Henry, I'm relieved you said at the end that you'd taken a while to "click" with "The Counterfeiters." I have to admit this has been a tougher one for me to engage with. Thank you, too, for noting the "piling on" of characters.
I'm reading a chapter a day, and several days this week I found I needed to reread yesterday's chapter before starting the next one because I hadn't retained it. My experience so far is that I'm enjoying the writing on a chapter level, but the pull from chapter to chapter has been hard to find. (Except for the lost baggage ticket, of course.)
I keep thinking, This isn't an epic. Why can't I keep these characters straight? While waiting for today's video for you to straighten everything out, I searched for an online study guide with chapter recaps, which led me to Wikipedia's comically complex flowchart of character relationships. On seeing it, my first thought was, Thank God. It's not just me.
I am intrigued by what will happen. He is building a tension from the first chapter onwards. I do feel sorry for Bernard. There is something here about a need to find a “home” somewhere somehow and the people you find along the way that give it to you ( or pretend to maybe we just don’t know yet) … that resonates with me.
After starting the next section, I’m finally understanding this better! It was so confusing that I was going to quit, but decided to give it one more try and am so glad I did! We know who the characters are and their relationship to one another……thank goodness! Halfway through “Laura’s Wedding” now so it’s onward and upward!
I too became more and more engaged with the opening chapters as I read. The structure so far reminds me of an hour-long American soap opera — we get short-ish intertwined scenes among two or three characters occurring nearly simultaneously with our focus shifting from setting. The plot is also reminiscent of a soap opera, Bernard’s discovery and how it plays out in his family and Vincent’s ill-advised casino jaunt (reminiscent of Trollope). Two characters — Bernard and Laura — are in crisis, and one wonders how they are going to get on (although with Laura, her problems will be alleviated once she learns of Vincent’s winnings). And then there’s Lilian. I find her enchantingly independent (manic pixie dream girl?), and the epiphany she relates resulting from the shipwreck does much to paint her psychologically. I don’t find her irritating at all. I did wonder how old Olivier is, as he seems to be pursued by two older men.
I like your description of Lilian as "enchantingly independent." I don't find her irritating either -- nor particularly more randy than the rest of the characters.
I am quite enjoying the novel. Some books, the characters all end up speaking in the same voice. Here the characters are so different! I loved Chapter 6: Bernard Awakens. I can feel his excitement at adventure ahead, and his voice in this chapter is so distinctive. Lilian also I get a feeling for immediately when she starts speaking in Chapter 7: Lilian and Vincent.
I enjoy the philosophical explorations that are sprinkled throughout these chapters. The first thing I highlighted in Chapter 1: The Luxembourg Gardens was, "There's no better cure for the fear of taking after one's father, than not to know who he is. The mere fact of enquiry binds one." Very interesting. The thought that my questions in some way bind me to the thing I am questioning. In Chapter 7 does the coloring of clothing reflect our mood? Or does it influence our mood? I certainly tended to wear red on Fridays when I worked Monday-Friday.
I love that we get journal entries from Edouard. I hope we will get to read some of Olivier's poetry. I enjoy the author popping in to say something a bit like a narrator in a play. I also love hearing writers talk about the act of writing, and a few of the characters are writers and talk about writing. I always wonder if the author is talking about their own act of writing through what the characters are saying, or if it is fictional imaginings.
I've started making a chart of characters relationships, and from other comments I think it's going to get very detailed and complicated. I also think it's good that books hit people in different ways. There have certainly been books I didn't enjoy. I'm looking forward to reading the next session. I will see you all net Friday here in the comments section!
Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamasov is written with a narrator that will suddenly insert his comments. Also, In Tolstoy’s War and Peace, there is an omniscient narrator until much later war scenes. Suddenly, Tolstoy writers “our army….” It is a bit of a shock so late in the game, and in this case, took me right out of the narrative.
Another similarity to Tolstoy I'm a little embarrassed to admit. When the action or character development in War and Peace lagged, I found myself glossing over paragraphs. Realizing I hadn't absorbed what I had just read, but not particularly caring to go back over it. I've done that a couple of times this week. To reference the famous "Far Side" comic, there's occasionally a "blah blah blah Ginger" vibe that connects my experience with these works.
Edouard wants his novel to express the general in the particular and the particular in the general. Such is the dream in all the arts.
Also, there are so many mask being worn by everyone that no one really knows anyone and perhaps not even themselves. Hope Edouard’s novel can capture this particular in the general and vice versa as we all keep many masks in our backpacks.
Henry, I'm relieved you said at the end that you'd taken a while to "click" with "The Counterfeiters." I have to admit this has been a tougher one for me to engage with. Thank you, too, for noting the "piling on" of characters.
