tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1500590946775347522.post268165684974262657..comments2024-02-13T02:30:15.796+11:00Comments on Minerva Reads: M.J. Hyland, This is HowSue Thttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11128625746717614768noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1500590946775347522.post-76953262113406261462011-07-22T17:12:32.742+10:002011-07-22T17:12:32.742+10:00I wondered if the murder was what you meant BUT I ...I wondered if the murder was what you meant BUT I really don't call that a full spoiler given that it occurs fairly early in the book ... but still I suppose a SPOILER ALERT never hurts. I certainly wasn't expecting it!Sue Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11128625746717614768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1500590946775347522.post-57387677236231640682011-07-22T16:33:27.847+10:002011-07-22T16:33:27.847+10:00Well thanks again Sue. You're too kind! I mean...Well thanks again Sue. You're too kind! I meant that I'd already spoiled in discussing the murder. When I started reading the book I didn't realise it was about a murderer, which added to the experience I think. I'm altering one paragraph and adding the spoiler alert.Sue Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11424012386814108555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1500590946775347522.post-7648250704420612382011-07-22T14:34:30.706+10:002011-07-22T14:34:30.706+10:00PPS What do you mean, you already failed? I don...PPS What do you mean, you already failed? I don't see any failure. I see a great report.Sue Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11128625746717614768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1500590946775347522.post-35128857468164413242011-07-22T14:34:01.624+10:002011-07-22T14:34:01.624+10:00Did you really spoil? It's such as open-ended ...Did you really spoil? It's such as open-ended book that I'm not sure you did really. I think it is hard to write up a report without sometimes spoiling - so I'm happy with an upper case SPOILER ALERT rather than not doing it because it is meant to be a report rather than a review (at least that's how I see it. What do others think?<br /><br />PS In her Slow TV interview, as I recollect, she said there were 4 possible readings of the ending!Sue Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11128625746717614768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1500590946775347522.post-43948456778788294342011-07-22T10:12:49.137+10:002011-07-22T10:12:49.137+10:00Thanks Sue, and yes I think she succeeded well in ...Thanks Sue, and yes I think she succeeded well in making Oxtoby "as complicated as we are." We of course, did wonder why though. On re-reading the above I think I've left his act too open to interpretation, and was tempted to add a sentence describing it in his own bald words. That lead me to another question. Should we try to avoid spoilers in covering our discussions as though writing a normal review? That would make it difficult to write up the discussion of a book like this and I already failed! Alternatively, should I put *spoiler alert* at the head of this review? What do people think?Sue Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11424012386814108555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1500590946775347522.post-9320574677855967992011-07-21T23:42:25.084+10:002011-07-21T23:42:25.084+10:00Great summary of our discussion Sue. Thanks a bunc...Great summary of our discussion Sue. Thanks a bunch...<br /><br />A week or so after our meeting I listened to a long interview with Hyland on Slow TV. She raised the issue of people describing her characters as being autistic but she said that that's not how she conceived them. In fact, she said she did not want to "pathologise" her characters, did not want to have a "neat cause and effect". She's not interested in why, but simply wants her characters to be "as complicated as we are". This is why her endings are not neat too - she is deliberate about not tying it all up. This, besides her wonderful style, is why I like her and will read moreSue Thttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11128625746717614768noreply@blogger.com