Evex’s Weblog

The group’s introduction to the New Weird courtesy of Paddy: a short novel that provoked a fun and lively debate. Seth also joined us for the discussion too. Paddy would probably be better at describing the New Weird than me, but I guess it would be fiction that subverts traditional fantasy/sci-fi/horror etc. and offers more experimental, political and visceral work within ‘weird’ genres. There’s a blog on the guardian which discusses the movement further. 

Paddy loved the book and defended it throughout the discussion. Dan, Martin, Seth and I enjoyed it but had some criticisms, with Martin feeling that it ebbed and flowed at different parts of the book. Pete, Ciara and Ann were bored by it and poor Nicky didn’t respond well to it at all! Nicky isn’t a sci-fi/fantasy fan in general and felt that she couldn’t believe in it at all. Paddy didn’t classify the book as sci-fi but was met with general scepticism from the rest of the group.  My main issue with it was that I felt that it didn’t work well as a novel, cramming too many inventive ideas in without exploring them fully. Daniel also recommended page 47 as giving a four line explanation of the plot if anyone is reading it and isn’t sure of what is going on! Seth felt that the author was trying to knit too many good ideas together in one book, and rushed it, which is why he needed the epilogue to explain what was going on. Nicky thought that it lacked internal logic and found this very frustrating, wondering how Nicola got her leg back after being rescued from the organ bank. Paddy completely disagreed with this. However, Nicky and I were still confused about why the legs in the organ bank weren’t used for more practical purposes. Perhaps they had too many.

Character development was the subject of a lot of debate. The book was split into three sections, each from the perspective of one of the main characters. Paddy liked the fact the Nicola’s section was written in the second person, however, Ann felt that this didn’t work at all. Paddy thought that the characters were well developed, as the shift in perspective revealed different aspects to them. Martin and Ciara disagreed, feeling that the characters weren’t developed at all, especially the evil Quin, who in (I think) Ciara’s words was described as a ‘numpty’. John the Baptist seemed to be people’s favourite character, with Daniel saying that he identified with his perspective the most (and thought he was too cute as a meerkat to be a bad guy!). Seth actually felt that the relationship between the meerkat and Shadrach was the only interactive relationship in the book. I agreed, missing his acidic comments once he was gone. Martin thought that the background of Shadrach and Nicola’s love affair was well set up, but the relationship was not further developed. Seth pointed out that they were never fully together at any point in the story, but thought that there were some good moments described. Ann thought that Shadrach worships rather than loves Nicola, stemming from his meeting of her as he first steps out of the underground. Ciara felt that Quin was a bit disappointing after his impressive build up and that he was disposed of too quickly. Seth felt that the decline in the creatures that he was making signified the collapse of Quin’s powers. Most of us found Nicholas quite an irritating character, and wondered whether making him the first narrator was the best way to get people into the book. However, we found Quin’s alteration of him into one of his own childhood creations very powerful and disturbing. I was disappointed by the lack of insight into the relationship between Nicola and Nicholas, which for me lessened the impact of his betrayal.

Vandermeer’s books and short stories are set in worlds of his own creation, and I think most of us felt that his strength as a writer is in the images and visions that he puts on the page. Ciara was very critical of character development but said that she loved the world that it was set in. Martin and Daniel both highlighted the giant fish, that contains Quin’s laboratory, as an amazing concept. Both Pete and Ciara felt that the amount of gore in the book was unnecessary but Daniel really liked the disturbing imagery that was present throughout the narrative. Both Martin and I highlighted the organ bank as a powerful image that was rushed through too quickly. I thought it was strange that the author would spend so much time constructing it, just to have Shadrach run in, grab Nicola and leave. Especially as the endnote makes it clear how key these scene was in the author’s construction of this world. Paddy found the imagery fascinating and powerful, bringing up the scene where Shadrach makes the train jump (although Seth was curious as to how he got back up on his return).

I think that the author was definitely aiming to have some allegorical dimension to the book. Daniel and Martin noted some parallels to Heart of Darkness, however, Ann felt that Vandermeer did not pull this off at all. Martin thought that the book was looking for a universal truth. Seth thought that people were missing that there was an intentional dark comic effect to part of the book. Ann, who along with Nicky was probably the harshest critic of the book, completely disagreed, feeling that any comedy was accidental. Ann did say that the action in the book really grabbed her at times, but disliked the writing, saying that it was more like a set of stage directions than a novel. There was an attempt at a religious allegory in the book, with Quin as a devil creator figure, imagery of crucifixion, and the references to John the Baptist and priests. However, I felt again that this was jammed in with too many other ideas.

Martin asked us all to sum up the book at the end of the meeting. This probably would have gone better if it hadn’t been Bonfire Night and we hadn’t been distracted by lighting our sparklers (yay!). However, Dan felt it was a heroic attempt to fuse genre whereas Ann and Nicky were very disappointed. Paddy pronounced himself a big fan of the book who was astounded and fascinated by it. I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves put off by genres like sci-fi and fantasy. I also think there are better place to start if you want to read some Vandermeer – maybe Shriek, or some of his short stories.