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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Finally read Lanark
I'll be off to.see if better heads than mine have made the comparison to The Glass Bead Game I feel like.making. this strikes.me as a.more cynical, self reflexive, humbler version of the story told therein. A Scottish rather than a.German version. And where the Glass Bead Game follows its confidence and classic harmonies right through to it's apotheosis, Lanark is steadfast in doing the.opposite, dismantling confidence and.projections of.glory the whole time. Nevertheless it sandwiches majesty next to mendacity in the most complete way to create a character and a way of encompassing its epic aims that's wholly unlike most other things I've read. I believe I'll return to Lanark again and see different harmonies in it,perhaps ironically the same experience I have of The Glass Bead Game.
I'll be off to.see if better heads than mine have made the comparison to The Glass Bead Game I feel like.making. this strikes.me as a.more cynical, self reflexive, humbler version of the story told therein. A Scottish rather than a.German version. And where the Glass Bead Game follows its confidence and classic harmonies right through to it's apotheosis, Lanark is steadfast in doing the.opposite, dismantling confidence and.projections of.glory the whole time. Nevertheless it sandwiches majesty next to mendacity in the most complete way to create a character and a way of encompassing its epic aims that's wholly unlike most other things I've read. I believe I'll return to Lanark again and see different harmonies in it,perhaps ironically the same experience I have of The Glass Bead Game.
Humongous epic by Gray set in Glasgow that manages to combine a very personal humane story in the middle of a sprawling epic about capitalism, privatisation, and imperialism. I loved Gray's prose, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who lives in Glasgow.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am relieved that I have finished this. It's a classical epic poem about the life of Lanark, in prose, set in post-industrial Glasgow and a dystopian future. Parts of it are brilliant and I raced through, eager to figure out what in the hell was happening. Other parts are like a concentrated depressive episode, with grey skies and grey thoughts and suffocating asthma to make every moment an exhausting struggle. If Kurt Vonnegut had been a dour Scotsman instead of a wisecracking New Yorker, he'd have written this.