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3.43 AVERAGE
3.43 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-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:
Yes
This week I finished reading Mostly Hero, Anna Burns’s novella, a jewel of a text. It starts as a satire of superhero adventures, but soon the corrosive force of Burns’s style starts gnawing further. It contaminates other genres. Soon we are lead to think that what is at stake here is all too human, the old eros and thanatos, the nature of our bond to certain beings in spite of their actions, beyond the good and evil they may spread in the course of their lives: the unexplainable and, let’s be frank, unacceptable power that love holds over us.
It is also, but this may be me, about the coldness of life without it. Burns’s super-beings are condemned to a loveless life, leaving them with the choice between fury and depression. This would be a boring cliche if Burns, sticking to her initial satiric tone, did not show them somehow happy with their condition. Be them devoured by anger or boredom, they show no trace of despondency for it. They do not yearn for love and this lack of yearning is, for anyone who has been in love, even more unacceptable than being in love.
To be clear, what is unacceptable in Mostly Hero is not love itself, but what love makes us accept. The main male character is in love with a woman who is programmed to kill him, who goes to great expense to kill him, who, unaware, carries in her purse an implausible arsenal of ludicrous weapons, for she is under a spell to kill him whilst in love with him. He knows she is trying to kill him but this does not deter him, he still longs for her. The result of this ingenious plot device is a cascade of farcical consequences which resolve, to my complete stupefaction, in a profoundly touching (albeit brief) meditation on the nature of love.
As a result of reading this small marvel (I found it at the Crow bookseller in Crystal Palace), I bought Milkman, which got Anna Burns the Booker Prize in 2018. It is currently in my coat pocket and will join the expanding To-Read Pile which is threatening to obstruct my bedroom window. When will I read it? Maybe tomorrow, maybe never. Oh – this is exciting.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So, in the beginning I really enjoyed the superhero satire part. Later on the subtext of the metaphorical story becomes more apparent, although I still wonder if I maybe missed some hidden meaning somewhere. It is a fairly short read, but the over-the-top language still got tiresome at some point halfway through the story. I read a translation, but I think it captured the style of the original text well.
Content Warnings
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
3.5 rounded up to 4.
Highly entertaining, witty and fast pasted spoof of superhero film plots. Villains get promoted to supervillains, heroes fear for their not so heroic lineage, henchmen hench, and all that is reported by ever vigilant Alarming Breaking News Network Exclamation Marks!!!!!! Channel.
Highly entertaining, witty and fast pasted spoof of superhero film plots. Villains get promoted to supervillains, heroes fear for their not so heroic lineage, henchmen hench, and all that is reported by ever vigilant Alarming Breaking News Network Exclamation Marks!!!!!! Channel.
Library mis-labelled the genre so not my cup of tea - but figured I'd finish it anyway in case it started to look up in quality (spoiler: it didn't)
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes