I'm not sure Mumbo Jumbo was my favorite book ever, but I did enjoy reading it, especially with the help of the class discussions. I liked the plot and ideas but probably my favorite part was just the way the book was written. I really like television and movies so the cold open was really cool (actually, I read the first few chapters online due to my inevitable failure to never take my English books home on the first day of readings, so the effect didn't work as well as when the book was in my hands). It makes me think about the traditions that TV and movies have developed that are so different from books -- television & movies involving so many more people and so much more money whereas books seem more free. The pictures were also pretty cool -- I liked the sort of non sequitur of having a random picture that.... maybe has some relation to the book?
On the other hand I know that kind of stuff annoyed a lot of my friends. I'm not sure I would have pushed through to the end of the book without English class, but as with a lot of books in a class, I come to appreciate them more after hearing other people's insights, and it was fun hearing people's thoughts on the style. Also, I like books that play around with the style (to an extent -- I guess it's a fine line between a cool effect and super annoying). It makes it seem like the author is having fun writing the book and I feel the effects of that. The playfulness reminds me a bit of Jes Grew with its bucking of literary traditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment