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J is for James and Julian

cliffhanger_by_fictionchick-d7yjtrp
http://fictionchick.deviantart.com/art/A-Real-Cliffhanger-481295221

Number 10 in The A to Z of the Writer’s Affliction, part of the A to Z blogging challenge.

Actually, I’m not going to talk about Julian. The only reason he’s there is because (i) today’s letter is J and (ii) when I was asked to name my favourite authors on Book Country, Julian Barnes was one of them. But there’s nothing much of interest I can say – it’s there in his books, from Flaubert’s Parrot to The Sense of an Ending. I haven’t read them all, but it’s good just to know they’re out there. A few more treats in store.

James, though – there’s a bit to say about him. Actually, there are two of them, as different from each other as camembert from Kraft. But which is the real deal? I’m talking, of course, about Patterson and Joyce. So here’s a question: which James featured in my list of favourite authors?

Yep, you got it. Patterson. Here’s a sentence from UlyssesA many comely nymphs drew nigh to starboard and to larboard and, clinging to the sides of the noble bark, they linked their shining forms as doth the cunning wheelwright when he fashions about the heart of his wheel the equidistant rays whereof each one is sister to another and he binds them all with an outer ring and giveth speed to the feet of men whenas they ride to a hosting or contend for the smile of ladies fair.  And here’s one from Zoo: There was blood on the walls.

Now I finished Zoo in four days. On my last attempt to read Ulysses, I got as far as page 191, a personal best. I have high hopes of bettering that at my next go, which will be the seventh. The previous attempts, I’ve realized, were ill-prepared. I thought I could do it on my own, but without a backup team to monitor your progress, step in whenever you show signs of flagging, you’re unlikely to get far. A good physiotherapist, a motivational coach and some intensive training in high altitude reading are essential. I’ve already started the preparations and my next assault on the greatest novel of the 20th century is planned for May 2017. Wish me luck!

There’s a certain amount of snootiness about Patterson. It’s true that a couple of months after reading one of his novels, I can’t remember what it was about (except that someone got killed and someone else was very nasty), but that’s beside the point. Ulysses is a ten-course meal, with each chapter prepared by a different chef. You might get past Heston Blumenthal’s fish eyeball cocktail, but you could be struggling by the time you get to Paul Hollywood’s Lamb and Kidney Suet Pudding. No such problem with Patterson. It’s a single mouthful of Cadbury’s Almond Whirl. Munch, swallow, lick your lips and it’s gone.

The reason I go back to Patterson every so often is to remind me: this is what entertainment is about. As a writer, I’ve learnt as much from him as from anyone in the Penguin Modern Classics. I don’t try to imitate him – I’ve found that if I do, my characters strongly protest – but he’s there as a model of what the perfect Almond Whirl should be. Which is why I was particularly pleased when one of my beta readers for Perfume Island said, ‘You’ve got the James Patterson cliffhanger chapter endings, but your characters are so much more developed and interesting.’ To me there could be no better compliment than that.

20 thoughts on “J is for James and Julian”

  1. I used to read a lot of Patterson, but lately not so much. I’ll have to put him back on my list. Now I haven’t come up with a single J word for today. How do you do that so effortlessly? ~Elle

    1. I actually discovered him quite late, only about six years ago. I just like the ease of it, and they’re quite short compared to some thrillers that go on and on till you just wish they’d bring it to a close. Re the A to Z, it’s not quite effortless – how I wish! I do plan ahead – got to do U and V tomorrow!

  2. I agree with Elle above, I used to read Patterson but not anymore. I don’t think he writes his own stuff anymore – he uses ghostwriters. Plus he’s very annoying on his TV adverts. Good luck on your next attempt at James Joyce.

    1. Yes, I’m sure he uses ghostwriters. There are always two names on the cover – I’m curious to know how the work is shared, if at all. I’ve never seen his TV ads, a privilege for you US residents. I’ll let you know how the ascent of Joyce goes.

  3. Although I majored in English (language & lit) at university, I’m (ashamed to say), I haven’t read a lot of the English-language’s canonical works, including any of Joyce’s longer bits, like Ulysses. On the other hand, I have read just about everything Faulkner ever wrote. I feel about Lolita like you (seem to) feel about Ulysses, Curtis; I’ve attempted it maybe four times (for ‘pleasure,’ not for schoolwork) and am not able to get through it, but for very different reasons. Perhaps it’s conceited, but a good part of my writing is spurred by that chestnut from Voltaire: “I write to act.” So, Nabokov, brilliant as he is, I am just bothered by putting language (if I may say it this way) in the service of a pedophile like Humbert Humbert. I’m not a prude, but I do have my limits. Anyway, I suspect I’d like Pale Fire or Speak, Memory a lot better. So … I’ve read Joyce’s Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners. Never read any Patterson, as I don’t read many mysteries (I think I’d like them, but can’t find the time), though I do like watching a few different ones, mostly police procedurals (Law & Order: CI, etc.). But, saying that, I recognize Patterson as a good writer from whom one can glean a lot (I read a lot about writers and about writing). Anyway, I could blather on, Curtis. This is fascinating stuff—I’ll have to try and win a vacation at your cottage someday so we can talk in person! 🙂 In the meantime, keep writing, my friend!

    1. Thanks for the comments, Leigh – yes, it would be nice to speak in person! I read much of Faulkner a long time ago, when I was very literary in my aspirations. Which indeed I still am – just trying to learn from Patterson how to get a million readers…

  4. I have made a note overlaying the entire month of May on my calendar: Help Curtis. He’s reading Ulysses.

    I think the beta reader you quoted must be brilliant.

  5. You and all tour friends… are fantastic…good readers and writers. I used to read a lot… better, I “ate” them, but now I have some problems with my sight, I start a bok and soon I get tired and I have to leave it behind… But I read here your stories -lots of fantasy, contrivance- and…Go ahead with them!!!!!

      1. Yes… it could be, but I like to have the book, “sheets” say.. paper in my hands, besides I don’t think many books can be in audio… thanks anyway!!!!

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