I can't imagine any other way to review Major Arcana: generously, in every sense of that word. Bravo that big, ambitious fiction is making a comeback, as opposed to novels "concerned with the metrics of speeding a reluctant reader through it as fast as possible like an advertisement." These days, fiction too often apologizes for being what it is when done best: time-consuming. I also think Barney is on to something when, after explaining how in Major Arcana "the world and its colors and its weather and its times of day are described," he adds, "This, after all, is what writers with metaphorical intelligence do, and what tenured mediocrities and high-ranking style monopolists inanely decree is against the “rules” of writing, for, incapable of mixing melody with translucid association themselves, it is emotionally and professionally important that their flaws be unattemptable and that another writer’s misguided undertakings of the same are rewarded with the bleating dismissals of a trained supermajority of bland conformists." The thing is though, most "weather reports" and other digressions ARE mediocre and should be removed from books, but of course they're the best parts when the writer possesses a special talent. That special--let's call it "expansive"--talent would be threatening to creative writing schools if it weren't so exceedingly rare.
This is a great match of essay-style to novel-content, as it should be!
One thing overlooked in this panoply is how spell-binding the novel is, not only as a literary monument but also a narrative saga holding readers’ close attention over a 30-year period.
I can't imagine any other way to review Major Arcana: generously, in every sense of that word. Bravo that big, ambitious fiction is making a comeback, as opposed to novels "concerned with the metrics of speeding a reluctant reader through it as fast as possible like an advertisement." These days, fiction too often apologizes for being what it is when done best: time-consuming. I also think Barney is on to something when, after explaining how in Major Arcana "the world and its colors and its weather and its times of day are described," he adds, "This, after all, is what writers with metaphorical intelligence do, and what tenured mediocrities and high-ranking style monopolists inanely decree is against the “rules” of writing, for, incapable of mixing melody with translucid association themselves, it is emotionally and professionally important that their flaws be unattemptable and that another writer’s misguided undertakings of the same are rewarded with the bleating dismissals of a trained supermajority of bland conformists." The thing is though, most "weather reports" and other digressions ARE mediocre and should be removed from books, but of course they're the best parts when the writer possesses a special talent. That special--let's call it "expansive"--talent would be threatening to creative writing schools if it weren't so exceedingly rare.
By the way, Barney is good when talking about Martin Amis too: https://open.spotify.com/episode/41xGRNjoLZmnnhL9LJvQTU?si=GtXFSMoPT9WMLTQwnwpgHw&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A1k07v1tRuQsDid1HS6IZfo
Great review. Perceptive and charged with amazing energy.
An amazing piece of writing in its own right.
I gave up on this self-indulgent essay. It’s beyond self parody.
Well aren’t you smart though! Matchy-matchy!
Well, that was certainly something.
This is a great match of essay-style to novel-content, as it should be!
One thing overlooked in this panoply is how spell-binding the novel is, not only as a literary monument but also a narrative saga holding readers’ close attention over a 30-year period.