tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21806538.post4456464797102944488..comments2023-06-27T00:01:26.443+10:00Comments on What's with today, today?: GileadCatiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04434990195940872461noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21806538.post-28144953334668895412011-11-08T22:23:20.232+11:002011-11-08T22:23:20.232+11:00That makes more sense to me- and I think I liked h...That makes more sense to me- and I think I liked him a bit less for those parts too. But I think they are to do with him wrestling with his conscious, part of his annoyance with Jack is jealousy and Ames feels that he should leave Jack out of it, but of course can't resist eluding to what he wants to write anyway. I think it's key because part of the reason for his dislike for Jack is based on the issue of the names, and Ames feels he is being unfair but can't shake the dislike, and at the end of the book the relationship is resolved... Well I don't think I'm describing it well.<br /><br />Anyway, it will be interesting to hear about your reactions to Home!Catiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04434990195940872461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21806538.post-2658200548140226002011-11-08T16:01:16.603+11:002011-11-08T16:01:16.603+11:00Yeah, don't think that was my strongest argume...Yeah, don't think that was my strongest argument. I think, rather than "we kind of lose the narrator" I was more trying to say "I started to care less about the narrator." It's all a personal memoir-style narrative so his character is very well fleshed-out, but my sympathy began to wane due to the mounting influence of his procrastination and constant moral abstractions. It seemed to me like he spends the second half of the book wavering between whining about how troublesome Jack is and citing theology to explain why he shouldn't breach Jack's confidence - even though there doesn't seem to be a problem with him whining a lot about Jack's troublesome nature.<br /><br />Again I'm providing a simplistic reading of the book, and if the emotional core of the relationship between John and Jack hits home for you then this cynical interpretation will seem completely alien. I certainly didn't dislike the book or the narrator overall, it just didn't quite hit the mark, and so the longer he tarried the less I began to care.<br /><br />I look forward to reading Home and seeing if it has more emotional resonance.Sean's Beardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01998170481382065486noreply@blogger.com