Requiems reviewed again . . .

[realthog]

The customer reviews on Amazon.com are frequently less Times Literary Supplement, more . . . well, lavatory wall, to be honest, but every now and then someone posts a review there that seems pretty professional. A reader called John L Murphy (who I see by clicking the relevant link has reviewed extensively on the Amazon site) has just given the full treatment to Requiems for the Departed (edited by Gerard Brennan and Mike Stone and published by Morrigan, as if you needed telling).

Naturally everyone's agape to find out what he said about my contribution to the anthology, "The Life Business", so here we go:

Grant draws upon his [. . .] teenage stint as a British cadet to integrate disturbing and emotional reveries into his shape-shifting characters. "The Life Business" haunted me more than most previous ones, try as they might to shock or rattle. Grant, as a fantasy master, successfully conjures otherworldly senses into his narrative eerily.

Comments

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Very nice.

Out of curiosity, what rank did you reach in the cadet corps? I'd thought of becoming a cadet, but my father said no. Probably a good idea, I don't think military discipline and I would have done well together.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

We had no choice in the matter, alas: the school required it. But there were voluntary extras that I always opted for since they offered free holidays around the country, courtesy of the Army (i.e., the UK taxpayer). Thus I've done unexpected things like tackle the assault course at Aldershot and fire heavy artillery.

I think I reached the lofty rank of lance-corporal -- possibly corporal. It was a long time ago . . .

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Did any of those experiences affect your fiction?

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Did any of those experiences affect your fiction?

Until Mike Stone wrote and told me about this 'ere anthology of Irish stories he was editing and would I like to contribute to it, no. Not that I can think of, anyway. Why do you ask?

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Just curious. I always wonder on what sources writers draw.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Ha! Pam thinks all the Rude Bits must be autobiographical.

"If only," I tell her. "If only . . ."

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

The first novelist I knew, John Hearne, told me that several bits of his first novel came from his life experience. I'm not altogether sure which of them were the rude bits (which included a couple of women's thoughts on sex). He didn't, for example, describe having sex with a German woman during the Occupation in exchange for a bar of chocolate, though I do know that happened.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

several bits of his first novel came from his life experience

I think that inevitably stuff does, and any fiction writer who tells you otherwise is kidding themselves. At the same time, it's easy for us to assume as readers that great scads of the fictions we read are based on the author's own experiences (or worldview, etc.) when in reality the point of fiction is that you Make Stuff Up -- and most of it really is conjured from whole cloth.

having sex with a German woman during the Occupation in exchange for a bar of chocolate

Sorry: I find him pretty despicable for that.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

I'm not going to defend it. It was a pretty low thing to do.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Myself, I've always wondered how much of Stephen Vizinczey's In Praise of Older Women was autobiographical. And there's a lot of Agnar Mykle's stuff that seems like lightly fictionalized sexual autobiography. Of course, Mykle was the better writer.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

I haven't read either, sad to say.

I do know that V.S. Naipaul's Miguel Street is based on his childhood experiences living on Luis Street in Port of Spain, and A House for Mister Biswas is based on his father's life (the former comes from Patrick French's marvellous biography, the latter has been well-known for many years).

[realthog.livejournal.com]

To my shame, I've never read any Naipul.

*hangs head in self-loathing*

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

It's been known to happen. Biswas is absolutely worth reading. Though if you want to read the most underappreciated Trinidadian writer of the same period, I recommend Sam Selvon's The Lonely Londoners, truly comic writing about immigrant life in the 1950s.

[mylefteye.livejournal.com]

I saw this earlier today on the reviewer's 'blogtrotter' site. You've saved me the trouble of sending you a link! Nice review, innit? may there be many more like it.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

may there be many more like it

I second that!

[jmward14.livejournal.com]

For the win! Three cheers, too. :-)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Many thanks, JM!

[markdeniz.livejournal.com]

It's been put here now, so I'm thinking it might have been a bit more than the lavatory wall review aspect...

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/128709-requiems-for-the-departed-by-gerard-brennan-and-mike-stone/

;)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

To judge by the paragraph on moi, that's not the same review -- not sure without checking further if he's just substantially copyedited it or if it's a rewrite. But the para I so vainly quote above has become:

In the closing story, “The Life Business”, the fantasy master who writes as John Grant draws upon his [. . .] real-life teenage stint as a British cadet. He integrates disturbing and emotional reveries into his shape-shifting characters. His story rattled me the most. Grant eerily channels otherworldly senses into a psychological study of identity.