On Wright and writing
Here’s a good interview on Flavorwire with T.C. Boyle.
I’m nearing the end of “A Friend of the Earth” and noting again Boyle’s existential humor. Half the novel is set 20 years from now, when the result of ecological ruin is raining down upon us; but the other half is set in the late 1980’s and shows the eco-warriors as naifs and fools. So I guess either way (do something about it or don’t do something about it), we’re fucked. Which I’m sure is great fun to write, but probably not the best call to action.
September 17th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
I finished “A Friend of the Earth” my first week of school, before I had a laptop and needed something to do late at night. And it was Boyle all over again. A great narrative, lots of fun to read, memorable characters, and a disappointing ending. It just…ends.
Another problem I had with it was the climax of important events, or rather, the lack thereof. It took 75% of the book to find out how his daughter died, and Ty blames everyone and everything in the first three quarters of the novel. Imagine my disappointment when it turns out she just…fell.