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Queen Mary Prize (RofC UK)
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2021 RofC longlist - Men and Apparitions
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Hugh, Active moderator
(last edited Feb 04, 2021 08:06AM)
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Feb 04, 2021 04:29AM
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Men and Apparitions by Lynne Tillman (Peninsula Press)
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Nice to see Penisula Press here given they also are publishing 2021's most anticipated book (by me anyway).
This is the first time I’ve heard of Peninsula Press.
WndyJW wrote: "This is the first time I’ve heard of Peninsula Press."Same here
I think they may be publishing Isabel’s next book? Sterling Karat Gold
Yes - the Goldsmith winner 2021 and RoC winner 2022 Sterling Karat Gold is indeed being published by Peninsula. The Instagram live chat between Isabel and Shola von Reinhold (see Lote thread) discusses that and also Shola's new work in progress.
Those who haven't heard of the press didn't read my list of prize contenders!
Blurb for that:Without having done anything wrong, Sterling, an aspiring writer, is one day arrested under the authority of a spurious law. With the help of their three besties, Chachki, Elesin and Rodney, Sterling defies malicious matadors, football legends, leagues of spaceships filling the horizon like tile screensavers, and Google Earth tourists in their pursuit to exonerate themselves and to hold the powers to be to account. None of it is a dream. This is Kafka’s The Trial in the era of gaslighting.
Early days but not really convinced by this - hoping it starts to go somewhere to justify its length.
My engagement level waxed and waned with this one, but overall I liked it. It gets super interesting toward the middle, but gets a bit dry toward the end.
Gumble's Yard wrote: "Early days but not really convinced by this - hoping it starts to go somewhere to justify its length."Oh dear - how long is it?
It's not too terribly long (321 pages on my Kindle). It just that the narrator can be a bit long-winded at times.
Glad you got something from this Debra - I was just extremely bored all the way through. Not kidding.
I can understand that. I also got bored at times and would have liked the book better with half the page count. I think the reason it kept my interest is because it focused on my two favorite hobbies, genealogy and photography.
I think Neil may like it for the same reason.
I have tried to capture what I struggled with about this book and to attempt to give a fair sense of ithttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
And, as predicted by Gumble's Yard, I did indeed like this.Personally, I didn't get bored and was happy with the length. This is probably mainly because the narrative is very bitty and I found myself often asking myself the question "What kind of person, with what kind of history, would jump from this to that?". So, I was trying to read the gaps and jumps to better understand Zeke. Kirkus reviews complains that we don't get to know Zeke, but I completely disagree with that.
Some of the photography comments were a bit of a disappointment for me. This is largely because I have reasonably recently read the "classics" on photography by Barthes, Sontag and Berger and, as the book itself acknowledges, these three are heavy influences so it felt a bit like I was repeating some reading at times.
But overall, I liked it a lot.
I think it was part of my issue that (from some quick googling) the book simply lifted from other writers rather than synthesising and extending them. One of the Goodreads review says something like - "I have read all these ideas before by people who are, you know, like actual photographers"
I much prefer Sagasti's approach
I also prefer Sagasti's approach. Indeed, I am about to re-read A Musical Offering while I wait for my final RoC book to arrive in the post. But I rated this one highly mainly because I agree with the "oddly compelling" statement (in The Spectator): it's hard to explain why I liked it, but I did.
Its great you enjoyed it.
I didn't see this so much as a collection of essays, but as the story of an emotionally immature man who hides behind facts and theories because he can't confront his own feelings and insecurities.
Debra wrote: "I didn't see this so much as a collection of essays, but as the story of an emotionally immature man who hides behind facts and theories because he can't confront his own feelings and insecurities."I think that also serves as a commentary on my review
Debra wrote: "I didn't see this so much as a collection of essays, but as the story of an emotionally immature man who hides behind facts and theories because he can't confront his own feelings and insecurities."Debra, I think we had similar reactions to this because I very much found myself trying to read between the lines to understand Zeke.
Gumble's Yard wrote: "Debra wrote: "I didn't see this so much as a collection of essays, but as the story of an emotionally immature man who hides behind facts and theories because he can't confront his own feelings and..."Shoot, I didn't mean it that way.
No but it was pretty accurate summary :-)
Gumble's Yard wrote: "No but it was pretty accurate summary :-)"I liked Zeke's character for the same geeky reason that Spock was my favorite character on Star Trek (don't laugh). I loved the episodes where his half-human suppressed emotions cracked through his logic-ruled veneer. And when they did, they came through like a raging torrent.
Just like Zeke...
I should’ve seen it coming, the writing on the wall, recognized the patterns, right. Looking outside, I wasn’t looking inside, and I could avoid things right before my eyes, and not know it, like psychologists studying rats and believing they understand themselves. I was extrospective. Kidding. Clueless dumb asshole me.
It's been a bit since I read this, but I remember thinking Tillman had captured a kind of millennial meta-narrative with Zeke sounding almost like a solo Youtuber or podcaster commenting on his own incessant stream of thoughts in real-time. It captured the kind of image-saturated, nonstop documentation that the younger generations have grown up with, but there was a note of hope/optimism that stifling social expectations were opening up.My review here.
Paul wrote: "Yes - the Goldsmith winner 2021 and RoC winner 2022 Sterling Karat Gold is indeed being published by Peninsula. The Instagram live chat between Isabel and Shola von Reinhold (see Lote thread) dis..."
Oh, that's brilliant news. I loved 'We Are Made Of Diamond Stuff', so I'll definitely order Sterling Karat Gold 😃. And 'Men and Apparitions' arrived here last weekend, I hope I'll like it better than some of you.
I think most people here enjoyed M&A Bart - I am in a distinct minority
I've now read 1/3 of M&A but put it aside to the international Booker longlist. My interest fades in and out. Sometimes it causes reflection, but the sometimes I cannot figure out how the title to a section fits with what is written therein. I'll probably return to it.
