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A review by cody240fc
Border Districts: A Fiction by Gerald Murnane
2.0
Murnane has reached the twilight of his life and, as many older men have a tendency to do, wants to enjoy his remaining years reflecting on a long life lived. In "Border Districts," Murnane focuses on memory and lasting images. He calls this a work of fiction because "How could I have begun to tell what I truly felt when even today, more than sixty years later, I labour over these sentences, trying to report what was more an intimation of a state of mind than an actual experience?"
But this is not a work of fiction in the traditional sense. The author himself refers to it numerous times as a report, so that is what I am going to call it as well.
Much of this report focuses on stained glass and light. For the life of me, I can't quite put my finger on why the author has decided to focus on this particular aspect of his memories and, frankly, it makes for a boring read.
I like the idea of sharing your lasting images of your memory with your readers, but while the significance of those images might be of interest to the man doing the remembering, it is difficult for an outsider to care, especially when most of those images center on stained glass.
Murnane has a great literary reputation, and there were passages that in "Border Districts" that illustrated the talent that has made him a famous author. I want to read some of his fiction, particularly "The Plains." But as for his supposedly final offering, it is merely okay.
But this is not a work of fiction in the traditional sense. The author himself refers to it numerous times as a report, so that is what I am going to call it as well.
Much of this report focuses on stained glass and light. For the life of me, I can't quite put my finger on why the author has decided to focus on this particular aspect of his memories and, frankly, it makes for a boring read.
I like the idea of sharing your lasting images of your memory with your readers, but while the significance of those images might be of interest to the man doing the remembering, it is difficult for an outsider to care, especially when most of those images center on stained glass.
Murnane has a great literary reputation, and there were passages that in "Border Districts" that illustrated the talent that has made him a famous author. I want to read some of his fiction, particularly "The Plains." But as for his supposedly final offering, it is merely okay.