Mason > Recent Status Updates

I love the fluidity in Erickson's narration, how the prose dances through each character's life like flowing water. The vignettes, per se, are so human and poignant. I could keep reading this forever.

"He had eyes of a blue that vanishes with infancy only to return a lifetime later with old age; in all the years between, the blue journeys to some unknown place, presumed dead and, upon homecoming, is received with some resentment as it lays out a treasure of sights the eyes can never understand."

Has not gripped me in the same manner as Days Between Stations and the few pages I've read of Arc D'x. And yet, a handsomely written and well-realized book. I adore Erickson's brand of surrealism.

Slow going, but the book is very good.

I love the method of narration, and it's a great testament to the novel's quality that the tidbits of random lives we get are so profound. Many artists play with the idea of community and storytelling but it's the thoughtfulness deployed here which makes it resonate so. I had to pause for a moment, strangely affected by the death of a character I'd known for three sentences.

Main character is discomfitingly similar to myself. Fascinating read so far.

Sensational. Has me hanging on each word. To think that I barely cared for horses 400 pages ago - some of Danielewski's descriptions have nearly moved me to tears. Also, the framing of the narrative is ingenious.

jesus

Few things usher more joy into my life than the respective acerbic wit and floundering patheticness of Herron's characters. Calling this a "delight" is putting it lightly.

Fucking hell man the Kristallnacht chapter is going to haunt me forever

Eighty-five pages is an excerpt too brief to judge the novel as a whole (let alone the quality of author) but god damn, that segment is on par with the best works of literature I've ever come across. Simply incredible command of the language (conveyed with innovative manipulation of the medium). My socks have been knocked clean off.

The formatting and structure is nothing short of impressive, enough to counteract the thus-far flimsy cast of characters. A rare and brilliant usage of the visual possibilities of the literary medium. I'm glad enough that this exists, and downright lucky to have acquired a copy.

A delight per usual. Perhaps even funnier than its predecessors - I love the abundance of triple-entendres and surprisingly apt cultural references. While I typically find such overt mentions obnoxious, Herron has me chuckling along with every Pokemon Go jest. I don't know how he does it.

Some swathes of this novel have washed over me with relatively lacklustre prose yet others chapters have been nothing short of excellent. I admire the breadth of knowledge communicated through such esoteric references. The translation utilizes some excellent vocabulary - "carbuncle", "insufflate", et cetera. Consider me gripped for now.

There is simultaneous comfort and terror in a lengthy novel being so incredible. Comfort, as you know the safe haven it provides will not cease anytime soon. Yet that is also accompanied by the knowledge that its compelling nature will swallow your entire week. Jokes aside, I am very much impressed by the scope and enjoyability of this novel.

Damn good novel

I've read entire volumes with less substance than Gaddis disseminates across the first thirty-odd pages of this one. And this was his first novel? No small feat.

Finally, an emotional beat that hits. Y'know, with how much of a character piece this is, it's a good thing that the characters themselves are pretty good

Maybe it's too soon to judge with how much set-up is occurring, though I am bothered by how clean and polished both the narrative and prose are. That being said, Glokta is a fascinating character, one whose presence alone prevents me from calling the novel generic. The other characters are fine too. I am just hoping there will be some decent payoff before the novel ends.

Admirable prose though I am not always engaged by the intricacies of the narrator's memories.

I greatly enjoy the anecdotes pertaining to church-building. I do not enjoy any details of the Jack-Aliena relationship, where Follett seems to write with the sensibilities of a libidinous teenager. It’s most irritating how much time is spent on the female characters when Follett evidently cannot write them in a mature or reasonable way.