Grosse Fugue
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OUCH – a novelist’s response to a stinging review

19/7/2012

2 Comments

 
So, how should you react when the first media review of your debut novel is less than complimentary, to say the least (and on the website of your favourite newspaper, to boot)?

It would have been all too easy for my publisher or me to arrange a balancing contribution anonymously. And it certainly was seductive to pretend it had never happened.

But neither of those positions is honest or transparent. My recourse? This blog (and a link to it on the Guardian website).

I know that my writing style doesn’t appeal to everyone. But then, whose does? In all the conversations about Grosse Fugue, I’ve sought to discover a book that everyone loves and have so far failed to do so. Fortunately for me, my publisher APP was very much drawn to it.

One of the interesting effects of my novel is that people are entirely inconsistent about what features they like. The Guardian reviewer commented on the Intermezzi, particularly #1. Others like #2; some hate them all! Some have remarked on how interesting a lot it is; more have said how moving it is. This reviewer discerns ‘long, pompous passages about European history and culture’; a number have commented on how informative they found it.

This all goes to prove that reading is inevitably subjective. Can one improve? Of course. Does this review spur me to be better? Damn right it does. Should it discourage people from trying Grosse Fugue? Ah, there’s the rub. It probably will do, but has no right to. If people are drawn to the subject, attracted by the interlacing of catastrophe and great art, and want to get drawn into challenging debate, then I would argue they should try it.

The review eschews all that, focusing on style (perfectly legitimately in the context of a literary prize). A few have commented on it and on a passage lifted from Amazon’s ‘Look inside’ facility. Criticising any book based on a very narrow selection does seem unreasonable to me.

Of course I’m disappointed with this review. Who would not be? But I’m also grateful that the book has been read attentively. I am saddened that the intention to move the Holocaust debate on from causation and suffering to legacy has been missed, as have the, no doubt futile, attempts to share my passion for Beethoven and his late quartets.

My only hope is this additional exposure does encourage more readers to consider the book and read the reviews on Amazon that offer a different perspective.


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A confluence of interests

29/5/2012

4 Comments

 
Funny how things come together sometimes.

Last week, there was a mini-furore over an exam question inviting candidates to explain antisemitism. British Education Secretary Michael Gove ventured, clearly with little or any thought, the following devastating apercu: "To suggest that antisemitism can ever be explained, rather than condemned, is insensitive and frankly bizarre".

This demanded a letter to The Guardian, which was published today. It provided an opportunity to tie together three strands of thinking that have been occupying my mind.

First, of course, there's Grosse Fugue. As the numbers reading it have increased and comments started to flow, it's clear that the main 'agenda item' - shifting the Holocaust debate from articulation of the horror to articulating its legacy - does have some genuine resonance.

Secondly, education.  from my privileged position as a Chair of Governors, it seems pretty clear to me that there is a form of jihad going on, where the holy war is against anything resembling corporate statism.  One manifestation is the deliberate fragmentation of local state education structures, creating a free-for-all in the provision of primary and secondary schooling unhampered by inconveniences such as planning, centralised procurement, co-operation or, indeed, any other concept that might encourage consistency of provision. I should say also that this process is without any evidence base whatsoever. It is an exercise in reverse social engineering and class war that will have as its inevitable legacy the need for local democratic institutions to pick up the pieces and rectify an act of wanton vandalism.

And, thirdly, I'm exercised by issues of experience and competence.  Michael Gove was a journalist before becoming Education Secretary. What possesses people like this to think they can do a job of near-infinite detail, requiring exceptional people skills and, perhaps most importantly, considered intellectual thoughts and responses? To quote Calpurnia to her hubby in Julius Caesar: 'Your wisdom is consum'd in confidence'. The problem with people who have passed through an elistist education system is that they believe in their own powers in an entirely non-critical, non-self-censoring way. Gove's remark is typical of many: 'If I say it, so must it be'.  It is not so.
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