Re: JCO: Missing Mom - spoilers

I too am delighted about the French prize for The Falls.   And I wait eagerly for JCO's next work.

 

Christa

Re: JCO: Missing Mom - spoilers

Hello

It�s interesting to hear differing opinions about this book because it�s one
that�s quite baffled me. When I read it, I�m afraid it didn�t make much
impact. It felt overlong and meandering. It seemed like there was no real
plot driving it along. It was always fairly certain who was the murderer and
that they�d be convicted. The romantic choice of �who Nikki would end up
with� felt spurious. The revelations about details of the deceased mother
weren�t strong enough to make me think about things differently. So there
wasn�t anything which was pushing me on to read so the process became rather
laborious instead of enlightening. I understand that it is an examination of
the grieving process and a very personal one. I�m sure the mixed feelings
and prolonged depression is realistic. But I didn�t feel the emotional
connection enough to grieve along with Nikki. Perhaps one day I�ll feel
different and it will resonate more with me.

I really don�t think this was a parody either, but a very straightforward
emotionally-honest account. It feels telling that Oates has said she wanted
to publish it under a pseudonym. It doesn�t have the epic sweet that many
JCO novels do as was just mentioned.

I did really admire The Falls and I�m glad that it�s won that French award.

Eric

>From: RFoley7292@aol.com
>Reply-To: jco@usfca.edu
>To: jco@usfca.edu
>Subject: Re: JCO: falls/mom
>Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 01:47:01 EST
>
>Hi,
>Not to intrude, but I've had two occasions to listen to Joyce discuss her
>most recent work in person. From her comments, sincerely and thoughtfully
>delivered, as always, I can't buy into parody. She views the work as
>deeply and
>intensely personal. (The book is, as we know, dedicated to her own late
>mother.) Says she seriously entertained the idea of publishing it under
>yet
>another pseudonym. She thought it might have appeal only to her female
>fans,
>though that feeling was almost immediately disproven. As a male, I found
>her
>notion strangely disquieting, especially since I find myself deeply
>connected to
>the experience and feelings that Nikki Eaton undergoes. I remember being
>in
>the living room with my mother when she had an infarction and I believed,
>at
>the time, that she had abruptly passed on (not true, then.) Joyce's
>descriptions of Nikki discovering Gwen's body in the garage brought
>everything
>flooding back as though it were yesterday.
>
>I'm about halfway through a first reading and I find the book gripping on a
>personal level.
>
>It seems not to have the epic, mythological quality we associate with some
>of Joyce's most important works - e.g. Blonde, the recent The Falls. If
>there
>is an attempt on JCO's part to create that level, I think it not too
>successful, but as a personal "fictionalized" recording of experience and
>feeling,
>it succeeds brilliantly (for me). Curiously, the last book I read of
>Joyce's
>was Freaky Green Eyes (which I'm considering using in my classroom) and
>there
>are some wonderful parallels to be drawn between Franky and Nikki in the
>wake (no pun) of their mothers' deaths.
>
>More to come when I finish the book in a day or so.

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Re: JCO: Prix Femina Étranger

Thank you, Randy.  That's outstanding news.  Now...on to

the Nobel, the Pulitzer!  No American author of today, male

or female, has (for years) been more deserving.

;

----- Original Message ----
From: Randy Souther <tinmachine@earthlink.net>
To: jco@usfca.edu
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2005 6:41:00 PM
Subject: JCO: Prix Femina Étranger

The Falls is the winner today of France's Prix Femina Étranger -- best foreign novel.

Randy