Master of Petersburg

[kelber at mindspring.com]

I've jumped in and started reading Master of Petersburg.  I needed an antidote to The Savage Detectives by Robert Bolano, which I gave myself permission to stop reading halfway through.  That book struck me as an emotionally arid ego trip.  I'm only 50 pages into Master.  I was a little put off at first by the, not pretentious, but overly literary writing style.  I kind of have a horror of books that can be described as "well crafted" - heavy on style, weak on content.  I'm not far enough along to decide whether Master falls into that category.

I wouldn't describe Cormac M. as pretentious (I've only read Blood Meridian, and I've seen the movie of No Country for Old Men, so I'm no great authority).  But his apparent obsession (EVIL is afoot and it's something we all have to reckon with) isn't one I share.

Laura



-----Original Message-----
>From: Thomas Eckhardt <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de>
>Sent: Aug 26, 2008 5:02 PM
>To: David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com>
>Cc: Bekah <Bekah0176 at sbcglobal.net>, Lawrence Bryan <lebryan at speakeasy.net>, Richard Ryan <richardryannyc at yahoo.com>, P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: Master of Petersburg
>
>I also enjoy "grim" a bit. Although I think that the protagonist's 
>"strong opinions" fit the description, I have to admit that "Diary of a 
>Bad Year" can be outright funny (something I thought I'd never say about 
>anything written by Coetzee). As for the hot babe as psychopomp, perhaps 
>Coetzee has given up subtlety at the same time as grimness...
>
>More generally speaking, there is a fine line in literature between 
>grimness/darkness of world view and pretentiousness. I don't think 
>Coetzee is pretentious, but I imagine that the charge could be brought 
>up against him. I am also thinking of Cormac McCarthy whom I have not 
>read. Any thoughts?
>
>Thomas
>
>