tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post8979258729405174742..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: MilkweedJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-1228917406872077212011-03-22T17:49:59.456+00:002011-03-22T17:49:59.456+00:00The book is most definitely aimed at kids, Conda, ...The book is most definitely aimed at kids, <b>Conda</b>, but there are plenty of kids' books that adults still appreciate. I make no bones about it, I <i>enjoyed</i> reading this book.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-38825908359936968182011-03-22T08:24:45.478+00:002011-03-22T08:24:45.478+00:00Thanks for this, Jim. I've downloaded the rev...Thanks for this, Jim. I've downloaded the review and look forward to reading it. I'll send a copy to GM with my next letter and I'll let you know how he responds.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-20400827759187764932011-03-21T20:46:34.559+00:002011-03-21T20:46:34.559+00:00I'm always impressed with writers who tackle a...I'm always impressed with writers who tackle any story that involves the Holocaust. That Jerry has written, from your review, a powerful story for the younger set, is even more impressive. <br /><br />PS: the review makes me think this is for adults too, perhaps even more so.Conda Douglashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12972790965426924941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-19481165053864540842011-03-21T18:18:02.019+00:002011-03-21T18:18:02.019+00:00I’m not sure I could ever write YA Fiction, Sangu....I’m not sure I could ever write YA Fiction, <b>Sangu</b>. I was never a ‘young’ kid. I always spent time with people older than me and struggled to relate to my peers. And if that was me thirty+ years ago you can imagine where I am just now. But I don’t mind reading the stuff if it passes my way. And this is a good book by anyone’s standards. My only real criticism of it from a target point of view is that if he had aimed the book at adults he might not have wound the thing up as quickly as he probably felt he needed to do. But it is what it is and it works just fine.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-39438722373102120652011-03-21T18:10:25.922+00:002011-03-21T18:10:25.922+00:00This sounds like a great book, Jim. I agree with y...This sounds like a great book, Jim. I agree with you about the confusion over YA: it's hard to figure out what is and what isn't, and I can only say that you eventually learn to recognize it if you read and write in the genre.Sangu Mandannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09464061265952789628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-62660116226389750392011-03-21T12:43:31.785+00:002011-03-21T12:43:31.785+00:00I, of course, have no problems with you passing a ...I, of course, have no problems with you passing a copy of the review onto Gerald. I had intended to do <i>Barley Patch</i> before now but I never quite felt in the right mood to tackle it knowing it would mean a careful reread of the book and then another four or five days to actually write the review. Not quite sure why I started on <i>Tamarisk Row</i> but I’m glad I did because I now understand some of the references in other books. This time I’ve tried to focus on the terms he uses. I’m sure it is as frustrating for him as it is for us trying to communicate his thought processes. A single word like ‘mind’ is being asked to encapsulate so much. I watched the DVD again which was helpful and I’ve incorporated a few quotes in the article. I hadn’t realised when I first watched it never having read <i>Tamarisk Row</i> at the time just how much he quotes from it. I intend to finish off the article with a clip showing him reading that long sentence at the end. Carrie’s read it through once this morning but now it’s time for her nap and we’ll just have to see how she feels when she wakes up whether or not I get it back today or what. But 7000 words really isn’t a lot. I would have liked to have said more. As it is I doubt too many will plod their way through it but it will stay online and be available for those looking for information about him through a search engine.<br /><br />I’m not obsessed with comments, not normally anyway, but I think with <i>Milkweed</i> I had expected more because people seemed interested in the idea of a child narrator which is why I posted the review early. If I’d kept it in the queue it wouldn’t have gone up for another three months. I’m not sure when I’ll post the review of <i>Tamarisk Row</i> because it’s not really a review. It’s more of a discussion of his worldview using the book as a jumping off point. So I may post it sooner rather than later but not next as I have an old article that I need to get up that’s been lying around since August and kept getting passed over so much so that some of it is actually out of date which is funny because it’s about procrastination. <br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-82684238610819682442011-03-21T11:56:12.275+00:002011-03-21T11:56:12.275+00:00Seven thousand words, Jim. That's a veritable...Seven thousand words, Jim. That's a veritable thesis, albeit a minor one, but please send me the lot.