Novel or commentary?
Was this a novel or more of a commentary on how the same book can affect each person differently? Is the author really trying to tell a story or is she merely pointing out that our experiences color how we read a book? If so, is it important to read some books more than once because we will get something different out of them when we have had different experiences?
posted by MamaChristy at
8:11 PM
3 Comments:
This is kind of the million-dollar question, isn't it? Let's get started....
On a purely personal level, yes - I think I get something very different out of a book every time I read it. Some books -- Little Women for one -- I re-read every year on a schedule because they are so dear to me and the characters -- even though they're static and on a page -- seem to evolve with each reading. As I change, they change, just like any friendship.
As a reader of JABC, I think Fowler's idea is to play with that. And I think it's a great concept. But I don't know that it worked as well as it could have. Maybe if she has shown us more of the characters' conversations about the books? Did y'all realize how seldom we actually were a fly-on-the-wall for their meetings? Me reading Jocelyn as Emma was all very interesting, but I'd like to know what Jocelyn thought of Emma (herself) to make her character more real for me.
In Fowler's defense, I don't know that I think Austen's characters are all that deep sometimes. But, much of that is a sign of the times. Now, everything's so Oprah-ized and revealed that book characters have to be "an open book." Is it just laziness that I don't want to have to fill in the shadings myself?
And this brings me to "A Million little Pieces." Is it a memoir or a novel? Is JABC a commentary or a novel? Does it matter? Do we as readers need to be told what we're reading to know how to process it? Talk about lazy!Why am I incapable of judging books based on myown readings -- not what the publisher wants me to think? Who said the publisher had to provide me a framework?
(I'm playing devil's advocate here, though I do believe I -- and many people -- are lazy readers who like to be told what we're getting instead of discovering it for ourselves. But I am majorly pissed ay James Frey.) Grrrrrr
By
JenniNapa, at 1:33 PM
I think Fowler is making a commentary on how the same books affects individuals differently based on their experiences. Fowler opens the JABC by saying that everyone has their "own Austen". She also organizes each of the chapters/months by book & cooresponding character. But, know knows. I could be reading too much into it...
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Twanna A. Hines | FUNKYBROWNCHICK.com, at 5:22 AM
Kim -- I loved Wicked and found it fascinating. But I bought a copy for a friend, and she couldn't get past chapter 2. The first chapter is kind of out there, but I would recommend getting it from the library or HalfPrice Books sometime if you're not sure. If nothing else, it's a thought-provoking look at how two people see the same incident entirely differently.
AndI agree with you about Stephen king. I read him a lot when I was younger, and then kind of got away from him, but his "On Writing" book is a great-read for writers and readers. Have you read that?
I saw MC pulled out E's post, so I'll respond to that in a sec. Sorry I've been off all week, i was out of town, and will be leaving again tomorrow, so today's catch-up day; it's so fun to see what y'all have written!
By
JenniNapa, at 10:08 AM
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