The Mookse and the Gripes discussion

Peaces by Helen Oyeyemi (Faber & Faber)

I read Gingerbread which was great fun but … weird. This sounds even odder. Looking forward to it.

This is one of the books I haven’t read, also looking forward to it.

I'm a bit wary of this one, sounds as if it could be a bit mawkish, the synopsis reads like pitch for a Wes Anderson movie and that's not a good thing from my point of view. So will view you all as test subjects before deciding!

Incidentally this was on the prediction list - but last year!

It was US published in April 2021 and Goodreads had the UK date for the same date. But looks as if UK publication was November 2021 in practice so eligible this year.

That makes sense now as I was sure we had discussed this in context of the prize.

I love Wes Anderson movies!

This is one of two shortlisted novels (the other being Maps) the public library has over here. This one is tagged as romance, which is probably misleading. I reserved a copy.

WndyJW wrote: "I love Wes Anderson movies!"

Sorry Wendy! I've tried but they just leave me cold/irritated.

Interesting. I read this one a year & a half ago. I will be curious to read everyone's reviews....

(Fwiw, I'm an Oyeyemi fan generally, though I couldn't make it through Gingerbread. Mr. Fox is still, by far, my favorite of hers. My review of this one if you are interested.)

I’d forgotten Oyeyemi has an obsession with Korean culture and K-drama in particular. Good start to see a Korean character appear in the early pages.

This is reminding me of the sort of books David Mitchell used to write before he went Kid-A.

More Murakami for me - so though that’s pretty well the same thing. With added Czech and Geordie vibes

Sounds interesting and inventive although confirms my suspicions that this one's not for me, not keen on Mitchell or Murakami either.

My first attempt at a review

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Big difference to both Mitchell (and Murakami) though is the Korean vibe, rather than the colonialist culture he seems to likes to celebrate, which is worth an extra star.

You gave her last which was largely written in Korea 2.5 stars so I think that’s more like 1 star without the upgrades.

Paul wrote: "Big difference to both Mitchell (and Murakami) though is the Korean vibe, rather than the colonialist culture he seems to likes to celebrate, which is worth an extra star."

I like that she's a fan of k-drama but read your review of 'Gingerbread' and it was far too persuasive, and her perspective on k-drama sounds a bit basic, the best (sometimes even the mediocre) are incredibly sophisticated narratives which are often intricate commentaries on Korean culture/politics etc That's not to mention the incredible production values, attention to detail, the numerous inventive subgenres, and, as you indicate, the ability to command an audience's attention.

Though this one does have more of a coherent plot than Gingerbread. Which was ultimately a novel about gingerbread.

I used to love Helen Oyeyemi but after Gingerbread (and to a lesser extent her short story book) I'm going to need to be tempted back. Not sure this is that book for me...

I'm about a third of the way through this and love it so far. This is my first Oyeyemi. I wouldn't call it innovative, but it's excellent in a literary fiction way. It's the type of book I wish featured on the Booker and Women's Prize lists.

I like it too. It's got more stylistic flare than the Baume novel and it speeds on just like the train they're on. And it's funny. Hopefully it stays that way.

Impressions at around 50% - I was beginning to ask myself about the point of it all, and I'm still not quite sure, but considering the suspicious absence of any white cishet male characters and the goings on, I'd say there's something about ontological instability of the Other in there. And in that regard, while it may appear similar to quirkiness of Wes Anderson films, it's anything but. I find Anderson quirky at its most reactionary, where quirkiness is used to cover up the exploitative capitalist relations (e.g. The French Dispatch). Here, quirkiness and unexpected turns of phrase are used to destabilize what are usually thought of as unchangeable identities.

Great summary. This is very underrated.

I'll have to return to the relation between quirkiness and capital when I finish the novel as the aunt is rich and the train owner is rich and everyone's doing pretty good without much labor. Perhaps quirkiness is no better than in Anderson in that regard, though still destabilizing gender and sexual identities. But then again queerness and capitalism aren't always the enemies, most times actually the best of friends...

New Statesman interview in conjunction with the prize

https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/...

Paywalled, Paul.

I started this, but it annoyed me so I moved on to Seven Steeples. I’ll come back to it though.

Peaces wasn't capturing your attention, Wendy? You might want to come back to it. It picks up after the second chapter.

I will. Nothing was grabbing me the other night until Seven Steeples so I’ll get back to Peace’s after 7S.

Seven Steeples is Baume’s most fearless book yet! I still prefer A Line Made By Walking the most but SS is experimentally gutsy.

Hoping to meet Baume (and the other authors) this evening.

Only my daughter and I here this evening so far although we did just say hello to Chair of Judges who I think assumed I was Paul

Have a good evening Fulchers!

Oyeyemi wasn’t there but did send a video. She spoke a lot about Can Xue as a key influence. She is almost as big a fan of Can Xue as Can Xue is.

I wouldn't have made the connection between their work, but now I can see it making sense.

Hmmm, this may explain why Oyeyemi's work has gone downhill for me since Mr Fox!

And I’m all the more eager to read Peaces! I’ve neglected it in my pile of library books because of all the other unread books.

Ha. I ordered it from my library, received an email saying it was in, went to collect it only to discover they had given it out to another reader and I instead had their book. The librarian said it had never happened before. They are 'sorting it out' and after Saturday I can go along and pick up the Peaces Groan!

Last night (and it was tricky as the author was speaking on pre recorded video so that there was no interaction) I had the impression the author’s main aim in writing this novel was as much as anything to have fun writing and to entertain the reader.

I did not take notes but I think she mentioned

- wanting to write a train book

- wanting to explore the ideas that Olga T looks at in Flights of being lost to the world and off the radar when in transition on journeys - here looking at a journey which it’s unclear to those on the train even where they are or have been

- wanting to explore the idea of relationships as something that exist in themselves as a separate entity to the two individuals involved (this idea where the “Love in The New Millennium” Can Xue inspiration comes in)

- wanting to write a whodunnit where all the crime suspects are gathered in a closed room (or here a train) but where they are not sure what crime they are supposed to have committed

Shock , horror this is the first time I've actually enjoyed reading a Helen Oyeyemi novel.

I saw Peaces as a slightly restrained Nicola Barker meets The Darjeeling Limited