The Mookse and the Gripes discussion
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A Lover's Discourse
The Goldsmiths Prize
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2020 Goldsmiths Shortlist - A Lover's Discourse
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Oct 14, 2020 12:10PM
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A Lover's Discourse by Xiaolu Guo
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This is the one that had I admit escaped my notice although GY and Neil had both reviewed it(DBC Pierre one I had wished into forgetting about it)
Best line … “Liverpool versus Arsenal? I had thought arsenal was a weapons factory, I didn’t know it was a football place too”.My review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I struggled with this one. Never crossed my mind it could be Goldsmiths material.
Nor mine although I liked it a little more than you.
For me, it just felt a bit too obviously and carefully constructed and that construction came to dominate and rather took over the book which spoiled it for me. Personal taste, though, and I hope a lot of others enjoy it.
I think the fact that it’s in some ways a rewrite of her previous novel combined with a rewrite of Barthes supports the fact it’s perhaps overly constructed.
Overly constructed sounds perfect Goldsmiths material. You both let Listopia down again!
I struggle with trying to write your first book a bit better being innovative.
I'm teaching a class on literary rewrites, and I must remember to make a case study of this one in our concluding class!
I think I may be over-exaggerating that part Emily - its more it feels very similar to her well known previous novel from what I have read of it.
I feel fortunate to have not read her first book!
Hmmmm Passages like this on German having der/das/die whereas Chinese doesn't even have articles are funny but not terribly profound:
'You don't have any articles?'
'No. Why bother? We save time for something else.'
'Something else like what?'
'Like enjoying the taste of green tea, or staring into a pond, checking out frogs and lotus flowers.'
and the innovative format seems to lean rather heavily on Barthes.
Are you now surprised neither Neil or I thought to add this to the Listopia?
Well it is a less egregious offence that last year, which was inexplicable, but the fact remains that in the last two years I've read 9 of the 12 books and picked them all as contenders, and you have read the other 3 and failed to mention them....NB to add, I think my main issue with this was the Brexit part which felt unnecessary, a bit trite (if she'd linked people's sense of 'home'/belonging - on both sides of the Brexit debate - with the main theme it would have made sense but she didn't).
This was my favourite quote in the book:The murmuring mass of an unknown language constitutes a delicious protection, envelops the foreigner (provided the country is not hostile to him) in an auditory film which halts at his ears all the alienations of the mother tongue: the regional and social origins of whoever is speaking, his degree of culture, of intelligence, of taste, the image by which he constitutes himself as a person and which he asks you to recognize. Hence, in foreign countries, what a respite! Here I am protected against stupidity, vulgarity, vanity, worldliness, nationality, normality
the problem is that is it from Barthes
I liked this book, I didn’t love it, and I don’t think it’s an award worthy book. That Reminds Me was much, much better, more creative and with beautiful prose. I’ve read some of Only a Lodger and Hardly That, it is also more clever and with a propulsive cadence to the prose that shows the reader quite a bit about the mother and about the future of the daughter. Only a Lodger... should have been on the list.
