I sat on a sofa drinking tea! But I think Nicholas is right too, there is something comforting in the idea of the " universal protective fantasy" and the recreation of the womb-like space is, as Lois suggests, the most convincing explanation for the feeling of safety which I imagined quite fondly, thinking of myself curled up and sleeping in the foetal position. Before the lair became flooded I often thought that I quite liked the idea of climbing into that warm sleeping-bag, down in the earth (I wonder what I'm revealing about myself by saying that!).

Apart from the details of the story I very much enjoyed seeing the world through these astonishingly self-assured eyes (even if one of them was a tad faulty). So much can be assumed when one is very wealthy and one has all the necessary contacts: a chap in a shop who can be trusted to deliver a package; a solicitor who will advance you a large amount of money and the easy assumption that your accent will overcome many hurdles. He is resolutely right-wing: a man should be able to fend for himself and only for himself. Damn the rest of those blighters.

I'd like to suggest a novel that could perhaps be read over the two months as it is quite a long book, but one I've long wanted to read: The Family Mashber which, apart from anything else, has a particularly wonderful cover.

I was a bit late starting the book so I hope you'll forgive my belated contribution. There are a lot of very good and pertinent comments made above, but a few other thoughts occur to me. Firstly, although the servant class is represented in an appalling way late in the book, you could argue that earlier, as the main story begins, the ruling class - in the guise of von Stoffeln - is shown as oppressive, uncaring and the main instigator of all the mayhem that ensues.

Secondly, while a profound belief in the true message of Christ seems, quite clearly, to underlie all of the moralizing in the book, it seems to me that part of the reason for the emphatic tone of the parable, and its reiteration in the later part of the book, is that the peoples belief is, in most cases, not a Christian one but rather a pagan or pantheistic belief with symbolic meaning read into all of natures manifestations.

I'm with Seana on this. I think it would be worth waiting for The Black Spider which, in every way, looks great.

I first read this book a few years after it was first published, when I was in my teens. I was astonished by it at that time because I had never previously read a book so lacking in plot, linearity etc. I was very excited by the possibilities it opened me to, and it was one of the books that sent me in pursuit of unconventional novels. So, in coming back to the book now, I was interested to see if it would still seem as impressive as it did when I first read it, and it did. I still think it is a marvelous example of tangential story telling ("Tell all the truth but tell it slant" as Emily Dickinson wrote) where the implications of what we read have to be intuited and added to whatever else we have garnered to allow us to understand something about the narrator. "But how, I wonder still, does she keep it together?", Abigail asked above. That is the wonder of the book. Why do we keep reading?

...and I loved Speedboat, Sarah!

Hi Abagail, I'm delighted that you intend getting the NYRB bookclub started again as it did seem to be in abeyance. It was by reading about the group on A Different Stripe that I first found out about GR, and I'm very glad that I was led here.

In the past we have considered both recently published titles and some from the back-catalogue, so I would like to propose a book about which I have heard many positive comments, both here and in literary reviews: Stoner

I feel like we will now have a big magnifying glass over us to so that our every move can be examined for its revenue generating potential. Jeff Bozo only cares about making more and more money and now we are helping him to do so, even when we aren't buying anything directly from him we are creating the kind of information he seems to view as useful. Apparently it will be the end of the year before he takes full control, so I have decided to hold tight and see how insidious the changes are. I've gained a lot from being part of this site and would much prefer to stay, but we'll see....

This is, as Sasha and Kristin have said, a slow read, needing plenty of concentration but, having just finished it, I would say that it is well worth persisting with the book because ultimately it is absorbing and engaging and often very funny. It is also though, a book from a time when people were in less of a hurry, so there is plenty of detail about each character, about the countryside that Chichikov is passing through, but, for me, that is one of the most appealing aspects of the book and any plot is, I think, secondary to the verve of the writing. I especially liked his lengthy diversions. The only frustration of the novel is that so much of it is missing. I wonder how much longer it would have been if we had the full version?

Hi Kathrina,

I think that there is no doubt but that there is an attitude of anti-intellectualism throughout cultural commentary, in newspapers and in the media in general. Post-modernism's legacy is its underpinning of the idea that you cannot claim that Schubert is superior to Madonna or that Don Quixote is better than The Simpsons. What can be done to change this viewpoint? Absolutely nothing, in my opinion, except wait. At some point in the future these attitudes will be revised, but almost certainly for the worse because serious or "highbrow" culture is being increasingly marginalised. A few decades ago a cultural commentator like Susan Sontag was allowed, without apology or embarrassment, to persuade people of the importance of "high" art (here am I apologising by using quotes). Now she would have to pasteurise her comments with irony and gave the equivalent of a muffled cough before making her case.

