tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959297.post1073681698764106715..comments2024-03-21T07:37:30.475-04:00Comments on Light reading: Timor mortisJenny Davidsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02295436498255927522noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959297.post-14973236665762745072007-01-12T23:13:00.000-05:002007-01-12T23:13:00.000-05:00Not really a comment on the literary style, but I ...Not really a comment on the literary style, but I was quite struck by that passage you quoted. A close friend of mine died unexpectedly a couple months ago. He didn't know that he was sick, but based on several things he said and did beforehand, I think his 'animal instinct' did know. Postcards from the future, that he didn't know how to read any better than anyone else did.<br />(I too became very disorganized/slow-moving as an effect of his death, taking ages to get anywhere or get out of the house. In fact I am still kind of that way two months on...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959297.post-36142732608102129912007-01-12T09:49:00.000-05:002007-01-12T09:49:00.000-05:00Oh, I hope I haven't left the impression that I on...Oh, I hope I haven't left the impression that I only approve of unobtrusive style--I like many kinds of obtrusive style also (particularly in first-person voices)--just that I feel that this novel's craftiness may be underappreciated because of its accessibility.Jenny Davidsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02295436498255927522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959297.post-32201030393998755362007-01-12T02:27:00.000-05:002007-01-12T02:27:00.000-05:00A fascinating post which makes me want to run out ...A fascinating post which makes me want to run out and read some Boyd. I don't agree entirely about unobstrusiveness, however, which is one of those truisms which are so beloved of writing teachers and editors, containing some truth but hardly all of it. There's bad obtrusive, i.e. technically unskilled, but also excellent obtrusive prose. In fact, two of the books you've praised recently - <i>Octavian Nothing</i> and <i>The Echo Maker</i> - contain anything but unobtrusive writing, though of course for different reasons.Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13770069472552779217noreply@blogger.com