I had never heard of Dyer, or this book. I would never have chosen it - dare I say that I rarely read anything written by old, white men these days -I’ve heard quite enough from most of them! However, this had me sitting in bed, belly laughing until I cried, so spot on is his depiction of procrastination and indecision, so paralysing and familiar to me. Great, left-field choice, I would never have made on my own, so thank you Katherine.
That summarises so well how I felt about it - I usually try to avoid such choices for my book club! But then I kept thinking: this is the book we need, and that thought wouldn't go away!
I’m afraid I really dislike this character and don’t find him funny at all just incredibly irritating.i confess im listening to the book on Audible and it might also be the narrators voice that isn’t helping. So far I don’t care at all what happens to the character. I will hear him out to the end though😊
I think it’s fine when books don’t speak to you personally though (and also, this is why we moved to reading older books without the author involved - we can afford to be honest!!)
I initially I struggled but I have relaxed into it and am loving the observation of the human condition. I just finished reading 'Back trouble' by Clare Chambers which is also a man in 1990s trying to write a book so it feels well timed for me.
After getting niggled with his indecision in first few pages……..get a grip man ….I am now hooked. Love the Sebald like photo discussion will ponder this leaving the captions and
I actually felt my blood pressure increasing with Dyer’s circuitous and obsessive thinking, and thought, what a luxury it is to overthink something! (I don’t recall having the time or energy for that in ages!)
But yes after settling down a bit, I am also hooked.
Excited for something a little lighter, I must admit I did not initially connect with the novel and found our protagonist irksome to say the least! To-ing and fro-ing and going round in circles, dissecting every decision and then ending back up where he started. Then we arrived in Sicily and I found myself smiling, sometimes laughing and yes, entertained. The wonderful description of the interrupted train journey and everyone taking the opportunity to ‘act like Italians’, everyone becoming friends. The image of him walking across the tracks ‘utterly forbidden in England’ and the childlike joy of an adventure.
Distractions galore! The trunk scene tickled me -’the one thing you would not want to do with a trunk like this is travel with it’ but it did present a theme for study - haha and here we go again.
The novel is growing on me although I am expecting a bumpy ride.
Oh the paralyzing thoughts that feel a little too familiar but also have me laughing. Whether or not he should take The Complete Poems, the efforts to retrieve it, and then not take it in the end speaks to my soul in ways I don't want to admit. This line: "There were no constraints on me and because of this it was impossible to choose."
Reading the other comments, it feels like i had a similar experience. At first I was like, "Why are we reading this?" And when I started it, I was like, "Really? We're reading this?" I hadn't read much about the book before starting, and I just assumed it was recent. As I was reading I realized it was from the 90s (when I was in high school and college), and that made me think about how different things were at that time. The narrator has grown on me as I have been reading. I also have a bit of a fascination with DH Lawrence. I think it's because I am from New Mexico, and in high school I learned that Lawrence had spent some time in Taos and his remains were burred there. I started reading him and he was the first author I became truly fascinated by. After reading this, it makes me want to find that unabridged collection of Lawrence's letters and spend the next several years reading through those and then imagining myself writing letters to all the people I wish I was still in touch with, knowing that I am far too lazy to actually do it.
I struggled at first with Out of Sheer Rage. It is a bit jading to read about the author's struggles to get on with the biography. But. When he does put down in the page his own glimpses of Lawrence - snippets from the letters, photographs he once saw and cannot forget - these are unforgettable. I have never enjoyed Lawrence's novels. He lost me with Ursula's red shoes and Gudrun's yellow shoes. Not sure if that memory from Women in Love is exactly right but I just found the novel boring and silly. And then - again many years ago - a black-bearded man who claimed to work at "the D H Lawrence Museum" tried to seduce me. His attitude of entitlement was alarming and his beard sinister. So I turned my back on Lawrence. But now - having read slightly past the Camus blue sky section, I am absolutely hooked. I love the device of writing about Lawrence while not writing about him, revealing flashes of truth, making the long-dead writer briefly and vividly alive in these moments of insight. This book is one I know I will re-read in years to come. Thanks so much Katherine for bringing it to our attention! Xxx
I agree that you need to get past the initial pages of overthinking to really start to enjoy this book, but now, 40-50 pages in, I'm really loving the serendipitous journeys and the anecdotal, yet very insightful, descriptions of the encounters he has along the way. It is also a relief to know a successful author can also procrastinate so much!! As you say, the internet and all the 'helpful' advice it brings about being more productive, can take a lot of fun out of writing sometimes. I went on a two-day writing retreat at the start of the year and, finally free of all the domestic distractions that I thought were stopping me from achieving my writing ambitions... I did not write a word! So this book was a great choice for me right now.
