So I’m reading Winslow In Love by Kevin Canty.
I love and hate Canty in the same...uh, breath (maybe stroke?); since he writes things that sound surprisingly close to things I should have or would have written, except he got there first. Naïve, I know, considering the tired old conversation about nothing being new under the sun, blah blah blah, but funny considering that his character Winslow has the same problem.
I should say his character Winslow is the one with the perceptions that sound so close to mine. However, the way Canty writes I am constantly trying to examine the writer behind the character of the writer. It is absorbing enough to follow the story, but writers as a breed are obsessed with examining their internal dialogue, and even though I am not a professional writer, I am no exception. So, to try and watch someone else do it through a fictional character brings up layers of reaction that are hard to manage. I like the story a lot. I like the character a lot; he is a poet who is washed up in a way that makes you want to root for him and his occasional bursts of brilliance. The likable loser, almost the archetype of the likable loser, someone who can’t enjoy success but certainly finds cynical humor and familiarity in screwing it up. I also enjoy the pace at which Winslow experiences his cycles of brief perception and sharp insight. Feels comfortable; again reminds me of the way things occur to me as I go about my day. However, it also makes me consider how meticulously Canty must have examined his own thoughts over the course of this book, in order to portray Winslow’s thoughts in such a genuine way.
Having anything at all original to say is tough. Winslow is paralyzed by the assumption that he does not have anything original to say, and most readers will probably be able to see both sides of that coin: everyone seems to have something unique to say, it’s just that nobody can manage to find anything original to say. So, what are writers doing, anyway? Trying to find something to write about that will resonate with most readers so that they have a vehicle for expressing their unique point of view.
I guess.
:)
I love and hate Canty in the same...uh, breath (maybe stroke?); since he writes things that sound surprisingly close to things I should have or would have written, except he got there first. Naïve, I know, considering the tired old conversation about nothing being new under the sun, blah blah blah, but funny considering that his character Winslow has the same problem.
I should say his character Winslow is the one with the perceptions that sound so close to mine. However, the way Canty writes I am constantly trying to examine the writer behind the character of the writer. It is absorbing enough to follow the story, but writers as a breed are obsessed with examining their internal dialogue, and even though I am not a professional writer, I am no exception. So, to try and watch someone else do it through a fictional character brings up layers of reaction that are hard to manage. I like the story a lot. I like the character a lot; he is a poet who is washed up in a way that makes you want to root for him and his occasional bursts of brilliance. The likable loser, almost the archetype of the likable loser, someone who can’t enjoy success but certainly finds cynical humor and familiarity in screwing it up. I also enjoy the pace at which Winslow experiences his cycles of brief perception and sharp insight. Feels comfortable; again reminds me of the way things occur to me as I go about my day. However, it also makes me consider how meticulously Canty must have examined his own thoughts over the course of this book, in order to portray Winslow’s thoughts in such a genuine way.
Having anything at all original to say is tough. Winslow is paralyzed by the assumption that he does not have anything original to say, and most readers will probably be able to see both sides of that coin: everyone seems to have something unique to say, it’s just that nobody can manage to find anything original to say. So, what are writers doing, anyway? Trying to find something to write about that will resonate with most readers so that they have a vehicle for expressing their unique point of view.
I guess.
:)
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