» Failed Successful Review: Eastern Standard Tribe
I’m trying to read Eastern Standard Tribe for the third time now. I just can’t do it.
In screenwriting class there was a Chinese guy who wrote really offensive comedies that didn’t work because his idiom was broken. Comedy is sensitive to timing and grammar, especially of idiomatic usage.
Jokes that don’t fit language patterns just sound dumb, vulgar, insulting, racist, etc. Essentially the little “only jokings” don’t come through and all that’s left is the shocking parts of your premise.
I’m not in a funny mood, so fuck examples. It’s the same way you can spot people who know nothing about a topic in which you’re an expert. As they talk the little linguistic errors add up until you’re left thinking “wow, what a dick.”
Eastern Standard Tribe is heavy on the British idiom, and I’m sure it’s all technically fine. Still, when I read it there’s always a little devil on my shoulder whispering, “Psst. He’s not really British.” And that voice is enough to ruin the whole thing. It’s like bits of the novel are written in a noticeably fake English accent. (Aside: I’m a Doctorow fan.)
I think this is the sentence that fucks me up every time, and it’s only a short way in:
But she didn’t, she was, she did, and he kicked the brake as hard as he could, twisted the wheel likewise, and still clipped her hipside and sent her ass-over-teakettle before the runabout did its own barrel roll, making three complete revolutions across the Kensington High before lodging in the Royal Garden Hotel’s shrubs.
It’s too bad too. The reason I’m not in a mood for jokes is ostensibly the theme of the book. I’d like a literary mirror. I guess the solution is to make my own, or see if I can borrow someone’s L’Etranger.
[I muscled through the part that ticked me off and finished the beast, liveblogging in the comments below as the mood took me.]
Just getting to the point where he disses people from the Pacific Coast. Fuck Art, I wish he was dead. Have a nice day. Dude.
Actually, you can really see Doctorow’s wicked eye at work here. Art despises everything — a sick point of view that’s easy and fun to identify with. That’s the real theme of the book: Stated themes are for people who don’t flay art alive.
Oh, I get it: Art. Nice.
Jack
12 Aug 09 at 8:21 pm
Chapter fifteen in its entirety:
Maybe I’m just grumpy, but despite the joke the book would’ve flowed better if it was just cut.
Several bits of the book so far seem like prop-bets-for-writers, or maybe block-defeating exercises:
Jack
12 Aug 09 at 10:06 pm
Here’s a trip: I just realized that I am my favorite author. I’ve invented a new word, now I just need the context to materialize for me to use it.
Also: “You can’t fuck a crazy girl sane” qft, but fun to try.
Jack
12 Aug 09 at 10:28 pm
There, done in one sitting. Here’s the LOLlerskates bit:
Jack
13 Aug 09 at 12:11 am
I read EST cover-to-cover a few years ago. The only thing I remember is the roof scene (the frame story?). Doctorow sucks.
Jared
13 Aug 09 at 12:02 pm
[...] by Jack on Thursday, 2009-August-13th at 6:11 pm Speaking of comments so long they should be posts (@Jared: Yes, I have thought that ), here’s my response to Jared’s comment on my review of Eastern Standard Tribe: [...]
Vivisection: Eastern Standard Tribe | MentalPolyphonics
13 Aug 09 at 6:13 pm