I can’t seem to get started! I relate to the comment about old white men and maybe that was stopping me! I have to push through as I think it will be worth it judging by the comments!
I found this section to be wonderfully relatable and honest in terms of the very human tendency to find any and all excuses to avoid the real, meaningful work we want to do.
I was really irritated with him too. That he could do whatever he wanted and didn’t seem to need to make money right away, but was complaining about it. But I kept going, and now I am laughing!
I actually liked the idea that he was getting distracted by photos of Lawrence. It wasn’t what he set out to do, but it was still a very creative idea. And maybe he would get the job done eventually by going about it obliquely like that.
When I first started reading this book I thought this is crazy. All that procrastination, indecision and just flitting around. As I read more I am really enjoying it. I am a do it now person but I am enjoying this. I suppose my creative endeavors are part research, part think time or letting things stir to see what bubbles up and yes some procrastination. For some one who can be very task oriented this is kind of relaxing. I'm just going with it and enjoying it.
enjoying this - thank you so much. he lived on the dole in 1980s brixton as i did, but was older than me. i tried his book on photography but couldn't get into it. i've not read a novel of his before. so it is lovely to be doing so in good company - so thank you for that. i'll look forward to the discussions about the book. yes, the white male etc. privilege is very palpable but, by definition, there's a lot of freedom in that. it's clever, sharp and a bit louche. after this i might read the one he wrote about 80s brixton, the colour of memory.
I'll be honest: I was a bit hesitant picking up this book, even more so with the Steve Martin blurb on the cover 😂 (I think the comedian is fabulous, I'm personally wary of a blurb from a celebrity.) That being said, I am enjoying the book so far, and the beginning about whether to settle in Paris or Rome had me laughing. Also a bit too spot on at how I can be insufferable like that? haha
I’m willing to forgive him his old white maleness, or at least grant him some benefit of the doubt, but I admit I set this book aside pretty quickly. My irritation with our protagonist was just making me irritated with myself. Too close to the bone. But after reading these comments, maybe I’ll take another stab at it…
I love the line, “although I love the idea of speaking foreign languages I hate doing anything in life that requires an effort.” What a confession!
And so very true!
I had never heard of Dyer, or this book. I would never have chosen it - dare I say that I rarely read anything written by old, white men these days -I’ve heard quite enough from most of them! However, this had me sitting in bed, belly laughing until I cried, so spot on is his depiction of procrastination and indecision, so paralysing and familiar to me. Great, left-field choice, I would never have made on my own, so thank you Katherine.
That summarises so well how I felt about it - I usually try to avoid such choices for my book club! But then I kept thinking: this is the book we need, and that thought wouldn't go away!
I’m afraid I really dislike this character and don’t find him funny at all just incredibly irritating.i confess im listening to the book on Audible and it might also be the narrators voice that isn’t helping. So far I don’t care at all what happens to the character. I will hear him out to the end though😊
I think it’s fine when books don’t speak to you personally though (and also, this is why we moved to reading older books without the author involved - we can afford to be honest!!)
I initially I struggled but I have relaxed into it and am loving the observation of the human condition. I just finished reading 'Back trouble' by Clare Chambers which is also a man in 1990s trying to write a book so it feels well timed for me.
It’s clearly a theme! 😂
After getting niggled with his indecision in first few pages……..get a grip man ….I am now hooked. Love the Sebald like photo discussion will ponder this leaving the captions and
ghost photos idea!
Haha yes, I think that’s a common response to the beginning 😂
I actually felt my blood pressure increasing with Dyer’s circuitous and obsessive thinking, and thought, what a luxury it is to overthink something! (I don’t recall having the time or energy for that in ages!)
But yes after settling down a bit, I am also hooked.
Excited for something a little lighter, I must admit I did not initially connect with the novel and found our protagonist irksome to say the least! To-ing and fro-ing and going round in circles, dissecting every decision and then ending back up where he started. Then we arrived in Sicily and I found myself smiling, sometimes laughing and yes, entertained. The wonderful description of the interrupted train journey and everyone taking the opportunity to ‘act like Italians’, everyone becoming friends. The image of him walking across the tracks ‘utterly forbidden in England’ and the childlike joy of an adventure.
Distractions galore! The trunk scene tickled me -’the one thing you would not want to do with a trunk like this is travel with it’ but it did present a theme for study - haha and here we go again.
The novel is growing on me although I am expecting a bumpy ride.
I thought as I read it this time around that it makes a slow start - it takes a while for the lightness of the character to show maybe?
