tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post842572666901512753..comments2024-02-10T19:58:20.327+00:00Comments on Stuck in a Book: As For Me And My House - Sinclair RossStuckInABookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-76758553309829956962015-01-15T06:18:56.184+00:002015-01-15T06:18:56.184+00:00 Here’s a situation that arises continually in t... Here’s a situation that arises continually in the Lew Archer novels: someone Archer is investigating is surprised to learn how much he knows about them. In Black Money Kitty Hendricks voices this surprise in virtually those very words –“How do you know so much about me?” Usually, though, the knowledge Archer has obtained when this question comes up turns out to be peripheral – that is, it doesn’t bear directly on the solution to the case but is just a part of the hopelessly tangled morass of action and information Archer is working his way through. In the novels that most critics and scholars seem to feel comprise the mature Macdonald style – The Galton Case through The Blue Hammer – the reader is constantly being thrown off the scent this way. <br />http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/12/ross-macdonald-black-money.html#.VLdYidKUc7UAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-30691748933688388302015-01-08T06:25:21.675+00:002015-01-08T06:25:21.675+00:00In studying the Lew Archer novels of Ross Macdonal...In studying the Lew Archer novels of Ross Macdonald I’ve tried to identify certain characteristics, themes, motifs, images – call them what you like – that crop up frequently throughout the various books. I don’t claim that the following are particularly important or have any special significance or meaning; nor do I say this is a comprehensive list. They are simply some things I’ve noticed in more than one of the novels.<br />http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/12/ross-macdonald-characteristics-of.html#.VK4hrNKUeRZElizabethhttp://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/12/ross-macdonald-characteristics-of.html#.VK4hrNKUeRZnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-10359502330054438992014-04-21T16:14:20.610+01:002014-04-21T16:14:20.610+01:00I took the time to reread it and I do understand p...I took the time to reread it and I do understand people's dislike for it and I do think this is the last piece of Canadian literature that should be taught to teenagers. However, on re-reading it I was struck by how sophisticated the novel is: Mrs Bentley is the quintessential unreliable narrator. It is clear that both she and her husband Phillip are both sunk in depression - they are educated, overly-sensitive souls stuck in small-town Saskatchewan during the Depression, when the wind blew away all the soil, thousands lost their farms and thousands more were stuck in jobs they were lucky to have yet led nowhere. Neither are likeable and I would argue that Mrs Bentley is driven by the desire for power and by possessiveness. Everything is bleak because she sees life that way (and it was pretty bleak). She can't recognize a potential friend (the doctor's wife) or lover (Paul) or child (Stephen). In the end, she orchestrates a baby,who she names Phillip, whom she can possess (I pity that baby). Not fun - but less just a portrait of a place and time alone, but of a certain kind of woman living out her obsessions. I do admire it though it is very difficult to like. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-44156963561635996482014-04-10T21:14:35.577+01:002014-04-10T21:14:35.577+01:00What I’ve found most enriching is the “generosity ...What I’ve found most enriching is the “generosity of spirit” I’ve discovered when reading the best blogs. Your blog reflects this culture of “sharing”, a culture which seems to lacking in the “real world” but is so present on the internet by those who understand this is a “karmic” two-way exchange of ideas, interests, passions, and support. I thank you for this :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01376090173379345171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-54656933863144614362014-04-09T21:32:05.731+01:002014-04-09T21:32:05.731+01:00Thank you for your interesting comment, Anonymous,...Thank you for your interesting comment, Anonymous, it's useful to hear from someone who knows the place well, if not the time (I assume!) But I wonder... surely even the era and the place wouldn't make everyone miserable and hateful all the time?? Perhaps I am less of a cynic than I thought, but I can't imagine anywhere having quite the all-enveloping effect this small town seems to.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-67734016537718344222014-04-09T21:30:35.395+01:002014-04-09T21:30:35.395+01:00Perhaps it could! But I think that there is always...Perhaps it could! But I think that there is always kindness - elements of it, at least - wherever the place and whatever the time. Hmm. If the book had been intended to show a portrait of a person's depression, I could understand it better, but the character didn't seem depressed - not how I understand it anyway.StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-8519068668552199502014-04-09T21:28:51.198+01:002014-04-09T21:28:51.198+01:00Oh really? I didn't realise it was that well ...Oh really? I didn't realise it was that well known. But not surprised that you ended up feeling the same away about it as I did, Melwyk...StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-15426482984222054972014-04-09T21:28:21.149+01:002014-04-09T21:28:21.149+01:00It is one for when you're in the mood for exqu...It is one for when you're in the mood for exquisite writing but not too anxious about your mental equilibrium!!StuckInABookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10017836017530130716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-71522227116762282192014-04-09T19:36:42.869+01:002014-04-09T19:36:42.869+01:00Living in small town Saskatchewan during the 30s w...Living in small town Saskatchewan during the 30s was a melancholy experience. I usually dislike unbalanced novels myself but as a native of the harsh province of Saskatchewan (with a climate slightly worse than Siberia's), I have great respect and affection for Sinclair Ross. His work portrays a certain hard and world the way it really could be during that era. A short story "The Painted Door" made an indelible impression on me. Sad and depressing but a perfect evocation of the harsh prairie landscape and climate and the kind of people and situations it produces. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-20913046249777908472014-04-09T15:32:50.412+01:002014-04-09T15:32:50.412+01:00It wasn't on my reading list at school, possib...It wasn't on my reading list at school, possibly because Toronto is a long way from Saskatchewan, but it certainly never looked like my cup of tea. Perhaps it could be seen as a window on the Depression-era Prairies, but I think my TBR stacks would overwhelm it. <br /><br />Thanks for the review, Simon. And Melwyk, the poetry collection sounds enticing.Susan Dhttp://www.dalyght.ca/quiltynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-1560968136670787132014-04-09T14:26:00.974+01:002014-04-09T14:26:00.974+01:00Argh, all we good Canadian children had to read th...Argh, all we good Canadian children had to read this one in high school -- especially those of us from the area that it is set. I hated it then, and I reread it a few years ago and still dislike it. I'm with you on the relentlessness of it. (though poet Lorna Crozier -- also from Saskatchewan -- has written a marvellous set of poems called <a href="http://indextrious.blogspot.ca/2010/04/saving-grace.html" rel="nofollow">Saving Grace: the Collected Poems of Mrs Bentley</a>, inspired by this book)Melwykhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04885378201188978664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-446727280609751914.post-68840617065291071032014-04-09T14:08:44.552+01:002014-04-09T14:08:44.552+01:00This *definitely* sounds heavy-going Simon. Melanc...This *definitely* sounds heavy-going Simon. Melancholy is ok, but not if it is unmitigated - there needs to be balance. TBH I can't see myself searching this one out...... :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com