tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post9219578999059416407..comments2023-04-30T07:27:54.645-07:00Comments on <b>HUNGRY GHOST BLOG</b>: Books I Never Finished ReadingDavid Chutehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-77328897362355145812011-07-13T10:34:41.418-07:002011-07-13T10:34:41.418-07:00They didn't have sunlight in Ireland until aft...They didn't have sunlight in Ireland until after "She Loves You" came out...Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-76775302818783923272011-07-12T16:03:41.502-07:002011-07-12T16:03:41.502-07:00I'm usually a big Banville fan, but I gave up ...I'm usually a big Banville fan, but I gave up on Quirke after the first book. It was just so dull.JRSMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430775461763521797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-55747391163746136322011-07-12T14:44:55.579-07:002011-07-12T14:44:55.579-07:00However much he might protest and call himself a &...However much he might protest and call himself a "slut" for writing these, it appears that the similarities between Banville and Black are often as striking as the differences --at least that's what Joanna Kavenna in the New Yorker argues. There are ways to simplify without lightening, and maybe the real reason for the effort is to make a bit of money....Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-74386884298051243462011-07-12T13:21:10.449-07:002011-07-12T13:21:10.449-07:00For me it's just, as I said, not my idea of a ...For me it's just, as I said, not my idea of a good time. My puzzlement has to do with Banville's motives. Does this rate as a refreshing change of pace for him? If so he's an even weirder dude than at first appears.David Chutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05606470667042155559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8896069787782846811.post-5609840014777726312011-07-12T06:42:37.261-07:002011-07-12T06:42:37.261-07:00Well... Don't forget what Mark Lawson said in ...Well... Don't forget what Mark Lawson said in the Guardian:<br /><br /> "A detective novel has an emotionally insecure life insurance risk at its centre: the challenge is what can be achieved, linguistically and psychologically, around these fixed points.The answer, in the Quirke series, is a great deal...."<br /><br />Oddly enough, it seems that you (of all people) may be condescending to genre by assuming that working in genre must involve entertainment and authorial relaxing. (Even Greene's entertainments were pretty bleak, if exciting and plot-driven.) <br /><br />I don't argue with your reaction to the dreariness, just your assumption that muted greys and blacks are incompatible with detective fiction.Tulkinghornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12380273659057130770noreply@blogger.com