the appeal of her writing was v immediate to me but ive had mixed results in turning friends onto her, if u don’t like the stories it’s nbd, like there’s no big secret to it; flappy’s description gets at her appeal pretty well. i would say maybe try mcglue just bc it’s an awesome piece of writing, if you still wanna give it a try
― flopson, Friday, 20 July 2018 04:03 (five years ago) link
I read the stories and eileen and they did seem of a piece, a kind of similar detachment. what should I look for in mcglue from a writing POV? (I feel like if i notice what a writer is doing, the writer's doing a bad job, so i'm not going to automatically take notice of really good writing)
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 20 July 2018 04:15 (five years ago) link
this thread makes me remember that i thought mcglue sounded like something i'd enjoy, despite my reservations. may well give it a try.
― FernandoHierro, Friday, 20 July 2018 13:03 (five years ago) link
anybody else finish the book yet? thoughts?
― flappy bird, Monday, 23 July 2018 17:35 (five years ago) link
She has a talent for depicting squalor.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 23 July 2018 18:02 (five years ago) link
I started it and I'm not sure how I feel yet, but it does make for excellent bedtime reading.
― change display name (Jordan), Monday, 23 July 2018 18:10 (five years ago) link
i finished & liked the book...i think maybe less than i liked eileen? i dont have any issue w the end, fully understood & knew 9/11 was gonna be implicated here
― johnny crunch, Tuesday, 24 July 2018 01:54 (five years ago) link
the end as a set of snapshots, step out into a new world, felt poignant to me w/e. old person on a bench how did they get there. self-observation so much different than eileen but also the same. a person observing themselves 200+ pages but stillcompelling?like alfred says, squalor, lotta pages of itnothing compares to the short stories for me, havent read mcgluedont ever read interviews of anyone ever obv why u torturing urselves
― alomar lines, Tuesday, 24 July 2018 05:44 (five years ago) link
― johnny crunch, Monday, July 23, 2018 9:54 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
m/l my thoughts, though reiterating that certain characters work in the world trade center pretty much robs the rest of the book of suspense. i suppose the ending could be read as a final indictment of the vacuity and banal selfishness of the narrator.
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 24 July 2018 06:15 (five years ago) link
Great interview with OM on the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast today. Behind a paywall but worth it: https://www.patreon.com/posts/b-e-e-podcast-10-21822014
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 18:06 (five years ago) link
the novel she's working on now 1) stars a Chinese cross dresser 2) the first chapter is narrated by a ghost
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 18:49 (five years ago) link
reading this while depressed and in a fog of over-sleeping + barely leaving my apartment has been quite the trip
― flopson, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:35 (five years ago) link
Omg, I had the same experience. Sent me in to a total tailspin. I gave it to my wife and she got depressed, too. Not recommended (or highly recommended) for delicate readers feeling anxious or hopeless about current events.
― Yelploaf, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:43 (five years ago) link
the psychiatrist is just the best though
― flappy bird, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:48 (five years ago) link
Yeah, Dr. Tuttle the best drawn character imo.
― Yelploaf, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:51 (five years ago) link
despite the descriptions of her having red hair I always picture her as Fran Lebowitz
― flappy bird, Sunday, 7 October 2018 20:53 (five years ago) link
Reading her short stories. She’s good with conception, setup, and details, but shit on endings
― calstars, Sunday, 20 January 2019 19:17 (five years ago) link
Who is good at endings, though?
― Philip Nunez, Tuesday, 22 January 2019 16:08 (five years ago) link
'my year' is the worst thing i have read since 'ready player one'
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 06:06 (five years ago) link
the sort of sub-lanchesterian satire-adjacent archness of it
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 06:53 (five years ago) link
the (tongue-in-cheek? or genuinely fucking stupid?) september 11th 2001 millenarianism
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 06:54 (five years ago) link
this is otm:
It read like an attenuated short story, extended beyond its scope.
though i think alfred is actually referring to her other book there
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 06:57 (five years ago) link
tin ear approaching lanchesterian proportions also. i just got to the bit where the narrator orders “a case of sexual lubricant” which is good enough for the man himself almost
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 15:42 (five years ago) link
that tic of novels trying to prove a point about their new yorkiness by playing mad libs with ETHNICITY + SERVICE INDUSTRY
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 15:48 (five years ago) link
the laotian lady at the korean beauticians messed up when she was threading my eyebrows so i bought a cannoli from the iraqis at the jewish delicatessen and ordered a sicilian pizza from the sephardic jews at the Italian restaurant and hoped they’d send me the cute eritrean delivery driver
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, 24 January 2019 15:51 (five years ago) link
have you read anything else by her
― flappy bird, Thursday, 24 January 2019 16:31 (five years ago) link
hough i think alfred is actually referring to her other book there
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp),
yeah -- Eileen
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 24 January 2019 16:32 (five years ago) link
no one knows who lanchester is thom
― flopson, Thursday, 24 January 2019 17:48 (five years ago) link
she nailed the ending in Eileen imo, and the stories are impeccably constructed. I didn't like MYORAR at all though.
― flappy bird, Thursday, 24 January 2019 17:50 (five years ago) link
it made me laugh a few times but a bit of a letdown tho i had high expectations
― flopson, Thursday, 24 January 2019 17:53 (five years ago) link
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:48 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Thursday, January 24, 2019 10:51 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
lmao
― flopson, Thursday, 24 January 2019 17:54 (five years ago) link
If you haven’t read the John Lanchester thread you should leave ILB and not come back until you are ready to learn
― gray say nah to me (wins), Thursday, 24 January 2019 17:59 (five years ago) link
ay ay captain
― flappy bird, Thursday, 24 January 2019 18:36 (five years ago) link
it’s a good thread but i categorically object to american writers being called lanchesteresque. also otessa has a great ear imo
― flopson, Thursday, 24 January 2019 18:37 (five years ago) link
Who the fuck is John Lanchester?
― calstars, Thursday, 24 January 2019 20:10 (five years ago) link
― gray say nah to me (wins), Thursday, 24 January 2019 20:13 (five years ago) link
― flappy bird, Thursday, 24 January 2019 21:02 (five years ago) link
And what does he have to do with OM?
― calstars, Thursday, 24 January 2019 21:24 (five years ago) link
― gray say nah to me (wins), Thursday, 24 January 2019 21:32 (five years ago) link
Take it to the JL thread
― calstars, Thursday, 24 January 2019 23:02 (five years ago) link
Read “A Dark and Winding Road” from the short stories and hated it, but "sub-Lanchester" is a bit of a low blow.
Maybe I picked the wrong story? It felt very I WILL SHOCK YOU, like the annoying over-talkative person at a party
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 25 January 2019 00:29 (five years ago) link
I don’t mean to sound down on her, she’s brought me a good deal of pleasure. Still reading the short stories but will definitely go on to Eileen and Year. It’s just the endings...dark and winding is a good example of how she tries to up-end / shock the reader. Or “the beach boy” which isn’t very interesting to start with and just kind of putters to a stall. I know short stories are hard to end well - it takes a good measure of poetry. Maybe I’m being too hard on her.
― calstars, Friday, 25 January 2019 00:38 (five years ago) link
Stories okay but at least we had Nirvana
― FernandoHierro, Friday, 25 January 2019 00:39 (five years ago) link
(if the end of the short story is shit then it is a fail, I liked her collection a lot but also feel many great writers finish stories well)
― FernandoHierro, Friday, 25 January 2019 00:42 (five years ago) link
What's considered a good ending though, especially when it's not particularly plot oriented?
― Philip Nunez, Friday, 25 January 2019 01:03 (five years ago) link
I'm rereading Flannery O'Connoor, and, boy, she could end'em, sometimes at the risk of being reductive.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 25 January 2019 01:04 (five years ago) link
she sold her hair to buy him a watch chain - but he sold his watch to buy her a set of combs
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Friday, 25 January 2019 01:11 (five years ago) link
I'm only answering this because I just read it, but Robert Aickman's short story "The Inner Room" has a *great* ending
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 25 January 2019 01:19 (five years ago) link
the extent of the american annoyance at comparing a bad book of yours to one of ours is half amusing and half dispiriting
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Friday, 25 January 2019 02:33 (five years ago) link
and i haven’t read the others. mcglue sounds .. more amenable? .. and certainly it is possible for writers of talent to produce bad books so i might give her another go. but this one just seems a spectacular series of own goals and self-owns
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Friday, 25 January 2019 02:39 (five years ago) link