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Alan Moore's Jerusalem +++SPOILERS+++

Started by Frank, 26 September, 2016, 07:55:23 PM

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TordelBack

#15
Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 27 September, 2016, 10:41:19 PM
Quote from: Frank on 27 September, 2016, 05:58:58 PM
Ha! Thanks for taking my mickey taking in good part, John. It's only fitting now that you should take my mickey, as I'm sure all the Irish lads here will agree.


What exactly are you two shleeveens up to?

"Can you imagine it Father: looking up at your husband, and him standing over you with his lad in his hand, wanting you to degrade yourself?".

That.

TordelBack

#16
Flippin' eck, the prologue is awfa' dense for such a monster tome, but it lightens up considerably for the first chapter proper, which was a bit if a relief.

Started tiday, and so far I'm finding it very enjoyable, touching on all the Moore tropes I look for, and one of those books where I can't wait for my next opportunity to read.  SPOILERS for PROLOGUE ONLY:

Two things however distracted me a bit in the prologue: the provision of a rather lovely map had me constantly flicking back and forth as I tried to follow the two main journeys and historical digressions, which broke the flow of a pretty gripping opening; and Alma Warren herself, a widely celebrated Northampton working-class artist and heavyset mad-eyed hashish-consuming intellectual picking apart the mystic visions of her storied home through her art (very slight anagram: Alan Mawrre). I think I'd prefer a more explicit authorial insertion to such a thinly-veiled one.

Other than that, onwards!

Frank

Quote from: TordelBack on 02 October, 2016, 09:49:08 PM
the prologue is awfa' dense for such a monster tome

It's like one of those signs they put at the front of roller coaster queues that say YOU HAVE TO BE THIS> TALL TO TAKE THIS RIDE. If you can put up with that level of tedium, you're fine for the rest of the book.

The prologue is the book in microcosm: every maddening passage where the reader is treated to two pages describing Northampton street lighting in exhausting detail is pierced by occasional shafts of brilliant prose, where eyes are currants pressed deep into the heaped blood pudding of a face, tower blocks are upended piss perfumed stacks, and skid marks of molten anaconda laminate snake across pavements.

The Cosh was bang on the money with his guess that a good editor could have filleted this down to half the size with a few strokes of red pen. I kid you not, there's an entire chapter where all that happens is [spoiler]Charlie Chaplin[/spoiler] leans against a wall.



TordelBack

Pleased to say I didn't find the prologue remotely tedious - quite the reverse. Just very dense. I'll wait til I'm a bit further on to comment on the need for an editor.

Frank

Quote from: TordelBack on 02 October, 2016, 10:48:06 PM
I didn't find the prologue remotely tedious

I'm using hyperbole out of fear of appearing dull when criticising someone much more intelligent and entertaining than me for being occasionally dull. Like I say, there's plenty of Jerusalem I'm enjoying a lot, there's just a lot else in there too.

In the prologue alone, there are enough hints of the architecture and ambition behind the whole thing to draw the reader in and (along with the local female artist central character) make me think this might be the continuation of Big Numbers* in another medium Moore has hinted at.


* or at least its ideas

TordelBack

Mmmm, Big Numbers was what the prologue reminded me of too.

blackmocco

Quote from: TordelBack on 02 October, 2016, 09:49:08 PM
Flippin' eck, the prologue is awfa' dense for such a monster tome, but it lightens up considerably for the first chapter proper, which was a bit if a relief.

Started tiday, and so far I'm finding it very enjoyable, touching on all the Moore tropes I look for, and one of those books where I can't wait for my next opportunity to read.  SPOILERS for PROLOGUE ONLY:

Two things however distracted me a bit in the prologue: the provision of a rather lovely map had me constantly flicking back and forth as I tried to follow the two main journeys and historical digressions, which broke the flow of a pretty gripping opening; and Alma Warren herself, a widely celebrated Northampton working-class artist and heavyset mad-eyed hashish-consuming intellectual picking apart the mystic visions of her storied home through her art (very slight anagram: Alan Mawrre). I think I'd prefer a more explicit authorial insertion to such a thinly-veiled one.

Other than that, onwards!

Just kicked this off myself. And yeah, about halfway through the prologue I felt maybe I'd bitten off more than I could chew but I have to say, so far I love it. It's so dense and it requires a rigid concentration I'm not sure I'm always equipped with, but it's so beautifully written that every time I think it's overdone (and let's face it - it is), he phrases something so wonderfully I can't stop. Should be done in 2027.
"...and it was here in this blighted place, he learned to live again."

www.BLACKMOCCO.com
www.BLACKMOCCO.blogspot.com

Bad City Blue

Knowing Moore's penchant for waffling and promoting his own knowledge over telling a story these days, nothing would make me pick up this monstrously large book.
Writer of SENTINEL, the best little indie out there

Tony Angelino

Is it as good as DR & Quinch Go to Hollywood?

Bad City Blue

Writer of SENTINEL, the best little indie out there



Tony Angelino

The entire audiobook is 60 hours long.

I like listening to audiobooks on my generic mp3 device but most of them will be around the 11-12 hour mark. Even with some of those I get a bit bored and have to come back to them in a week.

I might wait for the abridged version.

TordelBack

I'm now intrigued to hear how ... certain chapters ... sound.  If the not-inconsiderable time commitment of the dead tree version puts you off,  you should definitely give the audio book a whirl: it's an experience as much as a book.

Jim_Campbell

Quote from: TordelBack on 26 April, 2017, 10:25:59 PM
I'm now intrigued to hear how ... certain chapters ... sound.  If the not-inconsiderable time commitment of the dead tree version puts you off,  you should definitely give the audio book a whirl: it's an experience as much as a book.

If'n the Magus ain't readin' it, I ain't a-lissenin' ...
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