Group Read

[Matthew McKeever]

(I don't know if it's a done thing to introduce oneself if new, but if so:
hi, I'm Matt, here having heard about the group read on twitter. If not,
ignore this parenthesis.)

I've always thought that about holidays, that it was kind of like authorial
cheating. I feel like there's a ton of examples I can't bring to mind
(although it could be I'm thinking instead of the TV trope of having a
Christmas episode where dysfunctional families congregate). A couple of
months ago I read The Blood Miracles by Irish author Lisa McInerney, and
while I thought it was very good and evocative, at least some of that was
because it was set at Christmas, and thus particularly apt to evoke things.

On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 7:10 PM, Smoke Teff <smoketeff at gmail.com> wrote:

> Re Christmas...
>
> Your question, Mark, reminds me of something Richard Ford once said. He
> was talking about his trilogy of Frank Bascombe novels, each of which is
> set on an American holiday.
>
> He said something like...
>
> American holidays come loaded with so much tradition and received meaning,
> that they inflect everything and everyone they touch with a kind of
> powerful spirit, a reaction to/against the holiday itself. He describes
> setting a novel on a holiday as almost like authorial cheating, raising the
> stakes for characters and readers alike.
>
> On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 12:13 PM, Mike Sauve <mpsauve at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> This is a huge overgeneralization, but the whole pre-America portion is
>> the most forgivable during which to suspend the "why" question. It's also
>> when it will come up the most, but upon first read, unless you're the type
>> to research and make notes of every page for that kind of
>> comprehension--it's this part you can just let wash over you, enjoy the
>> repartee, the jokes, etc. The East India Company and Clive of Fucking India
>> and all that is contextually important, but if you're not 100% clear on the
>> forces at work in the beginning, know that the narrative gains a far
>> greater cohesion and clarity once they reach the good old US of A.
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 10:08 AM, L E Bryan <lebryan at sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>>> I seem to always get stuck on “WHY?” questions.
>>>
>>> But, of course there is that favorite advent section of GR with Roger
>>> and Jessica. I read it out loud to my friends - when I have any that will
>>> tolerate my idiosyncrasies  - or just to myself around this time of year.
>>>
>>> Lawrence, who started M&D again, last night…
>>>
>>>
>>> > On Dec 21, 2017, at 2:08 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > Simple banal observation which, like everything in this great writer,
>>> > can lead to good discussion:
>>> >
>>> > V and M & D begin in winter, near Christmas. Seemingly P's favorite
>>> holiday.
>>> >
>>> > True? and why?
>>>
>>> -
>>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>>>
>>
>>
>


-- 
PhD,St Andrews
Editorial Assistant, *Inquiry*
Symposium and Special Issue Coordinator,* Inquiry*.
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