Ken’s review of Transcription > Likes and Comments
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Ken, your insight about how certain time periods seem to resist art was truly impressive. It’s a fascinating approach to explaining why Covid settings often feel like an 'unnecessary distraction' in contemporary fiction. It was also so refreshing to hear that this was a 'brisk and cleanly-written work of concision' compared to The Topeka School. Your comparison to door-stoppers like James or Joyce made me smile; sometimes a short and focused craft is exactly what we need, even if it’s not a full-blown love affair.
I always want to like a Ben Lerner book, but just can't get there.
Nick wrote: " I can't place my finger on WHY, but it proves an unnecessary distraction over turf that a lot of us would rather not revisit. It's almost as if the time period resists ART.
I think the reason is ..."
Fair enough. Changes in Europe due to waves of the Bubonic Plague were immense, pretty much finishing the noble class and the abject subjugation of peasants/serfs. With Covid, it would seem almost the opposite occurred, with the advantages shifting to the monied class.
And I'm still waiting for a Wife of Bath, Maine (she'll be a shipbuilder, of course). Maybe it's too soon.
Pia G. wrote: "Ken, your insight about how certain time periods seem to resist art was truly impressive. It’s a fascinating approach to explaining why Covid settings often feel like an 'unnecessary distraction' i..."
Thank you, Pia. And yes, there's something to be said about a novella (however defined) after slogging through big books with serpentine sentences where the author seems to be showing off. A literary palate cleanser, indeed!
Drew wrote: "I always want to like a Ben Lerner book, but just can't get there."
Similar conclusion here. And I could swear I read The Hatred of Poetry, a long essay by Lerner, but if I did, I forgot to log it here and totally forget what I thought of it. All I know is that it is still around and thriving.
Good review. New-to-me author; can't say I'm enticed! Have you read/reviewed any of his poetry?
Interesting that your commenters (including me) choose to focus on the topic of COVID books. I read one that I found very successful: Lucy by the Sea. I loved it, and it started me on an Elizabeth Strout binge.
Caterina wrote: "Good review. New-to-me author; can't say I'm enticed! Have you read/reviewed any of his poetry?
Interesting that your commenters (including me) choose to focus on the topic of COVID books. I read..."
I have not read his poetry and I really should. I'll check to see if there's a Lerner collection in Maine's public libraries. Gotta be.
Thx for the Strout shout-out. Lot's of 4- and 5-star review from friends on Goodreads, with the exception of Matthew Ted, who gave it a 1 and cited (wait for it) COVID! ;-)
Yes - I did 'see what you did there' Ken!! Great review and thanks for making it accessible to us standard punters. I came out in hives when you mentioned 'that word' my last couple of years working in health were during those times and it was dreadful. Great review as usual :))
Mark wrote: "Yes - I did 'see what you did there' Ken!! Great review and thanks for making it accessible to us standard punters. I came out in hives when you mentioned 'that word' my last couple of years workin..."
Thanks, Mark. Parenthetical "see what I did's" are like explaining jokes--bad form--but I try not to do it so often. And if you were in health during those Dark Ages, you know better than anyone! It was yeoman's duty and all hands on deck, which we all appreciate!
Loved your observation about Covid novels. So true!
Anne wrote: "Loved your observation about Covid novels. So true!"
Thank you. Maybe we'll never be ready. I'd prefer sticking to Black Death novels, thank you.
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Ken, your insight about how certain time periods seem to resist art was truly impressive. It’s a fascinating approach to explaining why Covid settings often feel like an 'unnecessary distraction' in contemporary fiction. It was also so refreshing to hear that this was a 'brisk and cleanly-written work of concision' compared to The Topeka School. Your comparison to door-stoppers like James or Joyce made me smile; sometimes a short and focused craft is exactly what we need, even if it’s not a full-blown love affair.
I always want to like a Ben Lerner book, but just can't get there.
Nick wrote: " I can't place my finger on WHY, but it proves an unnecessary distraction over turf that a lot of us would rather not revisit. It's almost as if the time period resists ART.I think the reason is ..."
Fair enough. Changes in Europe due to waves of the Bubonic Plague were immense, pretty much finishing the noble class and the abject subjugation of peasants/serfs. With Covid, it would seem almost the opposite occurred, with the advantages shifting to the monied class.
And I'm still waiting for a Wife of Bath, Maine (she'll be a shipbuilder, of course). Maybe it's too soon.
Pia G. wrote: "Ken, your insight about how certain time periods seem to resist art was truly impressive. It’s a fascinating approach to explaining why Covid settings often feel like an 'unnecessary distraction' i..."Thank you, Pia. And yes, there's something to be said about a novella (however defined) after slogging through big books with serpentine sentences where the author seems to be showing off. A literary palate cleanser, indeed!
Drew wrote: "I always want to like a Ben Lerner book, but just can't get there."Similar conclusion here. And I could swear I read The Hatred of Poetry, a long essay by Lerner, but if I did, I forgot to log it here and totally forget what I thought of it. All I know is that it is still around and thriving.
Good review. New-to-me author; can't say I'm enticed! Have you read/reviewed any of his poetry? Interesting that your commenters (including me) choose to focus on the topic of COVID books. I read one that I found very successful: Lucy by the Sea. I loved it, and it started me on an Elizabeth Strout binge.
Caterina wrote: "Good review. New-to-me author; can't say I'm enticed! Have you read/reviewed any of his poetry? Interesting that your commenters (including me) choose to focus on the topic of COVID books. I read..."
I have not read his poetry and I really should. I'll check to see if there's a Lerner collection in Maine's public libraries. Gotta be.
Thx for the Strout shout-out. Lot's of 4- and 5-star review from friends on Goodreads, with the exception of Matthew Ted, who gave it a 1 and cited (wait for it) COVID! ;-)
Yes - I did 'see what you did there' Ken!! Great review and thanks for making it accessible to us standard punters. I came out in hives when you mentioned 'that word' my last couple of years working in health were during those times and it was dreadful. Great review as usual :))
Mark wrote: "Yes - I did 'see what you did there' Ken!! Great review and thanks for making it accessible to us standard punters. I came out in hives when you mentioned 'that word' my last couple of years workin..."Thanks, Mark. Parenthetical "see what I did's" are like explaining jokes--bad form--but I try not to do it so often. And if you were in health during those Dark Ages, you know better than anyone! It was yeoman's duty and all hands on deck, which we all appreciate!
Loved your observation about Covid novels. So true!
Anne wrote: "Loved your observation about Covid novels. So true!"Thank you. Maybe we'll never be ready. I'd prefer sticking to Black Death novels, thank you.
I think the reason is time. It takes time to see the ramifications, historical changes, social shifts. Some of those we're seeing, but they might also be a page in a longer story.
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was set some time after the plague years of the 14thC. But we saw the social shifts as a result of it. England was different because of the plague. Would we have seen the wife of bath before the plague, or the critical eye on the type of characters and their shenanigans especially the religious class without some attitudinal shift?