My Weekly Book

Cosi fan Tutti by Michael Dibdin

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Astrofiammante says:
Have finished Zen book
Astrofiammante says:
Afraid I thought the ending was damn silly…
Astrofiammante says:
First one I have felt disappointed at on finishing.
Astrofiammante says:
I’m sorry…
Random says:
Gloriously so, I thought
Astrofiammante says:
It’s OK for one book. But when you then introduce elements into that kind of scene which have implications for the whole series – ham-fisted I thought
Astrofiammante says:
Also there were things that stretched credibility to ridiculous lengths
Random says:
In best opera tradition, surely?
Astrofiammante says:
Yes, but this is the fifth book in a series and you can’t do it too much without fucking with the rhythm of the series
Astrofiammante says:
Which I think it’s done
Random says:
Certainly the lightness of tone is a very marked contrast… almost like Peter Duck / Missee Lee in the middle of the more realistic Swallows and Amazons
Astrofiammante says:
That’s fine – it’s where he does things with the long-standing characters that there are problems
Astrofiammante says:
It’s where it has implications for the series that it’s problematic
Random says:
There was a feel of deliberate puppetry
Astrofiammante says:
I think it’s a superb device to get him (Dibdin) out of the hole he’d dug himself into with Dead Lagoon
Astrofiammante says:
I just think it’s overdone
Random says:
Meta-fiction – ‘let’s see what happens to my characters when I make them play by the rules of an utterly alien genre’
Astrofiammante says:
Fine, as long as it’s only for one book.
Random says:
Chimes with an interview I read when I was looking for a complete list of title yesterday – Dibden cross with complaints that he’d [spoiler removed]
Astrofiammante says:
Having invested all that time in Angelo Zen, only to negligently reveal that [spoiler removed]
Astrofiammante says:
That’s just undercutting your own narrative.
Astrofiammante says:
That’s following Blood Rain?
Astrofiammante says:
Or has he [spoiler removed] since?
Astrofiammante says:
If so, ta very, very much for telling me…
Random says:
Blood Rain, yes
Random says:
When the misunderstanding was still current among fans – first he was taken aback at discovering he’d mishandled what was intended to be ambiguous, then he got cross at the more strident “you have no right to do that” merchants
Astrofiammante says:
There’s a difference between saying ‘You have no right’ and saying ‘in my judgement as a reader of this series this plot has been mishandled’
Astrofiammante says:
Also, think of the way that PD James has more or less airbrushed Cordelia Gray out of history
Random says:
I don’t think he had a problem with the people who took the latter view – I get the impression his reaction to them was to wonder how he got the writing wrong, not to wonder why they hadn’t understood it
Random says:
Dibdin: “I was getting contacted by people who were saying, ‘How dare you?’ I thought, wait a minute, I invented this character. If I want him to get his body pierced and go out cruising the streets in a leather jacket with his bitch on a leash, I can do that too.”
Random says:
Telegraph
Random says:
Daily Telegraph link
Random says:
Actually NO
Random says:
Don’t follow that link
Random says:
Many many many spoilers…

This entry was posted on Monday, February 27th, 2006 at 8:01 PM and is filed under 2006 reading challenge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.