<br /><br />If you're okay with it I'll pass it on to Gerald. He'll love it. He doesn't get onto the Internet though recently for the first time in his life he's started to learn how to use a computer.<br /><br />I must say I too was puzzled that mine was your first comment here. Maybe, like me, most people have by chance missed it. I came deliberately looking for GM, and found Milkweed, which I had glimpsed earlier at a time when I had no time to read. <br /><br />I suspect that people will start to arrive now perhaps in dribs and drabs. <br /><br />It's a strange world the blogosphere, as you some time ago first told me. Comments are not necessarily a measure of the standard of writing or content, I think. More to do with the size of the moon, the timing, the state of the earth. And the earth is pretty unsettled at the moment. <br /><br />Perhaps this review is too close to the bone: children and war.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-12116714047131922962011-03-21T11:18:41.330+00:002011-03-21T11:18:41.330+00:00Finally, a comment! I was wondering where everyone...Finally, a comment! I was wondering where everyone went. I really thought that after all the talk about <i>Mavis’s Shoe</i> that this book would have generated an interesting discussion – I even posted it out of sequence for that very reason as I have reviews that have been lying for months – but there you go.<br /><br />What I liked about this book was the fact that Spinelli chose such a character as the lens through which we see the atrocities that were perpetrated. In some respects, yes, he is a hero but he himself isn’t so stupid not to realise that his own ignorance is what provides him with much of his confidence. Innocence is an interesting word. We talk about children as innocent but does that mean that the loss of innocence equates to the acquisition of guilt? I think a better word for children is actually ignorant because that’s what they do, they ignore things, their senses are not as finely tuned as adults and so they don’t pick up on subtleties. It’s like when the boy in the book sees a Jew being stripped and painted he focuses on how much fun it might be to be painted as a kid might. <br /><br />I’m also not sure about this whole YA thing. I’m sure there was no such thing when I was young but on the whole I approve. This is a book that adults could read happily. Well, easily, if not exactly happily. I preferred this one to <i>Mavis’s Shoe</i> though because we get to see the boy grow up and we know that the narrator is actually now an old man and so has an adult’s perspective on things and the long-term effects of the war. I think that was a very wise choice.<br /><br />I like the Garner quote. It resonates with what I’ve just written on Art’s blog about poetry being palliative. That applies to all writing. I’ll watch that video later this afternoon when I’ve got a minute.<br /><br />As for the Murnane post it’ll be weeks before it goes up so I’ll e-mail you a copy once Carrie’s proofread it. It’s long (about 7000 words) but she’s actually working on it just now.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-48129468883814787502011-03-21T10:23:28.185+00:002011-03-21T10:23:28.185+00:00I found this review surprisingly poignant, Jim. P...I found this review surprisingly poignant, Jim. Poignant because it's about children's book, and one that seems to evoke powerful responses at least in me because of the way you describe the main character, this dull boy whose innocence tests the reader. <br /><br />I heard a philosopher on the radio here today, one Joanne Faulkner who talked about her book on the innocence of children. She talked about the investment we have in maintaining the idea of childhood innocence and related it in part to the biblical fall. She also spoke about the degree to which innocence can never last and how offended we are when children do not fit our expectations as in the case of the two boys who murdered young James Bulger. <br /><br />You might be interested to listen to the program, which can be heard on: http://abc.com.au/rn/philosopherszone/stories/2011/3166326.htm<br /><br />I'm never sure about YA books and books for children, but that's my ignorance. I like the sound of this book especially the author's final comment to write about what matters to you. <br /><br />I heard another good quote yesterday. When an audience member asked the Australian writer, Helen Garner some innocuous comment about writing, Garner responded: 'Write in a way that most relieves your heart.' <br /><br />Thanks, Jim. <br /><br />Roll on Murnane.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.com