Monday, June 07, 2010

Comedy?

Maybe this is related to the narrative voice, but how did the overall tone of the book strike you? Did its comic elements take charge and make the book essentially a comedy? Or did the more serious themes still rise to the top for you?

I'll admit at the outset that while I heartily enjoyed many of the book's comic moments, I also found that they somewhat distracted from themes that I wanted to see developed in a more serious, poignant way — like the experience of being a foreigner in a Western country and how you might realistically be driven to violence. We saw a lot of characters who felt displaced and unsettled and we were told how sad and miserable they were, but the comic tone kind of undermined some of that for me.
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2 comments:

Erin said...

Yeah, I get that. I thought, for instance, the KEVIN stuff didn't quite work as comic fodder if it was really violent Islamic fundamentalism. On the other hand, I quite enjoyed a lot of the comedy, especially in the Alsana-Samad relationship.

4:22 PM, June 08, 2010
cl said...

I thought it was funny and vivid, but it really picked up for me once Irie and the younger generation were introduced. I guess I found KEVIN and the Chalfens (who were Irie's KEVIN) sort of entertaining in the way young adults can become really passionate about something that is so out-of-whack, if you can stand back far enough to appreciate it. So, to me, Millat trying to put an end to the Supermouse represented two of those radical factions trying to cancel each other out, not that there aren't serious consequences when violence is involved.

It was an involved and dense read, and without the veil of comedy, it would have been difficult to finish. Maybe I'd say the author had a removed and benevolent attitude about her characters, and to appreciate them as human would be to see how entertaining their fallacies could be.

10:25 AM, June 13, 2010

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