yes, muriel spark is a bit of a dark horse...i received a copy of "memento mori" for my 75th birthday, just over a week ago, and it was perfect reading for the occasion.
I carried on with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie last night and continue to be fascinated by Spark. It's not quite clear to me from a technical writing point of view what it is that makes her so interesting. Certainly her characters are off the wall, often in a very dark way, and her narratives slides between the characters' pasts and presents a lot and with very little signposting. There's a weird daring to the books. I'm going to carry on reading them to understand more!
yes..you seem to be pinpointing what's there well but i can't imagine anyone being able to think in such an elliptical way..i imagine her writing much more and then sculpting a novel out of what she's written..
I'd be interested to know how she did it. Personally I find writing more and than scuplting doesn't work for me, but it's often recommended as a technique, so I'm assuming quite a lot of writers do it.
Have you read Maggie O'Farrell's I am I am I am? It's a really interesting take on autobiographical detail, presenting seventeen moments from her life around a central theme.
I haven't - but that sounds exactly like the sort of thing I'm looking for. Someone else on here has suggested Ann Quin as well, who is already on my list. Thanks!
re autobiographical style, have you read Anna Kavan's "Asylum Piece"? Also I find Ann Quin's work experimental and autobiographical in style, but they are strictly fictional rather than autobiography.
I recently added the two Alex Pheby books to my TBR pile. I'm happy to hear that you've liked them both. I need to get to my copies of Muriel Spark.
nice round up and have added a couple to my to read list :)
yes, muriel spark is a bit of a dark horse...i received a copy of "memento mori" for my 75th birthday, just over a week ago, and it was perfect reading for the occasion.
I carried on with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie last night and continue to be fascinated by Spark. It's not quite clear to me from a technical writing point of view what it is that makes her so interesting. Certainly her characters are off the wall, often in a very dark way, and her narratives slides between the characters' pasts and presents a lot and with very little signposting. There's a weird daring to the books. I'm going to carry on reading them to understand more!
yes..you seem to be pinpointing what's there well but i can't imagine anyone being able to think in such an elliptical way..i imagine her writing much more and then sculpting a novel out of what she's written..
I'd be interested to know how she did it. Personally I find writing more and than scuplting doesn't work for me, but it's often recommended as a technique, so I'm assuming quite a lot of writers do it.
Have you read Maggie O'Farrell's I am I am I am? It's a really interesting take on autobiographical detail, presenting seventeen moments from her life around a central theme.
I haven't - but that sounds exactly like the sort of thing I'm looking for. Someone else on here has suggested Ann Quin as well, who is already on my list. Thanks!
re autobiographical style, have you read Anna Kavan's "Asylum Piece"? Also I find Ann Quin's work experimental and autobiographical in style, but they are strictly fictional rather than autobiography.
I haven't read either - though I do have the Quin that & Other Stories recently published, and I'm keen to get to it. Thanks for the recommendations.