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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3971 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 19, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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You know, I actually found Count Zero and other, later Gibson works very hard to deal with for specifically that reason. A friend of mine keeps trying to get me to read The Peripheral, but I spend so much time just trying to understand what is going on that I end up bailing out. I do understand the appeal I think, but a little bit more explanation than what he gives us would be welcome.

I'm nearly at the end of Haruki Murakami's Novelist as a Vocation, in which he reflects on his process and on his career. There's something about the way Murakami writes about writing, that makes you the reader think you could do it too: that while there is a minimum talent threshold, if you clear that then it's just a matter of having enough work ethic and self-reflectiveness. Perhaps that's true. But another takeaway from the work, and something which Murakami never truly addresses or reflects on, is that he obviously has a really immense work ethic himself. He drives himself quite hard, and also seems to have no interest in the kinds of distractions which are so disruptive to younger generations. To hear him tell it, he genuinely spends all of his time writing, exercising, reading, and listening to music. Good recipe for productivity if you can stick to it.

In the end, it's a crime story. The jargon, infighting and dubious motives honestly makes it feel like a good novel to read on vacation to me. Trying to analyze it deeply would lose the momentum. Neuromancer only seemed different because it pulled you into Case's mindset so deeply that one only notices at the end that the story had little intrinsic drive beyond being a crime story. Of course, that was also where the greatness lay.

Have you read 1Q84 by chance, I've often wondered how much autobiography there is in his characters, and one of the main characters is a male writer. I'll have to keep my eye open for a copy of Novelist at my local used book shop.

I have, and I think it's quite wonderful. The feeling I got when the buildup in that book finally pays off, it still sticks with me now. I remember where I was and what time of day it was, when I read the pivotal moment in that book.

Having said that - I think South of the Border, West of the Sun and Hear the Wind Sing are the Murakami books with the most autobiographical elements. Especially the first one: the protagonist actually runs a jazz bar as Murakami did in his 20s. (Also: South of the Border, West of the Sun is my favorite novel ever, largely for personal reasons. No other novel so perfectly captured so many things that I felt at a particular time in my life.)

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll look for those. I think Wild Sheep Chase had the best written one I've read so far, but Wind Up Bird Chronicle is a personal favorite.

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