The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

We Are Made Of Diamond Stuff by Isabel Waidner

So happy this is here. Isabel Waidner is one of our most important writers and this book deserves to be read more widely.

I am very glad to get to talk with more people here about this book. When I wrote a review sometime ago I said I planned to re-read and now seems to be the time for that. I echo Paul's comment: this book deserves a wider readership, so it is great news to see it here.

I guess we need "author themselves" (does that work)

Incidentally Isabel was in theory one of the obvious beneficiaries of the rule change - their brilliant Gaudy Bauble (which we shortlisted for the RoC Prize) couldn't be entered into the Goldsmiths as she wasn't a British national. Now eligibility is based on residency, in part I suspect as an anti-Brexit related gesture (more welcoming of the contribution of foreign residents to UK culture). Although another side-effect of Brexit is that they have obtained her UK citizenship (indeed this features in the book) so would have been eligible anyway.

You can't correct GY and then use "she"

;-)

I don't know what you mean - where did you see that :-)

Not sure if this is paywalled but, rather wonderfully, Isabel was featured in the FT earlier this year (and rather oddly in the property section)

https://propertylistings.ft.com/prope...

You missed a “her”

No still not sure what you mean :-)

I must admit I wasn't aware of Isabel's preferred pronouns when I met Isabel first - it was the FT story I think that made me realise.

I look very forward to reading this now. The FT article is not behind a paywall, but like most of their articles, they want you to use a sign-in to get to the whole thing (they have a free sign-up system.)

The judges on the shortlist
Guy Gunaratne on We Are Made Of Diamond Stuff

There is not a single ordinary sentence in Isabel Waidner’s We Are Made of Diamond Stuff. A novel that reads like an act of sabotage, of resistance, written as a song-scream against our nullifying need to belong. It is charged with undeniable life, like some explosive projectile aimed at all our insidious narratives (nationalism, exclusionary culture, corporatism, conservatism and so much more). You hope it goes off, that it blows open everything in its sights—just so that you may ride out on its wake. It leaves you laughing, breathless but also heartbroken and hopeful, like the spirited survivors in the book itself. Like lightning, this novel. It is a furious work, stuffed with necessary power, purpose and also affection. And to borrow one of its lines to re-articulate it—Like the lypard, it navigates dimensions.

On the main Goldsmith thread Debra queried the “delivery” that Waidner uses – and Paul posted a link to Isabel’s PhD thesis (https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/...)

For what it is worth this was my attempt to explain the thesis and what I think was happening in their previous novel “Gaudy Bauble” (which the thesis links to heavily)

"I believe that Waidner’s key idea is to link two areas: conceptual art (something which they feel has only had limited cross over into literature) and post-identity gender fluidity – this leads to their concept of trans-literature.

A key element of the book is its rejection of the traditional novelistic structure featuring a main character, other key characters, minor characters and then passive objects with which they interact. I believe that Waidner implicitly equates this rigid and hierarchical structure with a traditional patriarchal, gender-rigid society.

In this book by contrast the dominant character is a fluid concept – and just as an hierarchy starts to form (often to the relief of the reader, who finally starts to be able to identify the book with conventional concepts of plot and character and feels they are returning to something they know), Waidner very deliberately overturns this hierarchy and introduces a new main character, including in many cases what initially seemed inanimate objects – often based around patterns or illustrations on clothing.

Another way of saying this is that just as we start to find some solid ground Waidner pulls the rug from under our feet – a cliché but one I have chosen deliberately as a key example of this idea (and one Waidner explains at length in their thesis) is when a pattern on a carpet suddenly emerges as the main protagonist of the book, only for just when the reader is starting to accept this, for the polyester-style material of the carpet to take over from the pattern as the protagonist.”

And for any Elastica fans

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...

Gumble's Yard wrote: "And for any Elastica fans

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en..."

And I have the first Klang EP - which has a lot of potential. If the band carried on, I think they could have taken their sound into more experimental territories (kind of what Mica Levi is doing at the mo)

If I had read this first, I would probably prefer it to Gaudy Bauble. I was bemused and amused by Gaudy Bauble in a good way. However, I was disappointed when the first sweater motif came alive in this one. It's too similar in that way.

Is it similar or is it consistent?

My Booktube video where I voice my appreciation of your reviews of this book...hope some of my subscribers will give it a try!
https://youtu.be/v5b2Exd6lk4

Neil, it is consistent but I think a different device could have been chosen and still be consistent.

Or should I say a NEW device. Using my phone at the moment so Goodreads isn't easy.

I guess though that Waidner argues for transliteracy as a new literary form, within which they write (and appear to be the sole practitioner, albeit the Liberating the Canon anthology had lots of broadly similar works).

And whereas with Gaudy Bauble it took me a long while to work out what was going on, here I got into the text immediately because I understood the set-up and so was able to more appreciate the political and literary references.

Incidentally their more recent play The Prince of Homburg is also in a similar vein.

I think though Ang is simply arguing that having a sweater motif come alive is a little too similar to the previous book?

It is a lifeline for those of us (me) left floundering by "Gaudy Bauble" who wanted to go along for the ride this time. I don't know if Isabel Waidner intended it as such, but she did tug at her sweater in an interview.

This has been a busier autumn than usual so I just wanted to chime in I appreciate the comments, reviews, and links posted here. I finished the novel last weekend, and it was just the sort of ‘brainy’ read that captures my full attention as I try to piece everything together. Relatively few books do that, but Goldsmiths shortlist usually delivers in that respect, and this year seems no different – now reading Good Day? and I’m getting similar vibes as I try to process all the different narrative levels. The joy!

Gumble's Yard wrote: "I think though Ang is simply arguing that having a sweater motif come alive is a little too similar to the previous book?"

It's a fair point, but I guess I have a slightly different take which is that they have created a world in which sweater motifs come to life, so I would expect to see that in all their books.

Neil wrote: "Gumble's Yard wrote: "I think though Ang is simply arguing that having a sweater motif come alive is a little too similar to the previous book?"

It's a fair point, but I guess I have a slightly di..."

Yes and I agree - and also agree with Angthat it does make one's 2nd Waidner less innovative than the 1st (which is a debate we've had on the Goldsmiths before)

When in The Prince of Homburg, the protagonist, who is suffering homophobic violence, has a pink hoodie [with] the integrated gold necklace and baby padlock - the shiny horse, the reader is waiting for the horse to come to life, grow is size and intervene against the bullies - and sure enough the book doesn't disappoint.

Val wrote: "It is a lifeline for those of us (me) left floundering by "Gaudy Bauble""

You weren't alone - there was an entire panel of judges on the RoC but we enjoyed the experience of being left floundering sufficiently to shortlist it.