Wednesday, February 25, 2009

THE BEST CURRENT LITERARY NOVEL?


I've said before, "The Hippopotamus" by Stephen Fry is the best current literary novel that I know of. You could argue that this is faint praise given the sorry state of novels nowadays, but that would be to deny Fry recognition of his real achievements, which are substantial. As I said, he's the best, and this post is my argument. Here's an excerpt from the book. See if you agree.

A caveat: Fry is gay and if that bothers you, then you may not like the book. To tell the truth, it put me off a little bit. I'm not gay myself and reading stuff like this makes me wince sometimes, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I don't know of any modern novelist who can match this prose. Like all the best writers, the man makes us aware of the startling power of the English language when its used by a first-rate speaker. 

Another caveat: the story is just OK, it's whole reason for existence is to provide an excuse for the beautiful words and scenes.  If you buy the book and don't like the story, don't say you weren't warned. But you should buy the book anyway, just for the words and the characters...they're that good! Better still, buy the spoken word reading of the story by Fry from Amazon UK.  The reading is brilliant!

Finally, I'll just mention that I bought the book used and have had to put up with underlining left there by the previous owner. Also, part of the passage I chose deals with masturbation.  I have no interest in reading about that, so it's here in spite of the subject, not because of it. I chose this passage because it's mostly narrative, which is Fry's specialty.

The scene starts in a bar where a middle-aged guy is drinking to forget that he's just been sacked by the magazine he works for. He's joined by a cousin of his who asks if he'll come to her apartment so she can discuss something serious in private.

















Well, that's it! Do you agree on the literary value of the piece? Sorry about the light, less-than- clear text. I need to get a new printer.


14 comments:

  1. I actually just finished watching a documentary hosted by Fry, it was about the creation of the Gutenberg printing press. He was a wonderful host because he communicated the unabashed giddy joy that he felt from being involved in developing a replica press and from researching the elusive Gutenberg, he even got to handle one of the original bibles. I’ve never read one of his books though, I must fix this.

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  2. Anonymous5:37 AM

    That was great, Eddie! I laughed out loud more than once, but my favourite part of it was his British way of speaking, all his little phrases sprinkled throughout. What a love of language Fry has! You can see it on his old tv show, too.

    Solid bloody bargain.

    Before I read the piece I thought to myself, "What's the best current literary novel? That's easy! No Great Mischief!" But I'm not sure you'd like it, Eddie.

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  3. He's about the closest thing we have to a re-incarnated Oscar Wilde.

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  4. I LOVE Stephen Fry. The man has both a fantastic wit and a way with words. I haven't read his novel, but the excerpt you've posted is great and makes me want to read more.

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  5. H Eddie,
    Thought you might like to know that I just started a blog where I'll be talking about - - and posting pictures of - - the cool puppets and marionettes and kid show hosts from our mutual kid-dom past.
    http://flexitoon.blogspot.com

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  6. Julian: Interesting! I'll look for it!

    Jorge: Great Mischief!? What's that?

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  7. Craig: Wow! Nice blog! I'll bookmark it!

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  8. Man, I sure hope Stephen Fry never sees the inside of my house. (For more reasons than one...)

    Fry has a framed, autographed photo of P.G. Wodehouse sitting on his piano. He received it in reply to the fan letter he sent Wodehouse - as a 12 year-old, decades before he portrayed the definitive Jeeves on the BBC.

    Pretty cool, eh?

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  9. Anonymous11:16 AM

    "No Great Mischief" is The Great Scottish-Canadian novel. Or maybe that'd be the great Nova Scotian novel, or the great Atlantic Canadian novel.

    It's about a Scottish Canadian family, the MacDonalds, espcially the youngest son Calum, and it traces their history from the 1700s fighting against and for the French for Canada, Quebec, England, and anyone else who would take on the Scots. and into modern days.

    I wouldn't read the wikipedia article, as it comtains spoilers, but this quote from there sums it up:

    "The novel ... mirrors Canadian history as a whole, taking its title from James Wolfe's assertion in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham that Scottish soldiers should be sent into battle because "they are hardy, intrepid, accustomed to a rough country, and no great mischief if they fall." "

    The only trouble is, it's a really, really dry read. I personally love it, though.

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  10. No one from America would possibly use the word 'etheric' in a sentence. This alone is worth the price of the book.

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  11. Among his many talents, Fry is a quizmaster. I've been listening to QI (Quite Ineresting) on the computer while I work. The show's based on popular ignorance, or things you thought you knew, but actually didn't. The panel are guest comics & it's Fry at his plummy, effete, donnish best.

    I rate it PG for innuendo & that potty humor which the English find so tittilating (safe for work if you're making cartoons).

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  12. Stephen Fry has admitted to being a big fan of P.G. Wodehouse. Follow the link to read the classic Wodehouse short story Uncle Fred Flits By, written in 1935.

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  13. Who can't love the mind of Fry? I mean to see the documentary he hosted on depression...have you read his memoir? One of the great great titles ever there. A wonderful actor and by all appearances and accounts a wonderful person, too.

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  14. i agree he is pretty sharp. Do you get the TV show 'QI' over there in the land of nose jobs? It's worth a peep for Fry fans although there appears to be no point to it other than self indulgence for smarty pants'ss's. I must say that I prefer Wodehouse to our pal Stephen. To his credit at least Fry is flying the flag for thoughtfilled writting in these days of text messages and so on... so good on the lad for that.

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