The voice of Paul Reyment in SLOW MAN is very similar to the main character in Iris Murdoch’s novel THE SEA, THE SEA. They are both older, white, Brit (empire), educated, artistic, lonely men who have strong feelings, clear thoughts, but don’t hold to a certain philosophical structure (say, Christianity or leftist politics) that color everything. They are intelligent freelancers in life, aware that, given their age, it is highly unlikely that they will ever get answers to the philosophical questions they continue to ask (mostly of themselves) and nearly all the time. Read More »
For me one of the problems with this book is that it’s too broad a complaint. It dilutes energy. For starters, I have my doubts about the video game demonization (that’s a whole other discussion that includes how comic books, rock music and once upon a time novels were considered serious social problems). Two of the five bullet points, the ADHD drug discussion and the more exotic “endocrine disrupters,” locate the author in the somewhat fringey environmental movement. On the drugs, it could be true, but it’s an issue that parents and doctors, etc. have to monitor very closely. It’s typical of this kind of “expert” that he falls himself into the devaluation of parents–they’re not all Homer Simpsons. He could also be “right” about the endocrine thing, but it’s exotic, and distracting, and global. More apocalyptic than helpful. I do FULLY AGREE with him on devaluation of masculinity and feminization of education, though even here there is a “South Park” backlash in play where the boys are insulating themselves from the most deleterious effects by tribalizing around video games (!), sports and yes, defensive cynicism. Watch “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” for evidence of this reaction. But if Mr. Leonard Sax concentrated on the education thing and the devaluation of masculinity, my sense is he could be much more effective.
The biggest issue I had with the book was the author’s relationship to the “literal” Catholicism of his main character, Scobie. Was Scobie a true believer or was he already so deeply wounded (by the loss of his child, I suspect) that his religion is a legalistic “shell” he lives inside of. In this sense he “believes” the Church’s teachings but not so much with his HEART (title reference) but with this HEAD. Read More »
He could be Bowles’ twin. I can’t say evil twin because the two of them are Nietszche-boys: showing us a world beyond good and evil. Makes you want to stay home and pet your rabbit. J G Ballard // Super Cannes
I took her class at Southampton. She’s very funny and a great storyteller. I have the sense she could just talk out these stories all night and they’d all be clever and funny and never repeat. Melissa Bank // The Wonder Spot
If the man wrote one book and then became a food writer for the Portland Monitor or Portland Inquirer (or whatever they call their paper) he could still die happy. But he wouldn’t of course because, dammit, he’s mad as hell and…no, not that. Yes, that. He’s mad as hell and gonna take all of us with him. Chuck Palaniuk // Fight Club
This island: I want to go. Even though it would mean death and madness, I still want to go there. Fowles knows something most people don’t, and you could read this over and over and you’d never really understand what he’s trying to say. If you had one book to take to a desert island… stop me now! Fowles // The Magus
He seems to know a lot about contemporary men, and don’t despair, there’s a tiny slice of hope somewhere in there. And he seems to believe men can change, get better, and despite the urban myth that this is a marketing ploy to get women to read his books, so what? Be brave, read them anyway. Nick Hornby // About a Boy
Disgrace is so clear it feels like it happened to me, but it’s not a good memory. But it’s so clear it crowds out all the other bad memories and that’s a sort of good thing. J.M. Coetzee // Disgrace
Add Site To Your Newsreader
