July 10th, 2010 / 2:10 pm
Snippets
Snippets
Nick Antosca—
Around this time last year, random people told me about Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg and seemed shocked that I never heard of it, much less read it. So I bought it and read it, and it’s amazing. Now the book the universe is telling me about is The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton. On the list it goes.
The Man Who Was Thursday – that’s a good one, though I’ve gotta say I wasn’t too fond of the ending. Not that I want to put you off it, because it really is a very good, strange, funny book. And it’s short enough to read in a day.
Love that book. Search for the Orson Wells radio play.
And it’s online, too, happily enough. I’m going to read it as soon as I have a couple hours free. (On a plane, perhaps.)
I love the James Hogg book. The Man Who Was Thursday somewhat less so. It is good – but no where on the level of Hogg. But Chesterton, though writing many amusing things, never really wrote a masterpiece. I agree wtih Kevin that the ending of The Man Who Was Thursday is very disappointing.
They’re all policemen. The villain was God all along. There, I just saved you from wasting your precious time with that awful book.
Well, that sounds kind of good, actually.
The Man Who Was Thursday – that’s a good one, though I’ve gotta say I wasn’t too fond of the ending. Not that I want to put you off it, because it really is a very good, strange, funny book. And it’s short enough to read in a day.
Occurs to me now that I think about it that the Hogg is a likely inspiration for The Open Curtain.
Love that book. Search for the Orson Wells radio play.
And it’s online, too, happily enough. I’m going to read it as soon as I have a couple hours free. (On a plane, perhaps.)
Chesterton puts more stuff into the two hundred pages of The Man Who Was Thursday than most authors could do in a thousand. It’s like Kafka on speed–with steampunk, Borges and Inspector Clouseau thrown in. I think that what most people hate about the ending is that Chesterton doesn’t spoon-feed the reader what it means.
ZZZZIPP READ THAT BOOK ON BORGES’S RECOMMENDATION (CHESTERTON IS AN AUTHOR HE FREQUENTLY CITES, AND HE DISCUSSES THURSDAY SOMEWHERE–MAYBE A REVIEW).
IT’S GOOD, BUT YEAH. THAT ENDING. ZZZIPP COULDN’T HELP BUT THINK ABOUT WHAT BORGES WAS THINKING. WHEREVER HE WAS DISCUSSING IT, HE SEEMED TO LIKE THE ENDING THE BEST.
DID IT DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR HIM, READING IT THROUGH TRANSLATION? (NOT IN HIS NATIVE TONGUE: OBVS. HE WAS FLUENT IN ENGLISH). IS IT A TIME PERIOD? THE ENDING IS ESPECIALLY AWKWARD COMPARED TO BORGES’S ENDINGS, WHICH SOMEHOW BOTH MANAGE TO BE “UNDERSTATED” AND “TRANSCENDENTAL”. NOTHING LIKE THE PAGEANTRY OF SUNDAY’S CHASE.
OF COURSE BORGES NEVER WROTE A NOVEL, ZZZIPP WONDERS IF THAT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT. MAYBE HE WAS IMPRESSED THAT A NOVEL WITH AN ENDING LIKE THAT COULD SUSTAIN ITSELF FOR SO LONG BEFORE THE REVEAL.
IT IS AN OTHERWISE ADMIRABLE BOOK. ZZZIPP DOESN’T REMEMBER WANTING TO BE SPOON-FED WHEN HE READ THE ENDING, OR LIKE HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND. IT JUST SEEMED, AS ZZZIPP MENTIONED ABOVE, AWKWARD. BUT IT’S COOL THAT YOU SAW THE BORGES IN CHESTERTON, THOUGH IT’S OF COURSE THE CHESTERTON IN BORGES.
COULD BE THAT ZZZZIPP DIDN’T UNDERSTAND, THOUGH. MAYBE.
I love the James Hogg book. The Man Who Was Thursday somewhat less so. It is good – but no where on the level of Hogg. But Chesterton, though writing many amusing things, never really wrote a masterpiece. I agree wtih Kevin that the ending of The Man Who Was Thursday is very disappointing.
