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**bypeTeenehalT** · 05-29-2008, 05:10 PM

Well, Dabbler, whatever the book's about, I am not going to buy it. I always avoid cults, and this is a prime example of one.

Without having read it, my intuition and what Dabbler wrote tell me the following: Belgian genius translates his own complex long novel and fills it with a mish-mash of facts and detail, plus various nods to political correctness, to enhance his fat book. Then he wins a prize, where the judges are already members of the London-Oxbridge, mainly Left-wing, literary ?lite.

Some critics will go on and on about its poetic beauty (though the Complete Review has some dissident voices: "mish-mash"), most of whom won't actually have read it cover-to-cover. The book sounds like one of those unbounded splurges that are written by people who want to blind their readers with science and detail over hundreds of pages to appear profound. I reckon this book will prove a white elephant for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in the long run.

People who have no knowledge of the sheer variety of Belgian literature marvel at this clever man, now living in the States, where you get promoted if you know the right people, especially in academe. Gullible masochists among British readers buy the book in droves 'cos it won a competition. They will all stop some way through the book they have rushed to buy, then quietly put it on an obscure shelf of their library so they are not reminded of the money they spent buying it.

In a word, I am prejudiced against this book right from the start.

*

Please re-read my thread on Belgian literature and think about all those other Belgian authors who haven't gone to America, but have stayed at home and written (in Dutch or French) a whole gamut of literature about aspects of their country. But because the Brits and Yanks can't be bothered to translate them, this one manic self-translating emigr? chap now "represents" Belgian literature in the eyes of the monolingual British and U.S. world.

The Danish author Peter Adolphsen also introduces aspects of science and a ragbag of realia, as does Max Sebald. But their books are kept in proportion to the tale they tell.

05-29-2008, 05:10 PM	#8
bypeTeenehalT Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 494 Senior Member	Well, Dabbler, whatever the book's about, I am not going to buy it. I always avoid cults, and this is a prime example of one. Without having read it, my intuition and what Dabbler wrote tell me the following: Belgian genius translates his own complex long novel and fills it with a mish-mash of facts and detail, plus various nods to political correctness, to enhance his fat book. Then he wins a prize, where the judges are already members of the London-Oxbridge, mainly Left-wing, literary ?lite. Some critics will go on and on about its poetic beauty (though the Complete Review has some dissident voices: "mish-mash"), most of whom won't actually have read it cover-to-cover. The book sounds like one of those unbounded splurges that are written by people who want to blind their readers with science and detail over hundreds of pages to appear profound. I reckon this book will prove a white elephant for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize in the long run. People who have no knowledge of the sheer variety of Belgian literature marvel at this clever man, now living in the States, where you get promoted if you know the right people, especially in academe. Gullible masochists among British readers buy the book in droves 'cos it won a competition. They will all stop some way through the book they have rushed to buy, then quietly put it on an obscure shelf of their library so they are not reminded of the money they spent buying it. In a word, I am prejudiced against this book right from the start. * Please re-read my thread on Belgian literature and think about all those other Belgian authors who haven't gone to America, but have stayed at home and written (in Dutch or French) a whole gamut of literature about aspects of their country. But because the Brits and Yanks can't be bothered to translate them, this one manic self-translating emigr? chap now "represents" Belgian literature in the eyes of the monolingual British and U.S. world. The Danish author Peter Adolphsen also introduces aspects of science and a ragbag of realia, as does Max Sebald. But their books are kept in proportion to the tale they tell.
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