Literary reviews by Tim Love.
Warning: Rather than reviews, these are often notes in preparation for reviews that were never finished, or pleas for help with understanding pieces. See Litref Reviews - a rationale for details.
Showing posts with label 'if nobody speaks of remarkable things'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 'if nobody speaks of remarkable things'. Show all posts

Sunday, 27 November 2005

"if nobody speaks of remarkable things" by Jon McGregor (Bloomsbury, 2002)

I prefer this to Coetzee's "Disgrace": various types of relationships shown, good control of multiple narrative threads, ability to compress remembrance. Lots of "show", though the implications aren't always clear until later we have a bit of "tell". The students/twentysomethings aren't as different from the other adults as perhaps they should be. I like the imagery, but maybe others will think it too flashy

  • "The rippled roll of shutters pulled down on late-night cafes, a crackled voice crying street names for taxis, a loud scream that lingers and cracks into laughter, a bang that might just be an old car backfiring, a callbox calling out for an answer, a treeful of birds tricked into morning"
  • "I see a line of cars crossing an empty carpark like wagons across a prairie"