2022 Goldsmiths shortlist - There Are More Things

[Alwynne]

There's even a line from a conversation on a bus picked out in the blurb!

[Paul]

I've hit a bit of a wall with this one. I'm around page 150ish but nothing is making me want to read on, so I'm picking up, reading 2-3 pages and putting it down again.

[Alwynne]

I have a feeling you're not quite the reader the author had in mind!

[Paul]

Well it is more the 400 pages than the politics as that hasn’t even started yet, although if any author has me in mind they wouldn’t write 400 pages.

[endrju]

I wanted to give it 4 stars - it's about queer communists after all - but I couldn't, some of the writing is simply too tedious. I'll read her next novel though.

[David]

Alwynne wrote: "I'm currently reading another novel that, from the sound of things, overlaps with this one so makes it less likely I'll try it, An Experiment in Leisure by Anna Glendenning who was ..."

How is it? I see it's also over 300 pages.

[David]

endrju wrote: "I wanted to give it 4 stars - it's about queer communists after all - but I couldn't, some of the writing is simply too tedious. I'll read her next novel though."

I'm a bit relieved my copy didn't make the transition from warehouse to my mailbox.

[Alwynne]

endrju wrote: "I wanted to give it 4 stars - it's about queer communists after all - but I couldn't, some of the writing is simply too tedious. I'll read her next novel though."

Queer communists are enticing for me too, so that's a huge shame.

[Alwynne]

David wrote: "Alwynne wrote: "I'm currently reading another novel that, from the sound of things, overlaps with this one so makes it less likely I'll try it, An Experiment in Leisure by Anna Glen..."

I'm liking it but not loving it, so far at least.

[Paul]

I’m nearing the end.

It is oddly banal for much of it, although the scenes in Brazil are powerful.

Indeed it makes for an interesting contrast - which I am not sure the author intended as a contrast - between people putting their lives and health at risk (and often dying or getting tortured) taking action against a military dictatorships, and people getting excited because the political party they tried to capture lost a democratic election by less than they expected it to.

[Neil]

I’m reading the Brazil sections now. For me the first bits of those are actually worse than the London stuff. Maybe it gets more interesting.

[Neil]

Also I am surprised by the number of what I think are typos.

[Paul]

No those are Portuguese words :-)

But given the fact check at the end seems to have a glaring and quite important error, a few typos seem rather expected

[Alwynne]

The Glendinning and this seem similar in that there's an emphasis on referencing British shops, products, places that only really works if you recognise and/or know them already. Mainly based in Sheffield and London there are some other overlaps but this is primarily about class, social mobility and identity. The narrator is the first in her family to go to university and studied at Cambridge and now a recent graduate she's finding it hard to position herself in wider society. She feels estranged from her background but not comfortable with her new status post-university. I think it's building on writers like Lynsey Hanley on class and identity and feeling adrift between cultures.

[Alwynne]

Paul wrote: "I’m nearing the end.

It is oddly banal for much of it, although the scenes in Brazil are powerful.

Indeed it makes for an interesting contrast - which I am not sure the author intended as a con..."

I could see how that could be jarring although tbf for those of us who are Labour supporters it was a pretty devastating loss. And I think for some felt like the road to a pretty bleak future. I was more ambivalent about Corbyn so less of a blow in that sense.

[Paul]

This was the 2017 loss which Corbyn himself seemed to think was a victory - the image I have of that is him almost skipping down the stairs, beaming with happiness. Which has someone who had hitherto voted Labour in elections was a jarring result I agree, to see a party captured by a leader who didn’t seem to even want to actually get in to power.

[Alwynne]

Paul wrote: "This was the 2017 loss which Corbyn himself seemed to think was a victory - the image I have of that is him almost skipping down the stairs, beaming with happiness. Which has someone who had hither..."

I agree with you, he spent most of the time leading up to the election, and prior, behaving more like the leader of a campaigning movement than a politician, more comfortable addressing crowds at rallies than in parliament. McDonnell seemed to do all the conventional political work. I had more time for McDonnell as sympathetic to his Gramscian roots but not sure he was cut out for leadership either. Although some of their policies were appealing. I also felt that Corbyn's personality didn't lend itself to negotiation, which seems crucial at Westminster, he was willing to sacrifice everything rather than bend.

[David]

What period of time do the Brazilian chapters cover? That's the part that would have more interest for me.

[Paul]

1969-1974 and 1989-2014

[David]

That definitely sound more interesting (to me).

[Paul]

Fun anecdote (possibly not for repeating but hey). This was originally entirely set in the near present day in London. Then the author was applying for a grant to support the book which was from a library so she had to invent some reason why she needed to consult their archives. So that’s where the historic Brazilian sections come from. Which she now feels is actually the best bit of the book.

[WndyJW]

Serendipity.