Struggling

I have been sending my MS to agents in the UK, and not been successful. No one has given any feedback so no idea why.

I am reading Knausgaard's My struggle, which is engrossing. I finished Vol 1  A death in the family quickly and moved onto Vol. 2 A man in love. He writes with a kind of abandon, every detail seems to be noted...The style of Emily Perkins' book The Forrests was similar - an intricately chiselled shell, beautiful but empty - lovely language, nothing to say. Ultimately  boring.

Knausgaard is different, first because he writes about himself, his family and his friends with searing honesty, and secondly because the reader is privy to his thoughts about issues which confront every one of us, love, life, death.

Choosing a name

Anne Tyler wrote The Beginner's Goodbye, about  a man grieving the loss of his wife. That is the basic story. Then are the many particular aspects - the kind of person this man is, the manner of his wife's death, the nature of their relationship - told in a light quiet voice, entirely believable. I enjoyed the reading. And yet, it seems like froth.

I am not sure why. The story is well told, it develops as time goes on, it rings true and it held my interest all the way through. There were no jarring tones. It is a bit like a bed-time story for grown-ups. Nothing too upsetting, nothing too deep. And consummate skill.

I particularly like the names Tyler gives her characters. The neighbour is plain Jim. His wife who matters more is Mary-Clyde. The sister is Nandina. The hero is Aaron.  See what I mean? The title is clever too...Am contrasting this with Emily Perkins' The Forrests - a multitude of people with bland names, too many names...

An unkind moment

Read The Forrests by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury Circus, 2012). Beautifully written, artful, creative.

Children who believe they are neglected. The effect of poverty.

For me, not enough.
I couldn't really care for the characters. Nothing develops very much, except that people grow wiser as they age. Their names are undifferentiated, bland.

There is one aha moment. One.
Maybe I missed something, because some are suggesting it might be a Booker Prize winner.
Well.
The style is good enough, for sure.

Maybe I'm just unkind.