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A review by jung
This Is Not a Novel by David Markson
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
hm.
A quick read. There's not much to really say about a book that is not a book, per-se. A book recites how famous artists, philosophers, and scientists died. Like a list.
I guess it seems as if Markson was running into writer's block, and this was his solution. I'm not necessarily opposed to it, and think that the idea here, of trying to create a novel that is effectively not a novel, has merit. Similar to Literally Show Me a Healthy Person by Darcie Wilder or The Interogative Mood by Padgett Powell in this structural regard, but I felt both of the aforementioned make further use out of this staccato and fragmented style. Granted, both were written at least a decade or two later, which is perhaps why they feel more developed.
there is a cadence to the whole work that adds a pleasant tempo, but if there was explicit poeticism, it was lost on me. Something i read in a review after reading this was that this was a book with no aesthetic judgements. From the lens of minimalist literature, this passes with flying colors, and I appreciate Markson's book as such, but within a larger ecosystem, I don't feel like it holds up.
I think my biggest criticism here is that the book is very much a product of postmodernist writing, when it had already gone out of fashion by the early 2000's. It just feels like this type of writing is effectively retracing the tone and general ethos of authors like Barth or Calvino, without really doing much more groundbreaking work itself. Admittedly, the self-referential nature of this book is employed to draw connection with the author, which is a rather post-postmodern sentiment that I can appreciate, but it does not feel like Markson embraces this reader-author rapport as much as some of his contemporaries do. On that note, I also didn't quite vibe with the author referring to himself as just "author," where I feel like use of "I" would have been much more personal.
A quick read. There's not much to really say about a book that is not a book, per-se. A book recites how famous artists, philosophers, and scientists died. Like a list.
I guess it seems as if Markson was running into writer's block, and this was his solution. I'm not necessarily opposed to it, and think that the idea here, of trying to create a novel that is effectively not a novel, has merit. Similar to Literally Show Me a Healthy Person by Darcie Wilder or The Interogative Mood by Padgett Powell in this structural regard, but I felt both of the aforementioned make further use out of this staccato and fragmented style. Granted, both were written at least a decade or two later, which is perhaps why they feel more developed.
there is a cadence to the whole work that adds a pleasant tempo, but if there was explicit poeticism, it was lost on me. Something i read in a review after reading this was that this was a book with no aesthetic judgements. From the lens of minimalist literature, this passes with flying colors, and I appreciate Markson's book as such, but within a larger ecosystem, I don't feel like it holds up.
I think my biggest criticism here is that the book is very much a product of postmodernist writing, when it had already gone out of fashion by the early 2000's. It just feels like this type of writing is effectively retracing the tone and general ethos of authors like Barth or Calvino, without really doing much more groundbreaking work itself. Admittedly, the self-referential nature of this book is employed to draw connection with the author, which is a rather post-postmodern sentiment that I can appreciate, but it does not feel like Markson embraces this reader-author rapport as much as some of his contemporaries do. On that note, I also didn't quite vibe with the author referring to himself as just "author," where I feel like use of "I" would have been much more personal.