The Mookse and the Gripes discussion
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little scratch
The Goldsmiths Prize
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2021 Goldsmiths Prize Shortlist - little scratch
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Oct 06, 2021 12:15PM
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little scratch by Rebecca Watson
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I loved this.
As did I. Although not quite as much as some of the others. But would be a worthy winner.
Judge Nell Stevens said the writing "dances, leaps, skitters and hurtles across the page, reimagining how typography can serve narrative to electrifying effect". She praised the novel for teaching readers "how to read anew, with a choreography of language that dazzles and consumes".
Not quite as much as me I think (the opposite to Isabel or One Sky Day where you were keener than me). I think assembly is our intersection. I would really recommend both getting a paper copy and listening to the audio here as they are different and complementary experiences.
I'm very pleased to see this nominated (had it pegged for last year's list but the UK version wasn't out yet). The second half of the novel didn't quite work for me - it felt like a short story, stretched thin, with an unsatisfying balance of the banal to the profound. That said, I really admired the novel's structure - "choreography of language" is exactly right! I am curious how the audio version compares.
By definition of course it takes out the simultaneity of much of the text streams - but it does I think capture the narrators voice really well and show how the author saw the text coming together.
I should try the audio. I have listened to the author herself on podcasts and she was great there. Does she do the audio?
She does indeed.
Author on the audiobook“It was a strange thing to record as the text is so much about encouraging the reader to make decisions and learn patterns. Instead, it becomes a performance, but it still demands attention and, I think, works. I always heard it in a voice!”.
I reread my own review and see that I have this 3 stars. After time has passed I think my 3 star rating stands.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Been so long since I read this, I have forgotten a bit. I do recommend the audio as well as the text to fully appreciate.
For anyone interested, here is last month's episode of Unsound Methods, where we spoke to Rebecca Watson about her writing process: https://audioboom.com/posts/7940104-r... - and anywhere else you find podcasts. Thanks, J
I definitely recommend listening to that - it was great
I need to find an alternative to Audible. I wish it was possible to rent an audio book for half the cost of buying it.
On the Checkout19 thread I called Rebecca Watson - Rachel Watson (discussing her review of that book for the GT) Just been listening to some of the audio (as that still works and I sold my paper copy) and I just realised this was rather appropriate.
One of the things little scratch plays with us autofiction / there us even I recall a WhatsApp group discussing it.
The narrator does share a lot in common with the author (for example working as an Assistant at a serious newspaper) but by no means everything
The character who is very consciously meant to point more towards the author (and is deliberately portrayed very sympathetically as Watson is having some fun with being able to make herself a likeable character) is actually the mint-tea/in-or-out colleague who we think suspects something of the truth of what happened to the narrator. And the narrator cannot actually remember her name but thinks it begins with R - she thinks of Rachel but is not sure that’s right.
Rachel is mentioned in the book, I didn’t remember that.
Not my favorite (but better than A Shock!) but very important issue. I did not enjoy being in the head of this young woman. My review -- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I listened to the audiobook over last few days. I think the author, who narrates it herself, does a great job of starting with a jokey tone before it dawns on the reader over time what she has suffered. I don’t think you are supposed to enjoy being in her head - she doesn’t enjoy being on her own head - but it was portrayed on both page and audio very effectively.
Agree completely Paul. Luckily this book was short so I was able to stay with it, unlike with Ducks, Newburyport, where I had to exit that head halfway through and will never return. On reflection, this book may be almost as important as Assembly in the subject it addresses. This is the struggle I have with importance and enjoyment for purposes of rating at book.
This is a very interesting discussionRebecca Watson has said that one of the reasons that she introduces the humour in the book is to make it easier to spend time with the narrator; whereas by contrast Natasha Brown has said on a number of occasions that the reason her book is so short is she could not believe anyone would be prepared to spend any longer in the narrator's head (given her passiveness).
I’ve now finished both the book and the audio. Both are excellent. I would put this in the same tier as Sterling and Assembly.
Now Rebecca Watson does her interviewhttps://www.newstatesman.com/culture/...
The stage play (which Gumble is going to see) sounds like a fascinating approach to the novel. Four actors simultaneously playing the narrator
Stage play? Damn you and your adventurous spirit, Ichabod! All the good stuff happens in England.
Assuming I have recovered I will be watching the play yes. Are the New Statesman backing away from the Prize.
Normally these are all in the weekly and print editions but they do not seem to be this year. And the Prize lecture is normally printed at some length as a major feature - no sign of it even online this year (although from what people have said that’s a good thing).
And with one of the authors (in her interview) and the chief judge attacking the Goldsmith itself it feels like odd times for the Prize.
Recovered from Booker? Not a nasty cold I hope.One of the Goldsmith nominated authors and a Goldsmith judge attacked the Goldsmith? Do tell!
That Rebecca Watson interview made me wish I liked the book better. I’m with you, Linda, I struggle to rate a book based on my enjoyment of it while reading it or it’s importance. The discussion of sexual assault or rape is hugely important to discuss and how could a book about that be enjoyable? Although for me it wasn’t about how much I enjoyed the book as much as I thought the style would have worked much better if the book was shorter, it went on too long and got distracting.
Isabel in their official interview for the prize. The chair of judges on her Twitter feed https://twitter.com/nellstevens/statu...And likely other judges/authors as well , I haven’t checked everyone’s public statements.
GY, I hope you recover quickly and aren’t too sick.Shame about the cuts at Goldsmith. It seems the humanities still have to fight for respect as valuable to the human condition.
I've reviewed this one here:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I liked little scratch, especially to begin with - I was wary that it would come across as too gimmicky, but actually I found myself drawn into the character's perspective. Perhaps the book went on a little too long, but I think it deserves its Goldsmiths nod.
While I liked this, I am pleased to see two people now commenting that a 224 page novel was too long. I'll convert you all to 100 page novellas yet!
I like shorter books, I also like medium length books, and some of my favorite books are quite long. I do feel a bit concerned when I see that a book I want to read is much over 300 pages because if it isn’t paced well and doesn’t engage me I won’t push on.
Paul and I went to the play of this this evening. We thought it was excellent.
I was about to post the same thing! Highly recommended for anyone who can get to London.
If I could afford to fly to London from Cleveland for one evening to see this play I would subsidize the RofC prize.Was this a one woman play? Tell us about it. I can easily believe that the play was excellent.
Three women and a man with a polyphonic rendition of the competing voices in the narrator’s head.
The man was narrating the voices in the protagonist’s head?
