Day 11 – A book that disappointed you

Day 11 – A book that disappointed you

Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body

I admit, I may have expected too much from the novel, knowing that it is Jeanette Winterson’s fictionalized account of her affair with the late literary agent Pat Kavanagh while still married to novelist Julian Barnes. And while there are instances of luminous prose (the part where the protagonist meditates on the meaning of the lover’s anatomy is particularly beautiful) I found the novel self-indulgent and stale over all. There’s a great degree of self-satisfied inaction, like the narrator somehow find romance in the idea of a pining lover.

Okay, I’ll be honest. I really just wanted more details about one of the big scandals that rocked the London literary establishment. Heh.

Nabokov’s Last Novel Almost Burned and Thoughts on Lost Books

It was one of those literary scandals that would seem trivial to many, but was a matter of earthshaking importance to the World of Letters. Dmitri Nabokov, son of Vladmir Nabokov (writer famous for the controversial novel Lolita), had been tasked with the decision whether or not to burn the manuscript of his father’s last unfinished novel, titled The Original of Laura.

As part of his last will and testament, the older Nabokov wanted his notes burned after his death. According to Dmitri, his father couldn’t take the idea that his most cherished work, “the most concentrated distillation of [his] creativity,” to see the light of day in its unfinished form.

“Manila’s Finest”

This is was my entry for Jessica Zafra’s LitWit Challenge. I had a lot of fun doing this and I hope to expand this story soon. Thanks to Bhex for her invaluable input.

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Ernesto didn’t bother scolding the boy anymore. His mother already did a number on him last night and it was evident from the morose way he was fetching their bicycles from the shed behind the house that his ego was still bruised. Far be it for Major Ernesto Villegas to admit that his wife can scare him, but only an idiot would choose to stand in the line of fire, so to speak.