tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post1478462180133888210..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: The InstructionsJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-65046981789774602592011-10-25T14:50:51.564+01:002011-10-25T14:50:51.564+01:00Thank you for that, Angela. I'm glad they have...Thank you for that, <b>Angela</b>. I'm glad they have been so well received. Just drop me a line if you ever want some more.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-40802209791805640072011-10-25T14:16:43.593+01:002011-10-25T14:16:43.593+01:00I know this is off topic. But I am so honored that...I know this is off topic. But I am so honored that you submitted your stuff to my blog. It is wonderful, and it reminds me how very much I have to learn about writing and poetry in general.Angelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12399082789777816445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-58224147587240982662011-10-24T15:11:58.652+01:002011-10-24T15:11:58.652+01:00Susan Kenyon is unknown to me, who, and I could fi...Susan Kenyon is unknown to me, <b>who</b>, and I could find next to nothing about her online but it’s always good when you make a real connection with an author.<br /><br /><b>Dave</b>, it’s hard to say whether this is a book for you or not. The parts that I found myself getting caught up in the most are the bits most readers will probably want to skip over. I cannot forget my upbringing and I have a head full of scriptures and biblical stories and I was quite taken by some of the different slants on stories that I thought I fully grasped, e.g. the tone used by Abraham when talking to God about just how few men it would take for him not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. I had never considered the tone before. And it makes a difference, a significant difference to how one might understand this text. I chose not to talk about all that stuff but I did enjoy it.<br /><br />Like any work of scripture – and this is what this book purports to be (albeit a fictional one) – it is open to interpretation and I can imagine, as with books like Joyce’s <i>Ulysses</i> and <i>Finnegans Wake</i>, groups meeting to discuss and debate the exact meaning but <i>The Instructions</i> is not as great a work of literature as either of these.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-30708740590977447642011-10-24T14:22:22.456+01:002011-10-24T14:22:22.456+01:00I had to have a couple of bites at this. I have a ...I had to have a couple of bites at this. I have a penchant for novels about Jewish families (as long as they are well written, of course), but when we get to the intricacies of Jewish religion and Messianic concepts my mind tends to go blank. It was switching on and off a bit reading your review - no fault of the review, purely the subject matter of the book. I don't think I'm strong enough to pick up the book, let alone read it.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-40075419519953452362011-10-24T14:03:30.583+01:002011-10-24T14:03:30.583+01:00Your post wasn't long, not for a review of a b...Your post wasn't long, not for a review of a book like that anyway. I did come back and finish the whole review.<br /><br /> from the beginning<br /><br />I re-read it because when I first returned (right before I messaged you) and started from where I left off it seemed to shift gears in a serious way. So much so it was almost as if a second writer tagged in and took over or you. Shifted from reverse to a second reverse gear (which I have often wished my car had after driving down long roads and having to back out because there was no place to turn around.) <br /><br />it made sense though once I realized you were being serious about how much you dislike the words that don't need to be there (esp when all those words add up to numerous pages)<br /><br />I do appreciate your reviews and more so if the book is long. When it is not a question of "when" I will read the book and I am still stuck on "if" is when the review is literally priceless.<br /><br />I am not sure if literally was a pun I intended because really, I should have just kept this third reply in the context of a gnat. <br /><br />because that was the word I was focused on from your reply. Honestly that word is the only reason I am commenting a third time on the same post and the word gnat only because two weeks ago I bought Susan Keyon's short book of poems <i>Petal on the Tongue</i> <br /><br />like a deck of cards it is 52 poems long and all of them short. Published in 2002, but because of the uncanny'd relevance to it all it would be neat to have her reveal when and how she wrote them. <br /><br />but it was because of Jane Kenyon's book that I became so overwhelmed I had to leave the store and come back later to get them. Even though I knew I was going to buy both books.whohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17685473418191606910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-27730099210323128932011-10-24T10:57:59.340+01:002011-10-24T10:57:59.340+01:00As I said in my e-mail, who, “No offense taken jus...As I said in my e-mail, <b>who</b>, “No offense taken just a little confusion exhibited.” I’m glad you appreciate the effort that goes into reviews like this. I know they can be a little long but I refuse to pander to the belief that everyone who’s reading online has the attention span of a gnat.<br /><br />And, <b>Ken</b>, it took me the best part of a month to read this and I had to be very disciplined about it. It was seriously hard work just holding the damn thing. I would never have offered to read this one but Canongate in their wisdom just sent me a copy in the post and, of course, once I had it I felt I ought to at least try and read it. And it is very readable so don’t think that this is badly-written or anything because it is anything but and some of it was absolutely wonderful. It just didn’t need to be 1030 pages long. If it ever gets made into a film I don’t think it will be any harder to adapt that most 250-page books; the dialogue is all there so all they have to do it cut and paste pretty much.