I was recently sent a review copy of The Reavers by George MacDonald Fraser (author of the Flashman Papers). I have fond memories of reading about Flashman, probably because his adventures were among the first I ever read involving S-E-X. Vague, faint memories, but good ones. When my shiny red paperback arrived in the mail, I was ready for adventure, romance and laughs.
From the first page I could see MacDonald Fraser was aiming for something special. I mean, only Proust in A La Recherche du Temps Perdu, can get away with a page-long sentance, right?
That first, complex, confusing sentence promises a book that plays with language, anachronisms, reader expectations… Whoopee, hold on tight for an interesting ride — except it isn’t. This book tries too hard to be funny. It indulges too often in metatextual comments and writerly word-play. I usually love that kind of stuff but in The Reavers, it just slowed down the flow. Instead of a fun romp it felt like work to keep reading. The characters didn’t touch me because the writer was trying so doggone hard to make fun of them. I gave up trying to finish several times although I did manage to drag myself to the climax. Need I say more?
So sorry about the book. Loved your sentence about metatextual comments and writerly word-play. I’m hoping that by reading your great reviews, I’ll get better at writing mine.
About Inkspell – I think you would enjoy it. It has enough complexity to make it interesting to adults. Plus the storyline is fabulous – reading characters into or out of a book. It will give you something to discuss with those students who have read the book.
Thanks for the compliment. You can’t imagine how important it is to me to make a good sentence.
I will have to put Inkspell on my to-read list. I have the second book in the series because it was offered for such a good price through the Scholastic Book club. One of the perks (and pitfalls) of being a teacher is you are constantly tempted to order more kids’ books. I figure my son can only benifit as he grows into them.