Janet Maslin pans Joshua Ferris' new novel The Unnamed in the Times today, citing "authorial overkill" and "writerly preciousness" as reasons. She lost authority on the subject, however, in her very first sentence, when she dismissed Ferris' first book, Then We Came To the End, as "charming but weightless." That makes me think she may not have read Then We Came To the End very closely. Or at least not closely enough in the beautiful and powerful central chapter, where we follow a lonely, career-minded advertising executive facing a diagnosis of breast cancer with the support of her commitment-averse boyfriend-who breaks up with her a few days before surgery.
"I'm just being honest here. I am totally committed to seeing you through this. But as a friend," he said. "Only as a friend."
Weightless? Jesus, how strong is Janet Maslin? Is she having The Hulk write reviews for her? If so, The Hulk exhibits his own authorial overkill and writerly preciousness, overexerting to work in unnecessary wordplay: "The Unnamed is a literal Ferris wheel for the reader, since it brings Tim through ups and downs so cyclical they make the book seem to be going nowhere."
That no sound like Hulk.
Walk her Spanish!
We loved Then We Came To the End.
Most of Then We Came to the End is kind of weightless, but you're right, the middle part is stunning.
That middle part changed very much how i looked at the whole book. It was so moving, and powerful, so different from the lighter fun of the rest of it, that is got me involved with the whole thing way more than I'd been-in a way that lasted til the end and made the whole thing deeply satisfying.
i agree, dave. reading "then we came to the end" was a great experience. and the book is usually the first one i give to non-reader-type friends who ask for recs.
btw are you reviewing the unnamed? i'd very much like that.
FWIW, Jessa Crispin is also not a fan:
http://www.bookslut.com/blog/archives/2010_01.php#015606
what it's worth = nothing, imho
Emily, weren't you a Bookslut contributor at one point? I'm not really fathoming your dismissive impulse, here.
Glass house much?
I did write one thing once four years ago, yes.
But the intervening four years have given me an distaste for knee-jerk, dismissive, reductive blog posts about books? For some reason?
I suppose I'm unclear on the moral distinction between hastily dismissing someone's writing in the context of a blog post and hastily dismissing someone's writing in the context of a blog comment.
Ok, let me clear that up! I would not hastily dismiss someone's novel or other book-length writing project in a blog comment or post.
Fair enough. I was confused about the object of your intended diss. At first it did not sound like you were dismissing Crispin's post so much as her opinion, or sum of her expressed thoughts as they've been established at her blog, a task I would equate with writing a book. It was perceiving that position from you which made me curious.
Rajma, I don't know what line of work you're in, but you do conduct a lively deposition. Nice job.
Rajma, it sounds like you've written a lot of books.
And re: line of work, my money's less on "lawyer" and more on "litblogger."
Jesus Lord in heaven! You guys!
Nah, I'm an unemployed college student avoiding finishing a paper. I know: nothing invalidates one's arguments like admitting one is a dewy young.
I apologize, Emily, if I come across cavalier about the process of creating a book. A book is obviously a huge feat to have accomplished. I just can't help feeling that maintaining a site that is updated consistently with quality writing over a period of years is itself a huge accomplishment. Every medium has a different set of demands, I respect anyone who manages to excel in theirs. I don't think that necessarily equates to slapping the back of novelists' heads so all the food in their mouths falls out.
I blog movies.
"I had been looking forward to the new Joshua Ferris. Then I got a copy. The fella and I pondered over the premise, and then the execution, and then started calling it the Restless Leg Syndrome novel and dramatically reading parts to one another. (It is not a good book. I am sorry to type those words.)"
A bad review -- mulled or indeed "pondered" over, vetted by an editor -- is one thing. Stuff like the above, to me, seems like less serious of a response than a novel deserves. Any novel. "I am sorry to type those words"? Then don't. You know?
"I am sorry to those words" = litbloggers' equivalent of "no homo"
I agree with JM! Just because a book gets emotionally serious doesn't make it substantial.
I agree with Earlydinner! I don't know this book and I've never heard of Joshua Ferris but I do know situations do not make for heft; the treatment of situations makes for heft. I mean for fucks sake do you have any idea what happens in "Left Behind" books? The whole world is, like, nearly conquered by the antichrist!
Oh, I agree with that, too. But I think the way Ferris treats the situation-and here is where I differ from Maslin, and I guess, Earlydinner-is very skillful and very beautiful and makes for great heft. I haven't read The Unnamed yet. But I do heartily recommend Then We Came To The End.
Maslin's disapproval is certainly not going to stop me from reading a book but it's really not on my radar at the moment.
I don't really have a problem with that Ferris Wheel sentence except that it is definitely not a LITERAL Ferris Wheel. That would mean that the book turns into a Ferris Wheel (like a Transformer or something). Also, it is stupid to capitalize Ferris Wheel.
The "literal" -- it BURNS USSSSSSSSSSS
Ugh. The overwrought wordplay "literal Ferris wheel" made me "literally vomit". By which I mean I literally clicked "close tab". Literally.
Nice!
She's just upset it didn't have the narrative magnificence of "Titanic."
http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B0DE7DB113FF93AA25751C1A961958260
It's too bad that a lot of people are so cynical that they automatically sort 'funny/smart' into the 'lightweight/clever' pile. Then We Came To The End is a tremendous novel, despite all.
I wish we could get over our guilt at being smart people and just enjoy that things that everyone creates. Who the fuck cares.
Agree. These days I just crave books that actually have some narrative drive.
These days I just crave books that I have a shot at finishing, i.e., those that are thinner than a phone book.
and then she dies *sob*
Thank god you guys don't use the Eric Bana Hulk when making these comparisons. The Lou Ferrigno Hulk could punch through a car without using special effects while Bana's could be wiped out with a CGI virus.
That virus? File sharing.
I think Maslin also loses some authority with this:
"This novel opens with a section called "The Feet, Mechanical" which is suggestive of "The Syntax, Adorable," and introduces a cold winter through which Tim will begin to wander."
The syntax might be precious and adorable, but it's Emily Dickinson's and not Ferris's. But Maslin either doesn't know this (Google in quotation marks!) or just went ahead and willingly misled her readers.