Dirty But Clean

Some links on Vernon God Little, for those interested in writing about this novel.

First, as the lecture stresses, this book is so thoroughly a 21st-century remix of Salinger's Catcher in the Rye (1951) that you'll need to read that novel -- if you haven't already done so (and if you haven't already done so then ... why on earth not?)

One angle I'd like to discuss has to do with narrative voice, and the notion of character as performance. And talking of that, by way of overcoming my natural hesitation at straying from proper lit-crit into biography, to what extent do you think the novel's success had to do with Pierre's creation of a media-friendly authorial 'persona' or 'character'? Have a look at this for instance; and this, and see what you think.

On the subject of making comedy out of the Columbine School Massacre: do you think this is funny? How does it compare to Pierre's approach?

Vernon God Little

WEEK 5. D.B.C. PIERRE, VERNON GOD LITTLE (2003)

‘The winner was the Mexican-Australian first-time novelist Peter Finlay: a man who, we learned at the weekend, enjoyed a past life as gambling-addicted junkie con-artist who sold his best friend’s house and fled with the cash. (This is a charge levelled insufficiently often, for my tastes, against Anita Brookner)’ – Sam Leith
D.B.C. Pierre (a.k.a. Peter Finlay) was born in Australia to English parents, has lived in Mexico and the United States and was resident in Ireland when he won the Booker. Vernon God Little was his first novel. His second, Ludmila’s Broken English, was published in 2006.

Editions:

D.B.C. Pierre, Vernon God Little, (London: Faber and Faber, 2003).

2003 Shortlist:

Monica Ali, Brick Lane
Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake
Damon Galgut, The Good Doctor
Zoë Heller, Notes on a Scandal
Clare Morrall, Astonishing Splashes of Colour
D.B.C. Pierre, Vernon God Little

2003 Judges:

John Carey (chair), D.J. Taylor, Rebecca Stephens, Francine Stock, A.C. Grayling

Topics:

• A Taste for Scandal.
• Ventriloquy and Originality.
• The Non-American American Novel.

Reviews:

Carrie O’Grady, ‘Lone Star’, The Guardian, (18 January 2003).
Jonathan Heawood, ‘Growing Up With Jesus’, The Observer, (19 January 2003).
Sam Leith, ‘Springer’s America’, The Daily Telegraph, (25 January 2003).
Marianne Brace, ‘A Huckleberry Finn for the Eminem Generation’, Independent, (3 February 2003).
David Robson, ‘Who Dies? You Decide’, The Sunday Telegraph, (23 February 2003).
M. Kakutani, ‘Deep in the Heart of Texas (Via Australia)’, New York Times, (5 November 2003).
Sam Sifton, ‘Holden Caulfield on Ritalin’, New York Times Book Review, (9 November 2003).
James Wood, ‘The Lie-World’, London Review of Books, (20 November 2003).
Chris Lehmann, ‘Dumb and Dumber’, Washington Post, (2 December 2003).

Note: there are some interesting things in several of these reviews, but the meatiest and most useful is the James Wood LRB piece, linked above.

Fiction and truth

Some interesting discussions in seminar today about 'fiction' (aka 'lying') and 'truth', occasioned in particular by the way Martel's Life of Pi sets two alternate stories, one 'better' than the other, as explanations of the events of his life. We all agreed that it's good to tell the truth and bad to lie, but didn't seem to certain on what grounds, exactly, we wanted to defend fiction as 'the lie that tells the truth'.

This is, as we mentioned, a large and continuing philosophical and literary-theoretical debate, one core to the very notion of 'fiction' as something more than just pleasing but mendacious escapist fantasies. Here are some links, although they only scratch the surface.

The granddaddy of debates about the status of 'truth' is Nietzsche. Read, if you're interested, 'Of Truth and Lies in a Non-Moral Sense' (1873: it's not long. The wikipedia page on this famous essay is useful). Lee Spinks's introductory guide to Nietzsche is very helpful, I think: read p.44f. on the 'Truth and Lies' essay.

Also very interesting on 'truth' and literature is philosopher Martha Nussbaum. Read her Love's Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature (1990)--a philosophical text, but accessibly written and covering a good deal of this material. [A fair-sized chunk of the book is available at that google-books link, there; the whole thing is in the library]. There's also Geoffrey Galt Harpham's essay on Nussbaum's thought, 'The Hunger of Martha Nussbaum' [Representations, No. 77 (Winter, 2002), pp. 52-81], which might help you get a handle on what she is saying. For example:

While, for Derrida, "literary" figuration undercuts the truth-function of language and this interferes with philosophy's ability to guide and instruct, Nussbaum sees the matter differently. For her, literature, centered in plot and character, both reveals the true nature of ethical decision-making as a constant testing of general principle against specific instances and, because of its superior vivacity, teaches virtue far more directly and effectively than philosophy ever could. ... Derrida's approach to texts presumes their alien character, their refusal to lend themselves to their readers' purposes, their insistence on remaining "undecidable" and thereby requiring readers to remain in a state of unsettled inqujiry. Nussbaum, by sharp contrast, insistently blurs the distinction between books and life, recognizing no such refusal, no such undecidability, no such submission. [56-7]

Which party do you side with, I wonder -- Derrida or Nussbaum?

Animal Fables

As I mention, animal fables have a long history in human culture. Probably the best book on the way 'beasts' have signified in human culture and self-image is by the philosopher Mary Midgeley: it is called Beast and Man: the Roots of Human Nature (1978; rev; ed., Routledge 2002), is in the library, but is also available (or at least, a good chunk of it is) free to read on Google Books.

Martel links

Rather thin on the ground, these: though there are some interesting reviews in the previous post.

Here's one interesting article: June Dwyer, 'Yann Martel's Life of Pi and the Evolution of the Shipwreck Narrative', Modern Language Studies (35:2, 2005), pp. 9-21

James Mensch, 'The Intertwining of Incommensurables: Martel's Life of Pi', in Corinne Painter and Christian Lotz (eds), Phenomenology and the Non-human Animal: at the Limits of Experience (Volume 56 of Contributions to phenomenology; Springer 2007). This is an interesting essay, but be warned: it's hard philosophy rather than literary criticism (the book's blurb: 'The question of the relation between human and non-human animals in theoretical, ethical and political regards has become a prominent topic within the philosophical debates of the last two decades. This volume explores in substantial ways how phenomenology can contribute to these debates. It offers specific insights into the description and interpretation of the experience of the non-human animal, the relation between phenomenology and anthropology, the relation between phenomenology and psychology, as well as ethical considerations')

Most of Christine Lorre's essay on the novel is available on google books.

You might enjoy Merritt Moseley's overview of 'The Booker Prizes for 2001 and 2002: Cool Young Authors and Old Codgers' The Sewanee Review (111:1 2003), pp. 157-169

Also: I mention in lecture the plagiarism row that flared after Martel won the prize: the accusation being that he had lifted important elements straight from the Brazilian novelist Moacyr Scliar's novel Max and the Cats. You can read more about that here, and here. Scliar's prior novel is about a young boy stranded in a lifeboat with a panther, you know. Martel's own account 'How I Wrote Life of Pi' isn't very forthcoming on this topic. On the other hand, this Library Journal article is rather forgiving to Martel. Some interesting questions about plagiary raised here, I'd say: relevant to the novel (but also to students writing essays and so on)

Martel, Life of Pi

WEEK 4. YANN MARTEL, LIFE OF PI (2002)

‘It is as the author says, a novel which will make you believe in God – or ask yourself why you don’t’ – Lisa Jardine

‘It is the nugget of a good idea, but it is spread out over 300 pages by an author who seems to have a knack for making the fantastic seem utterly mundane’ – Finlo Rohrer

Yann Martel was born in Spain, lives in Montreal, speaks French as a first language and writes fiction in English. His third book, Life of Pi, won the first Booker Prize to be sponsored by the financial services group Man (known from then on, officially, as the ‘Man Booker Prize’).

Editions:

Yann Martel, Life of Pi, (Edinburgh: Canongate, 2002; Edinburgh: Canongate, 2003).

2002 Shortlist:

Yann Martel, Life of Pi
Rohinton Mistry, Family Matters
Carol Shields, Unless
William Trevor, The Story of Lucy Gault
Sarah Waters, Fingersmith
Tim Winton, Dirt Music

2002 Judges:

Lisa Jardine (chair), David Baddiel, Russell Celyn Jones, Salley Vickers, Erica Wagner

Topics:

• Children and Animals.
• The Concept of ‘Fun’: Sexing Up the Booker Prize.
• Narrative and Belief.

Reviews:

Justine Jordan, ‘Animal Magnetism’, The Guardian, (25 May 2002)
Tim Adams, ‘A Fishy Tale’, The Observer, (26 May 2002)
Judith Palmer, ‘Life of Pi’, The Independent, (22 June 2002)
Jonathan Kiefer, ‘Fascinating Life of Pi Gives Readers a Reason to Believe’, San Francisco Chronicle, (23 June 2002)
Gary Krist, ‘Taming the Tiger’, New York Times Book Review, (7 July 2002)
Bryan Walsh, ‘Castaway with Karma’, Time, CLX, vi (2 September 2002)

Some Carey Links

[1] In the lecture I make reference to the 'Jerilderie Letter', the most significant surviving example of Kelly's own writing. You can see a facsimile of this letter here, or read the whole thing more easily on wikisource.

