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A review by fipah
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor
5.0
An incredible debut.
The author has such a meticulous attention to detail, to the effervescent qualities of life, to the ineffable, the mundane, and to all the magic in between. Every word is crafted and assembled with the others with great care, often sounding crisp and animated when spoken out loud - this struck me for example right in the very first page with the description of the city and its sounds - the rattling thick machinery and crackling sounds, pistons and cars braking, the air-conditioners incessantly humming... Mr. McGregor has such an ear and eye for the minute details of everyday life.
This is a novel that presents a story of several characters living in the same street - as a reader you will switch between them, their vistas and feelings, all united by one, elusive, story and one main character. I feel like the story itself is not the main drive of the book, but rather a carrier of the unspoken things, the remarkable things indeed, the atmosphere... all of them accompanying the thoughts of the reader. Like a food for thought.
The way dialogue was written is simply striking: the tiny difference of not using quotation marks leaves a big impression and is rightly different, it is not just a form, it does indeed have a different effect on the reader - it feels rightly more introspected, poetic and less fixed in here and now: it is gently blurred on the edges of the moment the reader is currently reading, hence encapsulating the atmosphere sometime around the dialogue is happening more and less rooting the characters in their loud sentences. Precisely, it quietens the characters, it quietens the novel, which consequently flows seamlessly.
A delightful read, a caress for the soul.
The author has such a meticulous attention to detail, to the effervescent qualities of life, to the ineffable, the mundane, and to all the magic in between. Every word is crafted and assembled with the others with great care, often sounding crisp and animated when spoken out loud - this struck me for example right in the very first page with the description of the city and its sounds - the rattling thick machinery and crackling sounds, pistons and cars braking, the air-conditioners incessantly humming... Mr. McGregor has such an ear and eye for the minute details of everyday life.
This is a novel that presents a story of several characters living in the same street - as a reader you will switch between them, their vistas and feelings, all united by one, elusive, story and one main character. I feel like the story itself is not the main drive of the book, but rather a carrier of the unspoken things, the remarkable things indeed, the atmosphere... all of them accompanying the thoughts of the reader. Like a food for thought.
The way dialogue was written is simply striking: the tiny difference of not using quotation marks leaves a big impression and is rightly different, it is not just a form, it does indeed have a different effect on the reader - it feels rightly more introspected, poetic and less fixed in here and now: it is gently blurred on the edges of the moment the reader is currently reading, hence encapsulating the atmosphere sometime around the dialogue is happening more and less rooting the characters in their loud sentences. Precisely, it quietens the characters, it quietens the novel, which consequently flows seamlessly.
A delightful read, a caress for the soul.