A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
i've just finished eggers' A.W.O.S.G. and, i must say, it's nice to not have to lift that weighty volume anymore. really, in just the purely physical sense, and even in its mere paperback form, the thing is heavy. weighty. long.
i'm a tad bit mixed on my feelings, which is odd, because i'd expected to be vehement in one direction or the other about it at this point. it seems to me that it is the kind of book that you capital-h-hate or you italicized-lovelovelove. i liked it. for the most part, i enjoyed it.
the best aspect for me was that i knew nothing of the story, the plot, the narrative, the facts, et al. before i read it. in fact (buries face in hands) i thought it was a novel. but, no--apparently it's a memoir. but not a full memoir; it is a segment of a fairly young life, a patchwork piece of a larger quilt that alludes to the other segments that make the whole. i think it is its holey-ness that keeps me from loving the book.
i also knew just a shade about dave eggers before i began. in fact, i think i could probably nod and say, "mmm, yes, mcsweeney's" if his name came up. this is probably because my mother told me that. my mother is extremely savvy, and secretly hip, and also is one of the few people i know who can properly "surf" the web. she knows things. she finds things. she gets me things--books--off my amazon wish list and puts them with my stocking on christmas morning. this is how i came to own A.W.O.S.G. of course i filed it on my shelves and didn't pick it up until a couple of days ago. i think it struck me to read it then because someone had mentioned it somewhere out there in the blogosphere (don't we hate that term? can we find a new one, please?) on one of those book memes (again, meme? i understand memo was taken, but, meme?) that's going around like the flu. someone, i believe, had listed it as one of many books they felt was overrated. the lightbulb went off. i found it on my shelf. and i began to read.
just when eggers' self-conscious, self-congratulatory, hyperstylized intro pointed out its own shortcomings (namely the above mentioned attributes) he moved on. i trudged ahead, eager for the "real" story to start. now, 400+ pages later, and i'm still a little hungry for the real story. there are gaps. gaps that i can see exist to protect, to cushion, to arouse, to point out the fact that in life there are gaps and lapses and things we don't know, but the gaps bother me. i want info. i want details.
i found that i could read fast, skimming, and not miss a thing. but in some places i had to go back and read over a part, because i hadn't understood. what timeframe was this? is this theory or memory? did this happen? is this hyperbole?
i don't know. i'm not sure.
so, yeah. i liked it. i'm not passionately for nor against it.
i'm a tad bit mixed on my feelings, which is odd, because i'd expected to be vehement in one direction or the other about it at this point. it seems to me that it is the kind of book that you capital-h-hate or you italicized-lovelovelove. i liked it. for the most part, i enjoyed it.
the best aspect for me was that i knew nothing of the story, the plot, the narrative, the facts, et al. before i read it. in fact (buries face in hands) i thought it was a novel. but, no--apparently it's a memoir. but not a full memoir; it is a segment of a fairly young life, a patchwork piece of a larger quilt that alludes to the other segments that make the whole. i think it is its holey-ness that keeps me from loving the book.
i also knew just a shade about dave eggers before i began. in fact, i think i could probably nod and say, "mmm, yes, mcsweeney's" if his name came up. this is probably because my mother told me that. my mother is extremely savvy, and secretly hip, and also is one of the few people i know who can properly "surf" the web. she knows things. she finds things. she gets me things--books--off my amazon wish list and puts them with my stocking on christmas morning. this is how i came to own A.W.O.S.G. of course i filed it on my shelves and didn't pick it up until a couple of days ago. i think it struck me to read it then because someone had mentioned it somewhere out there in the blogosphere (don't we hate that term? can we find a new one, please?) on one of those book memes (again, meme? i understand memo was taken, but, meme?) that's going around like the flu. someone, i believe, had listed it as one of many books they felt was overrated. the lightbulb went off. i found it on my shelf. and i began to read.
just when eggers' self-conscious, self-congratulatory, hyperstylized intro pointed out its own shortcomings (namely the above mentioned attributes) he moved on. i trudged ahead, eager for the "real" story to start. now, 400+ pages later, and i'm still a little hungry for the real story. there are gaps. gaps that i can see exist to protect, to cushion, to arouse, to point out the fact that in life there are gaps and lapses and things we don't know, but the gaps bother me. i want info. i want details.
i found that i could read fast, skimming, and not miss a thing. but in some places i had to go back and read over a part, because i hadn't understood. what timeframe was this? is this theory or memory? did this happen? is this hyperbole?
i don't know. i'm not sure.
so, yeah. i liked it. i'm not passionately for nor against it.
posted by Lindsay at 8:04 AM
3 Comments:
Hey, Lindsay:
I promised you a reply on the Eggers book. I read it a year ago, pretty much lapping up his at-times startling exposition. The stark awfulness of his parents' passing combined so unusually with his loosy-goosy personal style. Eggers just took EVERYTHING for granted, from 'Topher's ability to cope in a suddenly huge world to the reader's empathy. Yeah, what else could he do?? And his self-deprecating humor softens the rough edges.
But you're right that it was uneven, sometimes raising your expectations, then not seeming to give a shit about outcomes -- or impressions, neither the reader's nor anyone else's.
Still, yes, I like it a lot...and find I recall its mood more positively than I do a lot of other books that were better structured.
Dear L:
Just wondered what's up nowadays with Eggers; I knew he edits a mag called McSweeney's, and had somewhere heard his and Toph's (not "Topher", as I had it above!) sister had died (!!). Found an interview well worth reading -- http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/interview/readers_de.html
Inter alia, DH said "A lot of people share their own family stories with me, and man, some of these letters… well, every story is sadder than the last." Then he said "...my sister died last year, and that [support] meant a lot to us. It was such a hard year. There are times when my brothers and I just look around and can't believe there's only three of us left."
Wow!
Lindsay, again!
Just one more thought, having finished Eggers' interview:
Man, the guy is a phenomenon! Do read the McSweeny's interview (URL above). Amongst other things, he describes a big educational project he (and McS)sponsors, how it's funded through a new book NOT for sale at Amazon, AND lists his all-time fave authors (truly eclectic!).
My li'l critique of his first book (above) needs to be rethought in light of this bit of (Googled) research!!
Cheers, J
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