tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post8514850276365323760..comments2024-03-18T19:05:39.072-07:00Comments on Morphosis: Purgatory Mount (Gollancz 2021)Adam Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15803399373213872690noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-78359056021998735772021-11-02T11:35:28.863-07:002021-11-02T11:35:28.863-07:00Thank you, Jon.Thank you, Jon.Adam Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15803399373213872690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-22773481084063092572021-08-21T20:21:55.274-07:002021-08-21T20:21:55.274-07:00In case you have the ability to copy edit the even...In case you have the ability to copy edit the eventual paperback release, just thought you should know in the Gomery section of the novel, "Scranton, NY" should be "Scranton, PA" and "Binghampton, NY" should be "Binghamton, NY". Thank you for the book, I found it equally enlightening and terrifying. Who could ask for more?Jonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-56799480438838590182021-06-09T06:40:00.671-07:002021-06-09T06:40:00.671-07:00Missed this from earlier, Phil: but, as ever, hard...Missed this from earlier, Phil: but, as ever, hard to gainsay what <i>you</i> say. I mean, there's a part of me that imagines a viewer standing in front of a Rothko and going "but, but that big ragged slab of dark purple, and <i>that</i> slab of blood red under it ... how do they <i>relate</i> to one another, though? I mean, they're completely different colours!" If I were to say: the juxtaposition <i>is</i> the point, then you might very well shake your head sadly and say: that's not enough. Which throws me back upon my last resort: <a href="https://profadamroberts.medium.com/late-style-48e5586aa435" rel="nofollow">late style</a>. Adam Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15803399373213872690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-56429829546104367082021-02-27T09:23:41.443-08:002021-02-27T09:23:41.443-08:00I'm afraid I'm also partially baffled. I f...I'm afraid I'm also partially baffled. I found I was reading part 1 in a spirit of patient detachment - "OK, let's see where this is going..." - which seems appropriate in a way (and to some extent was cued by the narrative voice) but did leave me ready for something more straightforwardly engaging. Perhaps relatedly, I had a strong reaction <b>against</b> a couple of parts of part 3, one crucially plotty and one (I think) not - there's a half-page swerve into far-future oral history which I found almost physically distressing; a voice I'd come to trust was going somewhere I couldn't follow. (Perhaps that's my problem with part 3 writ small.)<br /><br />I liked the central story a lot. Formally it <b>is</b> more straightforwardly engaging than the first part; a proper old page-turner, complete with a reveal which I spotted before it happened, but only a couple of pages before (always gratifying). I felt it made an odd sort of companion-piece to <i>NMA</i>: something going on in there about war and time and forgetting, and atonement being denied or deferred ("War Means Never Having To Say You're Sorry", or "War Means Who The Hell Are You? No, Really, Who <b>Are</b> You?"). I felt there were points about time and multitudinousness being made, too; something significant about the chronological age of the characters, the sheer number of days a character goes through and the sheer number of people bouncing off them...<br /><br />But I'm still waiting for Unexplained Plot Motor A to slot into Not Fully Spelt-Out Theme B, and for the resultant whole to dock with whatever was going on in part 3. (Not that it's <b>unclear</b> what was going on in part 3...) It's going to stay with me, and I'm hopeful that it will cohere more in retrospect, but I could have done with a couple more breadcrumbs. I felt a certain nostalgia for the way Pratchett would sometimes bring everything to a grinding halt within sight of the end, tap the mike and say "The Theme Is <b>This</b>, Just So We're Clear", before putting the narrative mine cart back on the rails and giving it a swift kick towards the denouement. Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07009879034507926661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-58688649193875767382021-02-23T06:10:52.761-08:002021-02-23T06:10:52.761-08:00Re: A. Lincoln, Simulacrum: lol, y'all.Re: A. Lincoln, Simulacrum: lol, y'all.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13312160598500487602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-74758117223625235492021-02-19T10:29:49.812-08:002021-02-19T10:29:49.812-08:00Thank you, Paul! I'm really glad you enjoyed t...Thank you, Paul! I'm really glad you enjoyed the novel. And thanks for the corrections: if I put any of those words into the mouths of my (American) characters, then I boobed indeed (although if they only appear in my idiosyncratically English narratorial voice then I feel less on the hook). Abraham Lincoln -- not the man himself, but a hologram -- was deliberate (even an Englishman knows which side of the Civil War Lincoln was on!) and as for the Gulf of Mexico: shall we see if calling it 'the Sea' catches on before my notional future date? Anything is possible.Adam Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15803399373213872690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-59593638244170854472021-02-15T05:39:15.909-08:002021-02-15T05:39:15.909-08:00All done! Good job, as always. It was a quick, c...All done! Good job, as always. It was a quick, compelling read, with a few good ideas, a dew deep thoughts, and a few twists along the way. What more could a reader ask for? I think the topics of atonement and forgiveness are timely, given the current behavior of the media and a significant portion of the public, with responses ranging from "cancel" culture to riots over offenses of any size or age. I don't agree with the conclusion I think I see in your book, but I won't get into spoilers here.<br /><br />Since you saw fit to pick on Americans, I feel obligated to pick back. Here are some things Americans don't say: hoik, bodge, treacle, truckle, snib. Abe Lincoln did not speak with a Southern drawl and we never refer to the Gulf of Mexico as "the sea".<br /><br />So we'll end on a positive note, I enjoyed the U.S.S. Donald Trump. Maybe we'll get to a point someday where that's a possibility.<br /><br />Thanks for another thoughtful, intelligent read!<br />Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13312160598500487602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5401830411147364284.post-53288955416414543362021-02-12T11:41:54.530-08:002021-02-12T11:41:54.530-08:00Amazon US has it now so guess what I'm reading...Amazon US has it now so guess what I'm reading this weekend!<br /><br />I'm not reading this post or any reviews until I read the book. :)Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13312160598500487602noreply@blogger.com