[2] Google books has most of this collection of essays on Peter Carey's fiction edited by Andreas Gaile, Fabulating Beauty: Perspectives on the Fiction of Peter Carey (Amsterdam, Rodopi, 2005), including the following (or most of the text of the following):

'A Contrarian Streak': an interview with Carey.

Carolyn Bliss, '"Lies and Silences": Cultural Masterplots and Existential Authenticity in Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang'

Susan K Martin, 'Dead White Male Heroes: True History of the Kelly Gang and Ned Kelly in Australian Fiction'

[3] If you're interested in the historical Ned Kelly (and who wouldn't be, especially after reading Carey's novel) there's a wealth of material online. Wikipedia is not always to be relied upon, of course, but their page on Kelly is pretty good, and contains links to a deal of other sites.

[4] Also, since this is a course on literary prizes, you may be interested to discover that the Crime Writers Association of Australia run The Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing.

Week 3: Kell and the Gang

WEEK 3. PETER CAREY, TRUE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG (2001)

‘I think they only gave it to me out of sympathy because they know I’ve never won the Booker’ – Beryl Bainbridge on being made a Dame of the British Empire in 2001

Peter Carey was born in Australia in 1943. True History of the Kelly Gang was his second Booker winner: the first was Oscar and Lucinda in 1988; Illywhacker was shortlisted in 1985.

Editions:

Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang, (London: Faber and Faber, 2001).

2001 Shortlist:

Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
Ian McEwan, Atonement
Andrew Miller, Oxygen
David Mitchell, number9dream
Rachel Seiffert, The Dark Room
Ali Smith, Hotel World

2001 Judges:

Kenneth Baker (chair), Michele Roberts, Kate Summerscale, Philip Hensher, Prof. Rory Watson

Topics:

• The Booker Prize and the ‘Two Horse Race’.
• Australia: Fact and Fiction.
• History and Venriloquy.

Reviews:

Robert Edric, ‘Remaking Ned’, (6 January 2001)The Guardian
Jane Rogers, ‘Remaking the Myth’, The Observer, (7 January 2001)

Ruth Scurr, ‘One Mother’s Son’, The Times, (10 January 2001)

John de Falbe, ‘The Reluctant Outlaw’, The Spectator, (13 January 2001)
Kathy Marks, ‘Hero or Villain?’, Independent, (19 November 2001)
D J Taylor, 'A ventriloquist's tale', New Statesmen (8 January 2001)

Further Reading:

Ian McEwan, Atonement, (London: Jonathan Cape, 2001). Though reading any of the shortlisted novels listed in this booklet would be a useful exercise, Atonement is a special case, because it won the first ‘People’s Booker’, voted for by members of the general public, thereby opening up a whole new can of worms: possibly in response, the 2001 judges broke sharply with tradition to give explanations as to why they hadn’t awarded the prize to McEwan.

Newsnight Review, BBC2 11pm 9th October 2009

Tune into the abovementioned show at the abovementioned time: apparently the panel will be discussing this year's Booker shortlist and the notable absence of science fiction from it. A little bird tells me that your course leader may be mentioned in passing, or if not mentioned then at least a screen shot of my latest novel may be briefly visible. Which is exciting, obviously. Well, for me at any rate.

More details here.

[10th Oct: rather anticlimactic in the end: brief shot of the cover of Yelllow Blue Tibia, but nothing to say who wrote it, which (since this happened in the middle of a discussion of the new Hitchhiker's Guide novel) may lead people to believe that it was written by Eoin Coifer. Ah well.]

Mantel wins

To quote the Guardian: 'Hilary Mantel wins the 2009 Booker prize for her fictionalised life of Thomas Cromwell, Wolf Hall.'

Her victory is all the more impressive because this year's shortlist was widely seen as one of the strongest in years and included former winners JM Coetzee and AS Byatt.

Naughtie said the "ridiculous" odds of 16-1 originally given to Wolf Hall when the longlist was announced probably led to the betting bonanza. After the shortlist was announced the novel became easily the fastest seller, accounting for 45% of all the shortlisted books' sales, according to Amazon, although Sarah Waters's The Little Stranger has sold more overall.

Naughtie said the voting process had been spirited and friendly. "There was no blood on the carpet. We parted good friends. When we gathered this morning none of us knew which book was going to win," he said. "I think we all felt exhausted at the end of the process but there was real feeling that we had found a book that was worthy of the prize."

Mantel said she has started work on the sequel to Wolf Hall, which will be titled The Mirror And The Light. "What I have got at the moment is a huge box of notes," she added.