I'm reading a chapter a day, and several days this week I found I needed to reread yesterday's chapter before starting the next one because I hadn't retained it. My experience so far is that I'm enjoying the writing on a chapter level, but the pull from chapter to chapter has been hard to find. (Except for the lost baggage ticket, of course.)
I keep thinking, This isn't an epic. Why can't I keep these characters straight? While waiting for today's video for you to straighten everything out, I searched for an online study guide with chapter recaps, which led me to Wikipedia's comically complex flowchart of character relationships. On seeing it, my first thought was, Thank God. It's not just me.
Ha! Yes – it is tricky to keep everyone in place. For those who haven't seen the Wikipedia chart, it is comical – and also quite helpful! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Counterfeiters_(novel)#/media/File:Counterfeiters_-_Character_Network.svg
I was actually trying to craft a chart in my head as I read.
I am intrigued by what will happen. He is building a tension from the first chapter onwards. I do feel sorry for Bernard. There is something here about a need to find a “home” somewhere somehow and the people you find along the way that give it to you ( or pretend to maybe we just don’t know yet) … that resonates with me.
I agree – Bernard feels like the centre of the book, in some ways, more than Édouard.
After starting the next section, I’m finally understanding this better! It was so confusing that I was going to quit, but decided to give it one more try and am so glad I did! We know who the characters are and their relationship to one another……thank goodness! Halfway through “Laura’s Wedding” now so it’s onward and upward!
Great work Linda - well done for persevering!
I too became more and more engaged with the opening chapters as I read. The structure so far reminds me of an hour-long American soap opera — we get short-ish intertwined scenes among two or three characters occurring nearly simultaneously with our focus shifting from setting. The plot is also reminiscent of a soap opera, Bernard’s discovery and how it plays out in his family and Vincent’s ill-advised casino jaunt (reminiscent of Trollope). Two characters — Bernard and Laura — are in crisis, and one wonders how they are going to get on (although with Laura, her problems will be alleviated once she learns of Vincent’s winnings). And then there’s Lilian. I find her enchantingly independent (manic pixie dream girl?), and the epiphany she relates resulting from the shipwreck does much to paint her psychologically. I don’t find her irritating at all. I did wonder how old Olivier is, as he seems to be pursued by two older men.
I like your description of Lilian as "enchantingly independent." I don't find her irritating either -- nor particularly more randy than the rest of the characters.
I am quite enjoying the novel. Some books, the characters all end up speaking in the same voice. Here the characters are so different! I loved Chapter 6: Bernard Awakens. I can feel his excitement at adventure ahead, and his voice in this chapter is so distinctive. Lilian also I get a feeling for immediately when she starts speaking in Chapter 7: Lilian and Vincent.
I enjoy the philosophical explorations that are sprinkled throughout these chapters. The first thing I highlighted in Chapter 1: The Luxembourg Gardens was, "There's no better cure for the fear of taking after one's father, than not to know who he is. The mere fact of enquiry binds one." Very interesting. The thought that my questions in some way bind me to the thing I am questioning. In Chapter 7 does the coloring of clothing reflect our mood? Or does it influence our mood? I certainly tended to wear red on Fridays when I worked Monday-Friday.
I love that we get journal entries from Edouard. I hope we will get to read some of Olivier's poetry. I enjoy the author popping in to say something a bit like a narrator in a play. I also love hearing writers talk about the act of writing, and a few of the characters are writers and talk about writing. I always wonder if the author is talking about their own act of writing through what the characters are saying, or if it is fictional imaginings.
I've started making a chart of characters relationships, and from other comments I think it's going to get very detailed and complicated. I also think it's good that books hit people in different ways. There have certainly been books I didn't enjoy. I'm looking forward to reading the next session. I will see you all net Friday here in the comments section!
Many thanks Chris! These are great thoughts. And I think we're going to get plenty more of writers talking about writing . . .
Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamasov is written with a narrator that will suddenly insert his comments. Also, In Tolstoy’s War and Peace, there is an omniscient narrator until much later war scenes. Suddenly, Tolstoy writers “our army….” It is a bit of a shock so late in the game, and in this case, took me right out of the narrative.
Another similarity to Tolstoy I'm a little embarrassed to admit. When the action or character development in War and Peace lagged, I found myself glossing over paragraphs. Realizing I hadn't absorbed what I had just read, but not particularly caring to go back over it. I've done that a couple of times this week. To reference the famous "Far Side" comic, there's occasionally a "blah blah blah Ginger" vibe that connects my experience with these works.
Edouard wants his novel to express the general in the particular and the particular in the general. Such is the dream in all the arts.
Also, there are so many mask being worn by everyone that no one really knows anyone and perhaps not even themselves. Hope Edouard’s novel can capture this particular in the general and vice versa as we all keep many masks in our backpacks.