In 1Q84, a writer is rewriting the novel of a dyslexic teen who dictated the entire thing to a friend. He finds passion in rewriting it, because the story is very appealing to him and he wants to improve the writing to bring out the nugget of goodness within it. I wonder if I could …
A trial on my nerves
I've started reading Franz Kafka's 'The Trial' and just from the beginning am already feeling upset and unsettled. I think this book may not be for me, but I'll continue for now. I've heard this book described as both a funny satire, and an existential horror story. I'm wondering if this depends on the kind …
Multitasking with words
I wish I could write two things at once. But I'm terrible at focusing my attention, and anything that took my mind away from my current novel would have to be very short indeed, or risk me never going back to what I'm doing now... Should I try flash fiction again? Maybe. I've never found it very fulfilling but …
Write about what you love?
I started reading IQ84 by Haruki Murakami recently, and one of the characters is a struggling writer. I am enjoying it quite a lot more than the previous Murakami novel I read, though it has a lot of similarities also. I wonder, though, how many writers write about writers? How many characters in novels are …
Predator in pathetic guise
I'm a bit more than halfway through Lolita, and am beginning to feel disturbed and disgusted. A slow, sickening feeling has been building for a while, and finally made me realize that Humbert is not a pathetic loser, but a cold predator. He is telling his story with the object of gaining sympathy. To do this …
Jonas David 