Anyhow, regarding the NYRB books, I think one of the glories of the imprint is that it mixes many genres, many eras and, undoubtedly, both high and lowbrow(ish) books. I have read books from across the range and I would say that as someone who, I suppose, leans towards the highbrow (God, I feel like apologising again!) I find that if it is given the imprimatur of the NYRB, I will often buy a book that I would not have looked at if it came from a different publisher. It may be a bit of snobbery, but I feel reassured that a book will be of some worth if the NYRB has decided that it is deserves to be reprinted. I was, for example, very surprised (and pleased) by how good the Simenon books are. When you ask "Is NYRB providing us a service by preserving our cultural and intellectual heritage?" I'm not sure if, by "our", you mean American or all of humanities? Not being American, I would say yes to the latter, especially as they have published books from many parts of the world.

I haven't, I'm afraid read Masscult and Midcult: Essays Against the American Grain, so I can't comment on that. I hope that some of this is of use to you Kathrina, and I wish you well with your research paper.

Unfortunately Mikki, that turns out to be a trailer with a link to a streaming service. Anyhow, from what I've seen my enthusiasm has waned somewhat and as you say it doesn't seem very relevant now. His ideas about literacy in particular are simply ridiculous. I think Ill Fares the Land is the book I would propose as a guide for how we need to change our society and system of government. If only......

Thanks for the link Mikki but I'm afraid that while Netflix is available in Ireland the selection of films available is an insult. I suspect I would be able to find several John Goodman films, but not one concerning Paul Goodman. I did find a couple of clips on YouTube where he seems terrifically daft and provocative.

I agree that the cover on Tyrant Banderas makes it an essential purchase and, to judge by the blurb, an interesting read too.

Growing Up Absurd: Problems of Youth in the Organized Society looks like an interesting read for these times of absurdly restricted political options (always presented as 'choice'). It might be good to think about, and discuss, some real alternatives.

Having said that, as usual, I would be happy to read any of the books mentioned so far.

Hi Mikki, Delighted to see that you're here. That's a very interesting question. I expect that at the start Birkin's presence in the church is simply a matter of curiosity for Alice, a diversion from routine life, but I think she does begin to like him. This ought to lead to a lot of conflict within herself and perhaps it is something she can't quite resolve, leaving open the possibility that Birkin might take the initiative, and change both their lives, or as you say, provoke a reaction in her husband to blast away the inertia the encloses them, and then...who knows? It is a wonderfully curious and ambiguous scene as Birkin rings the bell repeatedly on a house he knows is empty. A novel that settled such questions would not be half as good.

Poor Emily. She gets an 'S' for sick stamped in her Sunday school star-card and might soon have enough to claim a prize. She mentions having liked a book called 'The Forgotten Garden', an actual book, written by Caroline Repchuck which is described as being:

"A poignant tale of an elderly man’s return to his childhood home where his father had created unusual topiary figures many years before. Overgrowth and neglect threaten the once-thriving formal garden. As the man busies himself with the task of reinstating the grounds to their former beauty, he is transported back in time. Through happy memories of his father’s garden, he capably transforms the unkempt bushes into copies of the original statuaries and clears the fountains. Real critters roam freely across the estate; some make it their home. So like Birkin"

So, although her death is, as you say, given only a brief mention, her presence in the novel is important and her death echoes all the other deaths - most of them implied - that are central to the recent experiences of Birkin and Moon, and to their thinking as they reach back to the past through their work.

That's very nicely expressed Kate. I think that it is often the case that a difficult subject is best dealt with obliquely instead of directly. I felt that the silence of the church and the patient nature of his work combined to allow Birkin to finally loosen his body and mind; to rub away the accretions of pain and reveal other layers of his mysterious self.

I seem to be in a minority here because I would prefer not to see the film mainly because, for me, Natasha Richardson is not even close to how I imagine Alice Keach (the same goes for her mother as Mrs Dalloway). Anyhow, regarding the book, I found it a huge pleasure to read and if it had a soundtrack I think it might be this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_f4Xi... (Finzi too was greatly affected by the war). Wistful, elegiac and yes, of course, a little nostalgic. But why shouldn't it have been? He tells us nothing of his later life, but it can't have been good, not if he was going to depend on Vinny for love and solace. That moment in the loft with Alice brought my breathing to a halt. How could he not return to thinking of all that might have been? The book also brought verse XL of Houseman's 'Shropshire Lad' to mind:


"Into my heart on air that kills
From yon far country blows:
What are those blue remembered hills,
What spires, what farms are those?

That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again".