VERNON GOD LITTLE
Is it a literary novel? Since it won the Man Booker award this year, you suppose so. But as you read through a few pages, you feel this is not your expected stuff. Rather it reads like a fast-paced thriller spiced up with f-words, besides those usual ingredients. It, however, revolves around a serious theme.
Vernon, a sixteen-year-old Texas school student gets framed by an apparently firm administration for a carnage committed by his classmate. The greedy media blows it up, projecting the boy as the murderer and seeks to reap monetary benifit out of it. The boy's mother, a widow who is determined to shape up his life with a new partner, collaborates meekly with the media --of course for material gains. In the end, however, Vernon gets saved just before the hanging, thanks to Providence and his attorney. In a somewhat unbelievable way, though.
The novel is a scathing and eloquent commentary on current American culture and life. But it falls short of good literature because of its somewhat mindless and rambling style.
DBC Pierre has the talent of spinning a yarn in his own voice. He is endowed with insight and knowledge. One wonders why he dealt with a great subject in such a flippant way.
May be he thought the style fit for the degrading culture, which he had not much respect for. I'm not really sure.
MRINAL BOSE
Sunday, January 18, 2004
Thursday, January 08, 2004
PUBLISHING IN THE NEW YEAR
"Write, if you have the right name or face," screams a headline of a daily I subscribe to.
The news story says:Publishers are reducing the number of books they release to concentrate on "big name" authors or "good looking" first-time novelists who are more marketable.
So if you're a struggling author, but not handsome, you're doomed! Your talent's not going to help you. It's as simple as that.
For quite a while, the publishing scenario is changing rapidly without a care for the discerning readers' tastes or sensiblities. The corporate honchos who're out to make money out of book business, are increasingly becoming more and more desperate as the business suffers and their audience falls in number. In an already degraded milieu, the current paradigm shift suggests the beginning of a black period for serious writers and readers.
Brace yourself: the market will be flooded with more trashes by Madonna-like writers targeted at lowest common denominator readers. If you're a serious or eclectic reader, you're left with no choice except to discontinue your reading habit.
MRINAL BOSE
bosenet@vsnl.net
"Write, if you have the right name or face," screams a headline of a daily I subscribe to.
The news story says:Publishers are reducing the number of books they release to concentrate on "big name" authors or "good looking" first-time novelists who are more marketable.
So if you're a struggling author, but not handsome, you're doomed! Your talent's not going to help you. It's as simple as that.
For quite a while, the publishing scenario is changing rapidly without a care for the discerning readers' tastes or sensiblities. The corporate honchos who're out to make money out of book business, are increasingly becoming more and more desperate as the business suffers and their audience falls in number. In an already degraded milieu, the current paradigm shift suggests the beginning of a black period for serious writers and readers.
Brace yourself: the market will be flooded with more trashes by Madonna-like writers targeted at lowest common denominator readers. If you're a serious or eclectic reader, you're left with no choice except to discontinue your reading habit.
MRINAL BOSE
bosenet@vsnl.net
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
