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lottiewoof 's review for:
Morvern Callar
by Alan Warner
There is a fine line between appreciating a book and liking it, but I think I fall on the side of appreciation with Morvern. As someone who has studied literature I can appreciate the style, tone, simplicity, and tact with which the novel was written... and yet I couldn't love it.
I could have written countless essays on the complexity of Morvern's fully-rounded character, the socio-political implications of the text, the nihilistic philosophy; it really is a tour de force of a novel. But a crucial element of emotional attachment to the book was missing for me.
One way of explaining it I suppose is to compare the book to a teddy bear (bear with me haha). There are some that live in glass cases, of the utmost quality and craftsmanship, appreciated the world over as incredible specimens, lusted over by collectors. And then there is the tatty, one-eyed, hairless monstrosity that you have slept with every night, taken on every holiday, and love deeply. This book is the former- beautiful and incredible, but impersonal and remote.
Oddly, I think this is exactly the reaction Warner wanted to create, as it mirrors Morvern's curious character perfectly in its detachment.
All skill, no passion... and worth a read.
I could have written countless essays on the complexity of Morvern's fully-rounded character, the socio-political implications of the text, the nihilistic philosophy; it really is a tour de force of a novel. But a crucial element of emotional attachment to the book was missing for me.
One way of explaining it I suppose is to compare the book to a teddy bear (bear with me haha). There are some that live in glass cases, of the utmost quality and craftsmanship, appreciated the world over as incredible specimens, lusted over by collectors. And then there is the tatty, one-eyed, hairless monstrosity that you have slept with every night, taken on every holiday, and love deeply. This book is the former- beautiful and incredible, but impersonal and remote.
Oddly, I think this is exactly the reaction Warner wanted to create, as it mirrors Morvern's curious character perfectly in its detachment.
All skill, no passion... and worth a read.