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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2005 13:35:55 GMT
I am reading the new Magnus Mills novel, Explorers of the New Century. It's a vaguely historical novel, since it's set at "the beginning of the century" (although which one is never specified), about two groups of explorers heading to the furthest point of civilisation. Nobody seems to know why they're doing it, and the conversations go round and round in circles without going anywhere.
Intellectuals say: Ooh, it's like Sir Walter Scott written by Samuel Beckett, etc. I say: it's fucking hilarious.
Anyone else?
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Post by lowculture.co.uk on Sept 6, 2005 15:31:00 GMT
I fucking love Magnus Mills, will have to check this out. I bought The Scheme For Full Employment purely because I liked the cover. I know there's some ridiculous saying about how one should never do that, but I like to follow my own path in life.
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Post by klee on Sept 7, 2005 8:41:10 GMT
Sadly, because Beckett tends to get taught in such a po-fucking-faced way, people forget he was actually a very funny writer. The same goes for Kafka, who Mills has been compared to as well.
All Quiet On The Orient Express is marvellous, as is The Restraint Of Beasts. Creepy but with a wonderful sense of deadpan humour. He's a gem.
Do you know how we works, by the way? He still drives a van in the daytime, then goes home, his wife cooks him dinner and then asks "Are you doing any writing tonight, Magnus?" He then goes upstairs and writes.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 7, 2005 22:07:03 GMT
How postmodern! His life is like one of his own books.
I thought it was buses he drove, though?
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Post by lockjawsghost on Jan 22, 2007 10:35:03 GMT
wow i'm reviving an old thread! i picked up Orient Express on a whim and loved it, although i am a bit puzzled. there is a "huge twist" mentioned in practically any article/review/message post regarding this book, and i seem to have missed it. surely the bet between bryan and mr parker isn't a "huge twist"? and there are so many ends left untied! why is mr parker collecting oil drums? why is everyone in the village so reluctant to accept cash? does marco's arrival hold any significance other than to cramp conditions in the bothy? what did everyone else make of it?
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