<br /><br />I have not written a blog post about my relationship with long books – never thought about it actually. I’m not sure I have anything wise and wonderful to say on the subject. With reference to your own post on patience I was very impatient as a kid as I said and I expect this affected how I read too. I would be keen for the authors to stop faffing around describing stuff and get on with the damn story. I’m not <i>as</i> bad these days but I still dislike protracted descriptions of anything; they just don’t interest me.<br /><br />I have not read <i>The Sisters Brothers</i> but I’ll take your recommendation under advisement. My first thought – honestly (okay, second thought after, <i>Great cover</i>) – was: <i>336 pages! Why couldn’t it be 236 pages?</i>. And that’s pretty much how I face every book. One of the first things I do is look and see how many pages. And if it’s under 200 I’m rejoicing. (I see the paperback has 272 pages but all that means is the font’ll be smaller and harder to read.)<br /><br />I’m just finishing a book set in Ireland and the Hebrides and a part of me want to go back over all the dialogue in <i>Milligan and Murphy</i> if only to see if I can fit a ‘disremembered’ in there somewhere. The author has perfectly captured the various dialects. I should finish it this afternoon and begin the review then while it’s fresh in my head.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-88036671025302466852011-10-24T10:13:31.716+01:002011-10-24T10:13:31.716+01:00I think it would an interesting blog post (knowing...I think it would an interesting blog post (knowing you, you've written it already) about your relationship with long books. <br /><br />I know that you have expressed a preference for short books - or, at least, said that you tend to stray towards less weighty tomes. So, how on earth do you deal with a book of this size? I'm interested. How long did it take you to read it? (It would take me a month). I'm scared of big books now. When I used to ride the tube to and from work, I would read anything. 'A Suitable Boy' was a highly enjoyable experience back then whereas, now, I couldn't conceive of starting it.<br /><br />Whilst writing, I am very taken with the book I'm corrently reading. 'The Sisters Brothers' by Patrick deWitt makes me wonder, specifically, 'what Jim would think of it'. The subject matter, two men on a journey and the people they meet - it reminds me of Beckett (in more ways that one). I actually think you might like it but, obviously, I can't be sure.<br /><br />PS after writing this I thought "I bet he's reviewed this book already." So I went to search... don't you have a wee search box on the blog? I find them very handy.Ken Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-11531523385163398102011-10-24T06:33:04.641+01:002011-10-24T06:33:04.641+01:00Thank You JM, for being so understanding of my com...Thank You JM, for being so understanding of my completely [un]related topic of my comment. I think it seems so imbalanced because I had a few other writes in mind that I associated with your review. <br /><br />I still owe you an apology though as my ranting seemed directed at you whereas my qualms had nothing to do with you or the content of your review. Truthfully I had to stop reading because I had someplace to be. <br /><br />I should know better than to "just start reading one more " because I know I can't stop reading til I finish.<br /><br />thank you for the review. I honestly appreciate good reviews as I won't have time to read everything, no matter how much I want to, so it is important to me to choose wisely. Reviews from those who write what they think are beyond value to someone like me.whohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17685473418191606910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-75416282256880791232011-10-23T13:29:15.403+01:002011-10-23T13:29:15.403+01:00Thanks for the comment, who. Since I lost interest...Thanks for the comment, <b>who</b>. Since I lost interest in religion I’ve not worried about what anyone has said in God’s name. There is, no doubt, a lot about this world that needs fixing and I don’t much care what anyone calls him or herself; if they can point us in the right direction then great. Where there are problems there have to be solutions even if they are radical ones. Religion up till now though has generally caused more problems than it has solved which is odd and sad because most religions are based on pretty decent ideas like treating everyone equally and not stealing people’s asses. I remember my dad saying once that if he learned that there was definitely no God he would still live by the standards outlined in the Bible because they were good standards and keeping to them wouldn’t do any harm if it did no good.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-59936644458325895122011-10-23T07:14:52.723+01:002011-10-23T07:14:52.723+01:00I had to stop reading after the "how to trick...I had to stop reading after the "how to trick your parents into not a heftier allowance if they don't understand exponential math principles" mostly because the film puts the rubber on the outside instead of the inside. <br /><br />but I read a little a further, until the book comes to hell towne. <br /><br />What parents forget, is that more so then kids cannot lie to their parents (even if they try) the stronger principle is parents cannot lie to their kids. <br /><br />and why would they?<br /><br />I don't know, why they do something that even on the surface of things, they know they cannot, but they do (they lie) and if the kid cannot inherently tell, and in knowing this learn to trust themselves, things get pretty... well, not what they could be. <br /><br />I realized I knew more about human psychology than the experts, before I was ever afraid of human kind. There is noone better that can enable true capabilities of the human mind than a parent to the child. And it has nothing to do with doing well in school.<br /><br />the human race isn't ready for to reach their potential. They cannot even make it past the honesty principle. <br /><br />yet how many steps are we beyond step one when nothing matters, when all that matters is <br /><br />FIRST THINGS FIRST<br /><br />and here the asleep people pretending to be living are worried about who is the last?<br /><br />there is no information that any messeiah can delivery that will fix anything, God and knowledge of anything and everything is NOT our problem<br /><br />and I don't mean any disrespectwhohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17685473418191606910noreply@blogger.com