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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
sad
tense
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've always felt that the first sentence of a book was the key to the rest of the book. We don't necessarily know how to decipher that sentence at first, but at the end, turning back, we can perhaps see. And with the help of the author, it can be even easier.
Here we start with "La marchesa uscì alle cinque, -- pensò Carlos López. -- Dove diavolo l'ho letto?" (My translation: The marquise left at 5 -- thought Carlos López. -- Where the devil did I read that?)
What the devil could that mean? At first we don't know, and neither do we know later. The answer to the character's question is of course unimportant. The author himself tells us in a note at the end of the book that he wrote the book to escape from the (excess of intimacy from the) other passengers on a cruise ship. And that a book can be seen as a form of escape (into another world).
And so from the start we have a character thinking of something that he read somewhere; book, literature, reading... escape, just as the 'where did I read that' escapes him...
And just as the writing of this book was a way for the author to escape into another world, it is also for us, and we are following the author on his adventure, of which even he admittedly is not sure... the outcome that is... and it has that feeling of improv, or perhaps of finding one's way, in this new world... what's going on? what's going to happen? what has happened?
Throughout, there's talk of reading and literature. Paula reads a french novel by the pool and calls López 'Jamaica John', from a pirate novel. Raul says he feels like he's in an existential novel (he is!).
But it's not all form and literary tricks: it's an absurd adventure on a mysterious cruise ship; it's a comedy of manners on a mysterious cruise ship; it's political theater on a mysterious cruise ship; it's a mystery on a mysterious cruise ship; it's an escape on a mysterious cruise ship...
Update on 8 May 2012: the first line is apparently a reference to Claude Mauriac's "The marquise went out at 5", of which I know nothing, except that it was mentioned here: http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2010/07/david-markson-interview.html (via the now extinct readingmarksonreading.tumblr.com)
Here we start with "La marchesa uscì alle cinque, -- pensò Carlos López. -- Dove diavolo l'ho letto?" (My translation: The marquise left at 5 -- thought Carlos López. -- Where the devil did I read that?)
What the devil could that mean? At first we don't know, and neither do we know later. The answer to the character's question is of course unimportant. The author himself tells us in a note at the end of the book that he wrote the book to escape from the (excess of intimacy from the) other passengers on a cruise ship. And that a book can be seen as a form of escape (into another world).
And so from the start we have a character thinking of something that he read somewhere; book, literature, reading... escape, just as the 'where did I read that' escapes him...
And just as the writing of this book was a way for the author to escape into another world, it is also for us, and we are following the author on his adventure, of which even he admittedly is not sure... the outcome that is... and it has that feeling of improv, or perhaps of finding one's way, in this new world... what's going on? what's going to happen? what has happened?
Throughout, there's talk of reading and literature. Paula reads a french novel by the pool and calls López 'Jamaica John', from a pirate novel. Raul says he feels like he's in an existential novel (he is!).
But it's not all form and literary tricks: it's an absurd adventure on a mysterious cruise ship; it's a comedy of manners on a mysterious cruise ship; it's political theater on a mysterious cruise ship; it's a mystery on a mysterious cruise ship; it's an escape on a mysterious cruise ship...
Update on 8 May 2012: the first line is apparently a reference to Claude Mauriac's "The marquise went out at 5", of which I know nothing, except that it was mentioned here: http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2010/07/david-markson-interview.html (via the now extinct readingmarksonreading.tumblr.com)
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced