I own two books by Janet Kauffman, Collaborators, a novel, and Obscene Gestures for Women, a short story collection. These have both survived previous weeds because I remember liking them, but I couldn't get through either this time. I found myself skipping stories in Obscene Gestures, and about 25 pages into the novel I realized I was just reading it to confirm that there was nothing in there so fabulous I absolutely couldn't let it go.
Once again, the problem is that Kauffman writes a kind of fiction I no longer enjoy, which is all surfaces and no depth, in which actions are described but never emotions. I don't like the feeling of disconnection and detachment I get from reading this kind of stuff.
Pretty soon I'll re-read John Gardner's On Moral Fiction, and I'll be able to use him to better articulate what I don't like about modern fiction. In the meantime, my shelves are growing a gratifying amount of space for--what else?--new books.
Posted by Su Penn at July 4, 2003 07:27 AM | TrackBack