Calling Dept. of Speculation a novel is like taking a Facebook timeline, printing and binding it, slapping a publisher's imprint on and calling that a novel. Neither of these are novels, yet neither of these are not novels--it all depends on how you define the term.
But for me, it's not definitions so much as expectations. I expect a novel to be more than stream-of-consciousness on paper; more than two-line journal entries without retrospective editing; and more than a series of the 'deep thoughts' made famous by Jack Handey.
I hope if dogs ever take
over the world, and they
choose a king, they don't just
go by size, because I bet
there are some Chihuahuas
with some good ideas.
-Jack Handey
I found a book called
Thriving Not Surviving
in a box on the street.
I stood there, flipping through it,
unwilling to commit.
-Jenny Offill
Get the idea? If I'd had the brains to realize this book was a series of thoughts that might have loosely made up a life story, I'd have had the brains to leave it on the shelf. Or I'd have approached it differently and might have liked it. But the reviews said nothing about the style, only the content--and I can't find much content. I can't get past the style.
The bits of content I find are sorely lacking. For example, her miscarriage. Having experienced a miscarriage myself, I feel shortchanged by the three or four sentences she uses to outline hers.
all this probably says more about me than about her book. Guess I'm just too lazy to work at it.
Abandoned.
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