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Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Not sure what to comment on? Take a look at the Faber reading guide for The Lacuna
I'm reading this at the moment, not very far in yet, but am enjoying it so far :)
I'd not come across the word 'lacuna' before so I've learned something new from this book, and strangely it was used by someone in a meeting at work recently which made me prick up my ears!
The Lacuna is a fictional story about a boy, and then the man, who achieves notoriety in the late forties/early 1950’s, told through a series of diaries and loose manuscripts. The politics of human rights, press paparazzi and sexuality are woven into the novel without judgements being made.
On the whole, I enjoyed the novel but, for me, it was disjointed, possibly because of its epistolary form. I was more interested in the story of the man, rather than the boy and found myself impatient to get into the key parts of the book. For me, therefore, the first hundred and fifty pages or so could have been condensed.
The character of Harrison appears naive. Writers are advised that much material can be collected by being part of the world. Would Harrison been in less trouble if he had taken this maxim to heart?
I like the use of the word Lacuna; it had me reaching for the dictionary. The meaning, with its different connotations was cleverly used in both the title and throughout the novel. I enjoy reading history in fictional form and will be looking for more.
Overall, this is not a writer I would normally read, having tried in the past without success. However, as Barbara Kingsolver is a multiple prize winner and countless others would disagree with me. However, it is wise to remember that each book has its own merits and challenges. As I said earlier, I did enjoy this, with the reservations outlined. So, thank you Reading Group.
well, i find myself struggling (stuck at p169); so far its been a letdown after the poisonwood bible (which we read in the 'real' (!) library reading group some time ago); i find the title, and the structure, rather clumsy and obvious, as if she's trying a bit too hard to explain her methods to dim readers, eg: her pedantic explanation of her use of the fashionable book within the book style (pp 37-40)? and her teenage lad does seem a bit too much like a second hand catcher in the rye? i like the mexican setting and the association with diego rivera and frida kahlo - perhaps because my daughter often visits an old friend there and recently gave me a mexican shopping bag with a primitive portrait of frida on it, which makes me feel part of the international literary cognoscenti! lets see if i find the man more interesting... alison
i hadnt fully realised that this group would range far and wide of our little patch in orkney ( a bit slow on the e-uptake), and hello to redwitch in cardiff, where i was a very unsatisfactory head girl of straight-laced cardiff high school for girls hundreds of years ago, and spent many happy hours at the old arms park... alison
I needed to finish a couple of other books first, but finally began reading The Lacuna last evening. Although I have The Poisonwood Bible on my 'to read' list this is my first acquaintance with Barbara Kingsolver. I'm only a couple of dozen pages in, but immediately fell in love with her style of writing. Her beautiful, thoughtful language and imagery are awesome, imo. I can understand, however, that it might be a little too Proustian and introspective for some.
It's too early for me to comment on the plot or characterisation, but I'm enjoying the setting and sense of location.
Like Carola, I wanted to finish another book (The Time Traveller's Wife) before beginning this one. I'd read the Poisonwood Bible and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was looking forward to getting into this one. Not sure about the style of writing though... (but I'll persevere). I'm intrigued by the kind of Biblical/religious start to the novel - "In the beginning ..."; "As it was in the beginning...".
After really enjoying The Poisonwood Bible by the same author I had high hopes for this book but so far am really struggling to get through it. I hear/read peoples comments about labouring through the first 200 pages but find myself thinking life's too short and there are far too many other books waiting patiently for me to read to make me push through the pain barrier and keep going with this one. I'm trying to pluck up courage to just put the book down and try again with the next one on the list. Maybe I should go in the book of shame as the first non-finisher of the first book of the first faber. Oh cringe....
I've now got to page 180 and am beginning to get into the book. Must admit, though, that I'd have put it aside by now if I hadn't read the comments about the first 200 pages. Definitely not on a par with the Poisonwood Bible - not so far anyway. That said, it has inspired me to find out more about Rivera and Kahlo...
here's my end-of-reading posting re lacuna (originally posted on another -ie the wrong?- thread from HQ ); any comments?:
'al said... i'm rather relieved to have at last arrived at p 670 of this blockbuster attempt to write the definitive novel of 20th century US of A; no surprise to me that it went down so well in the home market; i think that my impatience with the author's style may lie in what she said somewhere in one of those interviews: something along the lines of having first of all thoroughly researched and set up the territories and times for her work, and only then thinking about how she was going to populate them; i find her characters weak, theatrical and unconvincing - for the grt amrcn nvl give me updike and his rabbit series any time!;
her protracted, somewhat heavy-handed, 'lacuna' metaphor seems to settle into an overt mix of literary (the missing notebook, p 475) and geological ( p524) references, culminating in our wimpish self-regarding hero's long-awaited disappearing act via heavily metaphorical xenote...
this market driven fairy tale of the new world was a big letdown for me after the joys of her poisonwood bible from sour old alison
I have to say I am still reading 'The Lacuna'- I tend to have more than one book on the go at a time. I would not say I am loving it or hating it, but about 1/3rd way in something is making me want to read more, and I will report back once I have!
Hi Mary, I know other people that have more than one book on the go at one time and it's something I really can't manage. I have to read one book at a time even if it takes me six weeks rather than start another one. ( I'm bit retentive lol)but that said it's because of that I'm more inclined to put a book down if it hasn't hit the spot within the first 70 or so pages sometimes 7 or so!
I have just finished The Lacuna and really enjoyed it. I found myself able to get lost in the story. I would not have picked up this book to read, had it not been the current At Home with Faber option and I'm not sure that I would read any other books by Barbara Kingsolver. I think I enjoyed the inclusion of historical figures and I was kept interested by the probability of Shepherd coming unstuck, through no fault of his own, during the anti-communist hearings and general hysteria in the States. I appreciated the ending, with its sense of hope and the likliehood of his survival against political odds. I enjoyed those parts of the book dealing with his lonely childhood on the island, although I did find those pages the longest to get through and agree with another commentator here who suggested they could have been truncated. If Kingsolver's other works are as long as this one, I suspect that I may be put off trying to read through them, although I will have the sense that I should read them! Elaine
I'm reading this at the moment, not very far in yet, but am enjoying it so far :)
ReplyDeleteI'd not come across the word 'lacuna' before so I've learned something new from this book, and strangely it was used by someone in a meeting at work recently which made me prick up my ears!
The Lacuna is a fictional story about a boy, and then the man, who achieves notoriety in the late forties/early 1950’s, told through a series of diaries and loose manuscripts. The politics of human rights, press paparazzi and sexuality are woven into the novel without judgements being made.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole, I enjoyed the novel but, for me, it was disjointed, possibly because of its epistolary form. I was more interested in the story of the man, rather than the boy and found myself impatient to get into the key parts of the book. For me, therefore, the first hundred and fifty pages or so could have been condensed.
The character of Harrison appears naive. Writers are advised that much material can be collected by being part of the world. Would Harrison been in less trouble if he had taken this maxim to heart?
I like the use of the word Lacuna; it had me reaching for the dictionary. The meaning, with its different connotations was cleverly used in both the title and throughout the novel. I enjoy reading history in fictional form and will be looking for more.
Overall, this is not a writer I would normally read, having tried in the past without success. However, as Barbara Kingsolver is a multiple prize winner and countless others would disagree with me. However, it is wise to remember that each book has its own merits and challenges. As I said earlier, I did enjoy this, with the reservations outlined. So, thank you Reading Group.
well, i find myself struggling (stuck at p169); so far its been a letdown after the poisonwood bible (which we read in the 'real' (!) library reading group some time ago);
ReplyDeletei find the title, and the structure, rather clumsy and obvious, as if she's trying a bit too hard to explain her methods to dim readers, eg: her pedantic explanation of her use of the fashionable book within the book style (pp 37-40)?
and her teenage lad does seem a bit too much like a second hand catcher in the rye?
i like the mexican setting and the association with diego rivera and frida kahlo - perhaps because my daughter often visits an old friend there and recently gave me a mexican shopping bag with a primitive portrait of frida on it, which makes me feel part of the international literary cognoscenti!
lets see if i find the man more interesting...
alison
i hadnt fully realised that this group would range far and wide of our little patch in orkney ( a bit slow on the e-uptake), and hello to redwitch in cardiff, where i was a very unsatisfactory head girl of straight-laced cardiff high school for girls hundreds of years ago, and spent many happy hours at the old arms park...
