This is your brain on books

Jeffery Karnicky brought up an interesting point in his article about the mentions of psychiatrists and the like, and the process of being analyzed. There are many moments in the novel when Renton discusses his experience with the world of therapy and address the questions that are often asked about his using, and how he cannot see the connection between his life outside of heroine and his use of heroine. It seems that this process of being analyzed is one that was created in the intellectual age of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries where people are boiled down into a simplified human soup created of very distinct flavors that interact in the same way every time. Karnicky explains the book overall to be similar to the process of questioning that occurs in counseling sessions. When breaking down the book to match that process I found that it mostly makes sense. I think that there is an intense difference that lies in the candidness of the character's stream of consciousness. It is repeated throughout the novel how the typical user has an affinity and talent for lying, thus leading me to believe that, although Renton mentioned his willingness to discuss his addiction problem, any user that less than willingly seeks out the help of a specialist would fall back on their talent in order to get the only thing a user cares about. It seems to me that this novel is much less of a session in a therapists office and more like one user talking to another. To me I feel like I am addicted to theses characters lives, and as readers we are all addicted to the "story" and the process of unraveling events and characters in our mind. Reading Trainspotting, I feel like the characters, at least Renton, is aware of this in the reader, and thus they do most of the work for us. In the stream of consciousness style of writing, the character is unraveling their own thought process for us, and the reader's comes in making sense of it all and attempting to draw connections between thought and action. In this story, however, Renton is well aware of our attempts to draw these connections, and her works to show us that they may in fact not be connected at all, and a character's specific course of action or inaction be due to other forces outside the character's psychology. Leaving me to think the questions are not why/what are the reasons for using heroine, but what are the conflicts outside these characters immediate lives that brought them to this addiction?

Popaholic

The pop-culture addiction that every character in the story experiences continues to control a lot of the novel. Sickboy for instance seems to have internal conversations with Sean Connery which leads the reader to consider the affect of the media on society. The narrative often digresses into moments of consideration on a movie or celebrity, and real life situations are constantly compared to fictional stories from movies, and thus lessen the weight of the reality at hand. The use of pop culture in this story is one of many ways in which Welsh abstracts the narrative. The characters all have nicknames which almost function as stage names. In scene where Renton visits Forrester there are many instances where Renton comments on their use of names, and the appropriate time to refer to a character by their "given name," that is their proper name. Rents is showing how they are characters and they are aware of that fact, they are functioning within groups of people under certain identities. In a sense they believe themselves to be celebrities based on the idea that celebrities perform and become their reputation and a part of a certain scene. In moments of high emotion, like when Leslie's baby dies, the characters address each other using the proper names, where in situations when the characters are seemingly enjoying themselves they are using their stage names.

The Trainspotters

Having seen the movie before ever reading the book, the storyline of Trainspotting is pretty easy for me to follow. However, through my reading I kept thinking to myself "how the hell could I have understood this without seeing the movie first?" The Scottish brogue (which I find to be the most fucked up version of the english language) that is extremely prevalent in the novel is hard to understand and difficult to form into cohesive scenes. The language paired with the delirium and chaos of a heroin addict's thought process makes for a confusing reading. The story switches point of view as often as the characters shoot heroin; a lot. And each narrator has a different style of narration which includes a shift in the phonetic language and accent. The narration overall seems to be in a stream of consciousness, helping to pull movement of the story out of proportion. It seems to me that Irvine Welsh is using the language to illustrate exactly the difficulty in understanding the thoughts and motivations of a heroin addict. It took me a bit of time to adjust my mind to the phonetic patterns in the novel, but once I got into the rhythm and began to understand the meanings of the slang words the language barrier was broken down. I started whizzing through. When I reached the chapter narrated by Nina, I found myself having a hard time adjusting back into the proper English. I think Welsh's decisions concerning the language of the novel works to mimic the patterns of drug use itself. At first the addiction is hard for an outsider to rationalise, but it is completely intriguing. Although the first few pages I was hard-pressed to understand what exactly was being described to me I was interested. The moments when I could piece together the situation I became excited and felt accomplished. This is much like the beginning stages of drug use. The soon-to-be user isn't yet comfortable with the drug or the lifestyle, but it is interesting and opens new doors of exploration in life. Once I found my groove in the story I did not want to get out of it, again like drug use. I was dependent on the patterns of the language to propel me forward. The user begins to really enjoy the drugs and does not see any need or reason to stop using. Then Welsh changes the game; he uses a language that I was (once) familiar and comfortable with, but at that point, after becoming accustomed to the patterns of the accent, it seems unnatural and uncomfortable, even boring. This switch in language even comes at a point in the story where Mark/Rents is 'seriously' considering quitting junk.  I am interested in seeing how Welsh continues these patterns through the rest of the novel, already knowing loosely how the arc of the story progresses.

Doctor Strangelove

The final parts of Bull's story seem to revolve around the assumption that all people in today's world lack clarity in their perception on their surroundings. Many of the characters in all of the works we have examined are not functioning at their greatest potential due to their use of substances like alcohol. In Bull's story this concept of reality being skewed by substance is accompanied by the idea that the every day person's decisions are skewed by those who are believed to hold "authority." Many of Bull's thoughts are filled with the assumption that Alan is looking out for Bull's best interest because Alan has authority. In fact, Alan even convinces himself that he had Bull's best interest in mind. This sense of authority over any and all situations is reaffirmed when Alan is at the Learning Jamboree and the narrator reveals that Alan, when not put in the leader position, will turn apathetic very quickly. Alan's control over his peers and patients adds to the question of his sanitlyness. These moments in Bull turn Alan into a character centered around actively manipulating everyone around him. He even tells the reader that his success lies within his very tight schedule. Every moment of his life is accounted for, creating the perfect alibi. Through these revelations, the reader is able to see the madness in Alan and his mastery of deception. Just like every other character in the story, and as Bull admits to the transexual prostitute, he is not what he seems. Will Self's use of Alan, the conscientious doctor, as the deceitful character makes room for the reader to question all the forms of authority in the story: If the doctor is a slimy pig out to get only what he wants, who else is using their subordinates as playthings? I think many of the authors we have studied this term would respond, "Everyone."