J. Robert Lennon says it over at Ward Six better than I ever could. Though, if you haven’t read the book you might not want to read this link: http://wardsix.blogspot.com/search/label/g.%20k.%20chesterton
Good call!
They’re all policemen. The villain was God all along. There, I just saved you from wasting your precious time with that awful book.
Well, that sounds kind of good, actually.
Occurs to me now that I think about it that the Hogg is a likely inspiration for The Open Curtain.
Chesterton puts more stuff into the two hundred pages of The Man Who Was Thursday than most authors could do in a thousand. It’s like Kafka on speed–with steampunk, Borges and Inspector Clouseau thrown in. I think that what most people hate about the ending is that Chesterton doesn’t spoon-feed the reader what it means.
ZZZZIPP READ THAT BOOK ON BORGES’S RECOMMENDATION (CHESTERTON IS AN AUTHOR HE FREQUENTLY CITES, AND HE DISCUSSES THURSDAY SOMEWHERE–MAYBE A REVIEW).
IT’S GOOD, BUT YEAH. THAT ENDING. ZZZIPP COULDN’T HELP BUT THINK ABOUT WHAT BORGES WAS THINKING. WHEREVER HE WAS DISCUSSING IT, HE SEEMED TO LIKE THE ENDING THE BEST.
DID IT DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT FOR HIM, READING IT THROUGH TRANSLATION? (NOT IN HIS NATIVE TONGUE: OBVS. HE WAS FLUENT IN ENGLISH). IS IT A TIME PERIOD? THE ENDING IS ESPECIALLY AWKWARD COMPARED TO BORGES’S ENDINGS, WHICH SOMEHOW BOTH MANAGE TO BE “UNDERSTATED” AND “TRANSCENDENTAL”. NOTHING LIKE THE PAGEANTRY OF SUNDAY’S CHASE.
OF COURSE BORGES NEVER WROTE A NOVEL, ZZZIPP WONDERS IF THAT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT. MAYBE HE WAS IMPRESSED THAT A NOVEL WITH AN ENDING LIKE THAT COULD SUSTAIN ITSELF FOR SO LONG BEFORE THE REVEAL.
IT IS AN OTHERWISE ADMIRABLE BOOK. ZZZIPP DOESN’T REMEMBER WANTING TO BE SPOON-FED WHEN HE READ THE ENDING, OR LIKE HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND. IT JUST SEEMED, AS ZZZIPP MENTIONED ABOVE, AWKWARD. BUT IT’S COOL THAT YOU SAW THE BORGES IN CHESTERTON, THOUGH IT’S OF COURSE THE CHESTERTON IN BORGES.
COULD BE THAT ZZZZIPP DIDN’T UNDERSTAND, THOUGH. MAYBE.
J. Robert Lennon says it over at Ward Six better than I ever could. Though, if you haven’t read the book you might not want to read this link: http://wardsix.blogspot.com/search/label/g.%20k.%20chesterton
Good call!
To me it seems like Chesterton’s books are all about someone wandering around following someone else… I think his books probably are good for people ages 10-25 or so, but anyone over that age (unless they are a practicing Catholic) would likely lose patience.,
To me it seems like Chesterton’s books are all about someone wandering around following someone else… I think his books probably are good for people ages 10-25 or so, but anyone over that age (unless they are a practicing Catholic) would likely lose patience.,
Oh, dude. Dude!…
You’ve got to read My Idea of Fun, by Will Self. It’s structured (formally and thematically) after Hogg’s book.
(Also, I’ll do you one better and say skip Thursday and head straight for Rosendorfer’s Architect of Ruins. Boom!)
…
Oh, dude. Dude!…
You’ve got to read My Idea of Fun, by Will Self. It’s structured (formally and thematically) after Hogg’s book.
(Also, I’ll do you one better and say skip Thursday and head straight for Rosendorfer’s Architect of Ruins. Boom!)
…