So there you go: you now know which book we'll be reading for the week 11 class. You can see what I thought of it by going to the sidebar (to the right) and scrolling down to the links gathered under the heading '2009 Man Booker Shortlist reviews'; but I'm more interested in your response. Seek it out, in the local public libraries, in bookshops and amazon. Have a read

Booker Prize 2000

Check out this Merritt Moseley article on 'The Booker Prize for 2000' [The Sewanee Review, Vol. 109, No. 3 (Summer, 2001), pp. 438-446]. It contains some interesting ruminations on the UK literary prize-giving scene, and on the particular Booker shortlist for that year. Moseley thinks only the Kneale and the Atwood titles had any business being on the list, although he also notes some striking features of the list as a whole:

Robert Crum, literary editor of the Observer, wrote in November that the present day is the "golden age of the arts prize"--and that (because England is "philistine, xenophobic and culturally underfed") such prizes serve a useful purpose. The problem is keeping people excited about them. Perhaps to inject some thrill, the Booker Prize judges took a "leap in the dark" by shortlisting four unknowns-- i.e. all but Ishiguro, a previous Booker winner, and Atwood, already nominated three times. McCrum concludes sadly that they then "equipped themselves with Very lights and parachutes, bumping down to earth with the predictable and disappointingly conventional choice of Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin".

What do you think of McCrum's assessment of the UK, "philistine, xenophobic and culturally underfed"? (That's you he's talking about, you know). Here are some more contemporary journalistic responses:

Dalya Alberge observed in the Times that "none of the six novels contending for Britain's most prestigious literary award is set in modern Britain." ... The Independent's literary editor, Boyd Tonkin, pointed out that half the shortlisted authors live in North America ... Critics observed other oddities about the list: for instance, all the novels rely largely on interior monologue, and all but English Passengers disrupt and fragment chronology (and [English Passengers] uses multiple narrators); what is even weirder is that four authors use the resources of the detective story ...

Some Atwood Links

Here are a few things that you may find useful if you're thinking about, or writing about, Margaret Atwood.

[1] David Ketterer, '"Another Dimension of Space": Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy and Atwood's Blind Assassin', in Jean-François Leroux and Camille R. La Bossière (eds), Worlds of Wonder: Readings in Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature (University of Ottawa Press, 2004) An essay in a critical collection. This includes a useful interview between Ketterer and Atwood about the novel: I quote from the interview at some length in the lecture.

[2] Eleonora Rao, 'Home and nation in Margaret Atwood's later fiction' in Coral Ann Howells (ed), The Cambridge companion to Margaret Atwood (CUP 2006) Interesting discussion of home and estrangement in Atwood's later writing, including the Blind Assassin.

[3] Nathalie Cooke, Margaret Atwood: a Critical Companion (Greenwood Press 2004) Some useful things here, although (sadly) the chapter on Blind Assassin is not one of the ones available for google-books viewing.

[4] Coral Ann Howells, '"Don't Ever Ask For The True Story": Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace and The Blind Assassin' in Contemporary Canadian Women's Fiction: Refiguring Identities (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003)

Atwood's latest novel, the SF/dystopian Year of the Flood (2009) has been widely reviewed, not least by your course tutor, here.

Week 2: Atwood's Blind Assassin

WEEK 2. MARGARET ATWOOD, THE BLIND ASSASSIN (2000)

‘In 30 years, there hasn’t previously been a time when I have felt unable to forecast a winner. This year any of the six could win’ – Martyn Goff

Margaret Atwood was born in Ottawa in 1939. She won the Booker Prize in 2000 having previously been shortlisted three times, for Alias Grace in 1996, for Cat’s Eye in 1989 and for The Handmaid’s Tale in 1986. Her novel, Oryx and Crake, was shortlisted for the 2003 Man Booker Prize.

Editions:

Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin, (London: Bloomsbury, 2000; London: Virago, 2001).

2000 Shortlist:

Margaret Atwood, The Blind Assassin
Trezza Azzopardi, The Hiding Place
Michael Collins, The Keepers of Truth
Kazuo Ishiguro, When We Were Orphans
Matthew Kneale, English Passengers
Brian O’Doherty, The Deposition of Father McGreevy

2000 Judges:

Simon Jenkins (chair), Prof. Roy Foster, Mariella Frostrup, Rose Tremain, Caroline Gascoigne

Topics:

• Genre Fiction and Mixed Genres.
• The Family and History.
• Literary Reputation.

Reviews:

Thomas Mallon, ‘Wheels Within Wheels’, New York Times Book Review, (3 September 2000), 7
Adam Mars-Jones, ‘Where Women Grow on Trees’, The Observer, (17 September 2000)
John Updike, ‘Love and Loss on Zycron’, New Yorker, (18 September 2000), 142-5 [partial link]
Lorna Sage, ‘Sisterly Sentiments’, Times Literary Supplement, (29 September 2000), 24
Alex Clark, ‘Vanishing Act’, The Guardian (30 September 2000)
Margaret Anne Doody, London Review of Books, XXII, xix (5 October 2000), 27 [partial link]
Karen Houppert, 'The Blind Assassin', Salon.com [Sept. 12, 2000]

An interview with Atwood from just after the publication of The Blind Assassin.