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Saturday, March 13, 2010
Bad Books
My favourite line from this American Book Review piece: Michael Berubé on Lawrence’s Women In Love. ‘It’s like someone put a gun to Nietzsche’s head and made him write a Harlequin romance.’
Comments
I wrote a little bit about this here:
In short, I think he was joking. The reference to Tindall is the giveaway.
Several of the entries seemed to me more like celebrations of the books concerned than anything else. The piece on James Bond, for instance.
Berubé hit the nail squarely on the head. Pithy, witty and deadly accurate—for all of Lawrence’s “romantic” interactions and depictions of women.
Actually, Andy Bienen hit the nail squarely on the head—all I did was quote him. So I suppose I deserve credit for remembering Andy’s line after 25 years, but that’s about it.
Too bad it invariably ends up sparking the semi-annual book-burning bonfire, for pagan yobs, at the Guardian:
If Ulysses ever *fails* to get a mention at one of these things, the Devil can start selling ice cream…
The Ulysses stuff is golden—thanks for the pointer.
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed a distressing tendency to seize upon opportunities, no matter how slim, to relive the persecutions of my youth. I hope at least it’s less destructive to seek out meager attacks on Ulysses than to seek out meager attacks on Christianity or atheism or unfettered capitalism.