Oh the paralyzing thoughts that feel a little too familiar but also have me laughing. Whether or not he should take The Complete Poems, the efforts to retrieve it, and then not take it in the end speaks to my soul in ways I don't want to admit. This line: "There were no constraints on me and because of this it was impossible to choose."
Reading the other comments, it feels like i had a similar experience. At first I was like, "Why are we reading this?" And when I started it, I was like, "Really? We're reading this?" I hadn't read much about the book before starting, and I just assumed it was recent. As I was reading I realized it was from the 90s (when I was in high school and college), and that made me think about how different things were at that time. The narrator has grown on me as I have been reading. I also have a bit of a fascination with DH Lawrence. I think it's because I am from New Mexico, and in high school I learned that Lawrence had spent some time in Taos and his remains were burred there. I started reading him and he was the first author I became truly fascinated by. After reading this, it makes me want to find that unabridged collection of Lawrence's letters and spend the next several years reading through those and then imagining myself writing letters to all the people I wish I was still in touch with, knowing that I am far too lazy to actually do it.
I struggled at first with Out of Sheer Rage. It is a bit jading to read about the author's struggles to get on with the biography. But. When he does put down in the page his own glimpses of Lawrence - snippets from the letters, photographs he once saw and cannot forget - these are unforgettable. I have never enjoyed Lawrence's novels. He lost me with Ursula's red shoes and Gudrun's yellow shoes. Not sure if that memory from Women in Love is exactly right but I just found the novel boring and silly. And then - again many years ago - a black-bearded man who claimed to work at "the D H Lawrence Museum" tried to seduce me. His attitude of entitlement was alarming and his beard sinister. So I turned my back on Lawrence. But now - having read slightly past the Camus blue sky section, I am absolutely hooked. I love the device of writing about Lawrence while not writing about him, revealing flashes of truth, making the long-dead writer briefly and vividly alive in these moments of insight. This book is one I know I will re-read in years to come. Thanks so much Katherine for bringing it to our attention! Xxx
I agree that you need to get past the initial pages of overthinking to really start to enjoy this book, but now, 40-50 pages in, I'm really loving the serendipitous journeys and the anecdotal, yet very insightful, descriptions of the encounters he has along the way. It is also a relief to know a successful author can also procrastinate so much!! As you say, the internet and all the 'helpful' advice it brings about being more productive, can take a lot of fun out of writing sometimes. I went on a two-day writing retreat at the start of the year and, finally free of all the domestic distractions that I thought were stopping me from achieving my writing ambitions... I did not write a word! So this book was a great choice for me right now.
I can’t seem to get started! I relate to the comment about old white men and maybe that was stopping me! I have to push through as I think it will be worth it judging by the comments!
I found this section to be wonderfully relatable and honest in terms of the very human tendency to find any and all excuses to avoid the real, meaningful work we want to do.
I was really irritated with him too. That he could do whatever he wanted and didn’t seem to need to make money right away, but was complaining about it. But I kept going, and now I am laughing!
I actually liked the idea that he was getting distracted by photos of Lawrence. It wasn’t what he set out to do, but it was still a very creative idea. And maybe he would get the job done eventually by going about it obliquely like that.
When I first started reading this book I thought this is crazy. All that procrastination, indecision and just flitting around. As I read more I am really enjoying it. I am a do it now person but I am enjoying this. I suppose my creative endeavors are part research, part think time or letting things stir to see what bubbles up and yes some procrastination. For some one who can be very task oriented this is kind of relaxing. I'm just going with it and enjoying it.
enjoying this - thank you so much. he lived on the dole in 1980s brixton as i did, but was older than me. i tried his book on photography but couldn't get into it. i've not read a novel of his before. so it is lovely to be doing so in good company - so thank you for that. i'll look forward to the discussions about the book. yes, the white male etc. privilege is very palpable but, by definition, there's a lot of freedom in that. it's clever, sharp and a bit louche. after this i might read the one he wrote about 80s brixton, the colour of memory.
I'll be honest: I was a bit hesitant picking up this book, even more so with the Steve Martin blurb on the cover 😂 (I think the comedian is fabulous, I'm personally wary of a blurb from a celebrity.) That being said, I am enjoying the book so far, and the beginning about whether to settle in Paris or Rome had me laughing. Also a bit too spot on at how I can be insufferable like that? haha
I’m willing to forgive him his old white maleness, or at least grant him some benefit of the doubt, but I admit I set this book aside pretty quickly. My irritation with our protagonist was just making me irritated with myself. Too close to the bone. But after reading these comments, maybe I’ll take another stab at it…