crabbygirl reviewed Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel
Review of 'Beatrice and Virgil' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
this book started with an immediate grabber: the main character is henry, a man who has writen an award-winning much-translated novel under a pseudonym. his follow-up book takes 5 years but is rejected by his publishers, and so he gives up writing.
btw - the author is yan martel of Life of Pi fame
and so begins a mix of fiction and non-fiction that reminds me of the follow-up to Being John Malkovic (in itself a creative feat that i felt, surely, could not be surpassed) but that filmmaker addresses those creative expectations by writing himself (and a fake twin brother) struggling with those expectations as he tries to write his next movie: the movie we are actually watching: The Orchid Thief
anyhow, henry's work is rejected: an essay about holocaust fiction and a piece of such fiction - not commercial the publishers say; not categorical. then the author turns …
this book started with an immediate grabber: the main character is henry, a man who has writen an award-winning much-translated novel under a pseudonym. his follow-up book takes 5 years but is rejected by his publishers, and so he gives up writing.
btw - the author is yan martel of Life of Pi fame
and so begins a mix of fiction and non-fiction that reminds me of the follow-up to Being John Malkovic (in itself a creative feat that i felt, surely, could not be surpassed) but that filmmaker addresses those creative expectations by writing himself (and a fake twin brother) struggling with those expectations as he tries to write his next movie: the movie we are actually watching: The Orchid Thief
anyhow, henry's work is rejected: an essay about holocaust fiction and a piece of such fiction - not commercial the publishers say; not categorical. then the author turns around and explains the whole premise of the essay, essentially giving us the essay. then the animals come in - of course a Life of Pi reader wants the bloody animals, the publishers want them too - and what follows is indeed an allegory using the holocaust. so he's publised or rejected? which is it? what is fiction and what is real.
i haven't read the reviews.
i imagine some will read it as all surface and think he's just delivered a well written journal, a creatively edited revenge on his detractors... i think it's too complex, on too many levels, and i shall be pondering it's meaning for days to come