ReplyDeletealison
I needed to finish a couple of other books first, but finally began reading The Lacuna last evening. Although I have The Poisonwood Bible on my 'to read' list this is my first acquaintance with Barbara Kingsolver. I'm only a couple of dozen pages in, but immediately fell in love with her style of writing. Her beautiful, thoughtful language and imagery are awesome, imo. I can understand, however, that it might be a little too Proustian and introspective for some.
ReplyDeleteIt's too early for me to comment on the plot or characterisation, but I'm enjoying the setting and sense of location.
Like Carola, I wanted to finish another book (The Time Traveller's Wife) before beginning this one. I'd read the Poisonwood Bible and thoroughly enjoyed it, so was looking forward to getting into this one. Not sure about the style of writing though... (but I'll persevere). I'm intrigued by the kind of Biblical/religious start to the novel - "In the beginning ..."; "As it was in the beginning...".
ReplyDeleteAfter really enjoying The Poisonwood Bible by the same author I had high hopes for this book but so far am really struggling to get through it. I hear/read peoples comments about labouring through the first 200 pages but find myself thinking life's too short and there are far too many other books waiting patiently for me to read to make me push through the pain barrier and keep going with this one. I'm trying to pluck up courage to just put the book down and try again with the next one on the list. Maybe I should go in the book of shame as the first non-finisher of the first book of the first faber. Oh cringe....
ReplyDeleteI've now got to page 180 and am beginning to get into the book. Must admit, though, that I'd have put it aside by now if I hadn't read the comments about the first 200 pages. Definitely not on a par with the Poisonwood Bible - not so far anyway. That said, it has inspired me to find out more about Rivera and Kahlo...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehere's my end-of-reading posting re lacuna (originally posted on another -ie the wrong?- thread from HQ ); any comments?:
ReplyDelete'al said...
i'm rather relieved to have at last arrived at p 670 of this blockbuster attempt to write the definitive novel of 20th century US of A; no surprise to me that it went down so well in the home market;
i think that my impatience with the author's style may lie in what she said somewhere in one of those interviews: something along the lines of having first of all thoroughly researched and set up the territories and times for her work, and only then thinking about how she was going to populate them; i find her characters weak, theatrical and unconvincing - for the grt amrcn nvl give me updike and his rabbit series any time!;
her protracted, somewhat heavy-handed, 'lacuna' metaphor seems to settle into an overt mix of literary (the missing notebook, p 475) and geological ( p524) references, culminating in our wimpish self-regarding hero's long-awaited disappearing act via heavily metaphorical xenote...
this market driven fairy tale of the new world was
a big letdown for me after the joys of her poisonwood bible from sour old alison
I have to say I am still reading 'The Lacuna'- I tend to have more than one book on the go at a time. I would not say I am loving it or hating it, but about 1/3rd way in something is making me want to read more, and I will report back once I have!
ReplyDeleteHi Mary, I know other people that have more than one book on the go at one time and it's something I really can't manage. I have to read one book at a time even if it takes me six weeks rather than start another one. ( I'm bit retentive lol)but that said it's because of that I'm more inclined to put a book down if it hasn't hit the spot within the first 70 or so pages sometimes 7 or so!
ReplyDeleteI have just finished The Lacuna and really enjoyed it. I found myself able to get lost in the story. I would not have picked up this book to read, had it not been the current At Home with Faber option and I'm not sure that I would read any other books by Barbara Kingsolver. I think I enjoyed the inclusion of historical figures and I was kept interested by the probability of Shepherd coming unstuck, through no fault of his own, during the anti-communist hearings and general hysteria in the States. I appreciated the ending, with its sense of hope and the likliehood of his survival against political odds. I enjoyed those parts of the book dealing with his lonely childhood on the island, although I did find those pages the longest to get through and agree with another commentator here who suggested they could have been truncated. If Kingsolver's other works are as long as this one, I suspect that I may be put off trying to read through them, although I will have the sense that I should read them!
ReplyDeleteElaine