Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Rethinking finishing unfinished novels
Having slugged through part I & part II, I finished part III a few weeks ago, but have only forced myself to nibble at part IV. Part III once again takes forever for the grand finale of the authour's uncle composing (as an anti-Scheherazade) a story of a character Kazik who lives an entire life in 24 hours. It's supposed to be some great climax to the 3rd section, but having seen the play, I was just relieved that the 3rd section was finally over.
Part IV is an encyclopedia of the life of Kazik - the title derives from a reference "See under:___". Have only slugged through 8 pages of the final section & certainly won't slug through any tonight.
To date, the novel has been a completely unsatisfying read making me rethink the "flog myself through a book" strategy. The only 2 novels that I've read after hitting a wall that were worthwhile were Die Blechtrommel and Ulysses. With See Under: Love, I keep thinking of the statement from Joe Orton how plays had to respect the tolerance of audiences, while novels such (To the lighthouse in this case) did not. The play made from See Under did just that - respected the audience's tolerances, while the novel does not.
Part IV is an encyclopedia of the life of Kazik - the title derives from a reference "See under:___". Have only slugged through 8 pages of the final section & certainly won't slug through any tonight.
To date, the novel has been a completely unsatisfying read making me rethink the "flog myself through a book" strategy. The only 2 novels that I've read after hitting a wall that were worthwhile were Die Blechtrommel and Ulysses. With See Under: Love, I keep thinking of the statement from Joe Orton how plays had to respect the tolerance of audiences, while novels such (To the lighthouse in this case) did not. The play made from See Under did just that - respected the audience's tolerances, while the novel does not.
