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viragohaus's reviews
237 reviews
Spirit House by Mark Dapin
By turns funny, languid & brutal, Dapin's second novel centers upon Jimmy, a WWII veteran recounting to his grandson his experience as a POW under the Japanese.
Dapin cleverly sidesteps any historical contrivances by viewing the often horrendous events through the eyes and voice of a near contemporary character. The novel's gears do grind a bit as it moves betweens periods & it would have benefited from a tighter edit but Dapin's writing is sharp & his characters vivid.
3.0
By turns funny, languid & brutal, Dapin's second novel centers upon Jimmy, a WWII veteran recounting to his grandson his experience as a POW under the Japanese.
Dapin cleverly sidesteps any historical contrivances by viewing the often horrendous events through the eyes and voice of a near contemporary character. The novel's gears do grind a bit as it moves betweens periods & it would have benefited from a tighter edit but Dapin's writing is sharp & his characters vivid.
The Hanging Garden by Patrick White
Not quite a recovered masterpiece but a fascinating read nonetheless.
White was such a sure, material stylist & builder of psyche interiors that the sheer strength of his 'unhurried prose' leaves a tremendous impact.
I can't pretend that I don't feel sad for what the novel would have been if White had returned to it & performed another draft or two but I'm also grateful for this glimpse into the vastness of his storytelling.
4.0
Not quite a recovered masterpiece but a fascinating read nonetheless.
White was such a sure, material stylist & builder of psyche interiors that the sheer strength of his 'unhurried prose' leaves a tremendous impact.
I can't pretend that I don't feel sad for what the novel would have been if White had returned to it & performed another draft or two but I'm also grateful for this glimpse into the vastness of his storytelling.
Zona: A Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room by Geoff Dyer
4.0
The journey or the destination? Well, both.
Geoff Dyer here works usefully against Milan Kundera's contention that a route 'has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects.'
Dyer's route between his initial viewings of Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker in his 20's and the temporal one described to us in the pages of Zona is footnoted with diversions which are -by turns- delightful, insightful & boneheaded.
The overwhelming reverberation here is the contestable insight that we are responsive early & creativity is the fading, fighting image of those initial impacts. '(Y)ou actually heard - or saw or read - your personal last word years earlier.' (page 128)
Geoff Dyer here works usefully against Milan Kundera's contention that a route 'has no meaning in itself; its meaning derives entirely from the two points that it connects.'
Dyer's route between his initial viewings of Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker in his 20's and the temporal one described to us in the pages of Zona is footnoted with diversions which are -by turns- delightful, insightful & boneheaded.
The overwhelming reverberation here is the contestable insight that we are responsive early & creativity is the fading, fighting image of those initial impacts. '(Y)ou actually heard - or saw or read - your personal last word years earlier.' (page 128)
Absolution by Patrick Flanery
There's a pitiless sureness to this novel that makes it difficult to believe that it is Flanery's debut.
Without a single pomo whiff, Absolution powerfully contends that the stories we tell ourselves are true, vivid & unreliable.
4.0
There's a pitiless sureness to this novel that makes it difficult to believe that it is Flanery's debut.
Without a single pomo whiff, Absolution powerfully contends that the stories we tell ourselves are true, vivid & unreliable.