Re: JCO: falls/mom

I was actually trying to be tactful when I suggested the book might be a parody.  The plot is poor, the characters are completely unbelievable, and the ending is simply bizarre.

 

There is no one who admires JCO any more than I do, but this novel simply does not work. 

 

As I said, I look forward to her next book.

 

Christa

Re: JCO: falls/mom

I think it's too simplistic to dismiss Missing Mom as "less-than-Oates." More than any other author I have read, she has the ability to transcend genre and write equally compellingly in many different forms. While I don't claim MM to be one of my favorite works, I did very much enjoy it and felt it to be a compelling read. It showcases one of JCO's main themes, the problem of identity as Nikki begins to take on the identity of her dead mother as she learns more and more about her. Right from the start I noticed all of the references to bugs and birds, and for me it supports the thematic thread of predator vs prey.

On 11/8/05, RFoley7292@aol.com <RFoley7292@aol.com> wrote:

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.