Cocks and Bulls

Bull's transformation behind his knee reveals his tendencies towards "femininity" in his past. These tendencies are extremely scrutinized by Bull, and reasoned as the catalyst behind his transformation. This addition in his gender identity opens this story up to the concept of simulacra. Bull is both male and female, making him also neither of the two. He becomes a character who loosely represents masculinity and femininity, but can do neither to their full potential. Bull's situation is real in the world of fiction, but the work of fiction also recognizes that this mutation is impossible. The story is a representation of reality, and the characters are representations of themselves.Bull's addition of a vagina, along with having a penis, makes his identity murky to the reader and the characters in the story. Because his identity is shifting and can no longer be pinned down, the reader becomes both a witness to this abnormality and a part of it. The reader steps into the story at the moment of realization of Bull's new sexual organ, creating a voyeuristic type character for the reader. The reader watches Bull's life shift and change, and the reader turns his situation into a fetish, needing to know how this addition works and feels. There are many moments in the story where the vagina is spatially juxtaposed against Bull's penis, especially in the sex scene between Bull and his male doctor. Involving an homo-erotic element to the story, it no longer becomes about Bull's journey through difficult and confusing times in his life. The story begins to shift and change into a type of love story, although very adulterous and alternative. The story itself is unable to be pinned down into one theme at the point of sexual intercourse between the characters. Much like in Carol's story of Cock, the inability for the reader to "type" the story and the character archetypes, Will Self is given room to further manipulate and skew  the concepts and actions throughout the rest of the story.

Pretty Little Thing

            Donna leaned against the door jam looking into the room where her husband was sleeping. Just from looking at her you would think she was no older than sixteen. Her pre-pubescent figure was potato-sack-shapeless. The cotton T-shirt she wore to bed, a faded blue Superman shirt, hung lifeless off her pointed shoulders where the tips of her hair dangled down from her pigtails. Donna took a long drag from her Camel Light 100 every time Sam took a breath.

            Sam came home drunk, again, like every night before that. And, like every night before, Donna noticed the same shade of lipstick smudged on Sam’s neck. Donna stood in the doorway and smoked and pictured lipstick stuck to the face of the poor slut who put it there. She pictured her to be young, something that most attracted Sam to a woman. The younger the better. Donna saw the two of them at the bar, Sam putting fives and tens on the counter, trying to keep the dumb slut interested. And Donna puffed and imagined herself standing over the two of them, drunk and reeking, sheets covered in dried cum. She imagined pulling the poor harlot’s shiny straw hair, ripping her away from her soiled dreams, and opening her throat with the tip of a chef’s knife, proud and shining.

            Donna smoked and leaned and imagined. Sam slept and sweated and foamed at the mouth. It was four in the morning and Donna hadn’t slept a wink. In fact, she hadn’t had a night’s rest in weeks, maybe months. She had lost track of time. Donna spent her days in their apartment, cleaning and brooding, while Sam answered phones and checked files for a drowning carpet company. Donna would often catch herself daydreaming while scrubbing dust off the shelves or vacuuming the rug, about Sam drowning too, stuck at the bottom of a bottle of Johnnie Walker. Sometimes she imagined him drowning at the bottom of their bathtub, but she always went back to cleaning.

Big Fat "Cock" Review

Cock  is the story of the unhappy and alcoholic marriage of Carol and Dan. Carol is the main focus of Cock. The story is centered on Carol’s journey for empowerment beginning with her experimentation with masturbation. He husband, Dan, is quite soft, mentally and sexually. He drinks too much and is unable to pleasure his wife. The singular reason behind their “love” is due to Carol having her first orgasm, which happened drunkenly with Dan. The incident happened mostly by accident, but is still the fuel behind their relationship. Because Dan became so deep into his alcoholism they both attended AA meetings, Carol’s concentrated on the effects of having an alcoholic partner.

The interesting part about the text is that the story is told by a person, their gender becomes a bit ambiguous throughout the story, on a train to a woman who is half way unwilling to sit and listen. This aspect of the story makes Cock seem like a myth or wives’-tale, which helps to increase the reader’s willingness and patience with the outlandish parts of the story, one being that Carol grows a penis.

Her character begins to be described in much more masculine terms as her penis grows. She also becomes much more sexually ambitious. These manly characteristics help to highlight the main themes of the book: gender inequality and feminine power. Carol becomes the head of her household as Dan slinks through recovery with his new AA buddy. She works as the pivot point in the story, always shifting and changing between the male point of view and the female point of view. Overall the story created an interesting dichotomy within women in our modern world. Will Self’s work usually presents the reader with a type of fiction that they are unable to relate to, but very much astonishes him, and makes him increasingly uncomfortable.

"Interview: Will Self"

This article appeared on EdinburghFestivals August of last year. The entire interview is conducted on a walk across London, something that Will Self does quite frequently. I found it quite interesting that he walks in order to be transgressive. He is placed in the category with "Situationsits" who used walking in order to declare their independence from the system. Will Self is a very strange individual and is quite passionate about many things like cities, walking, hating the Olympics, and being overly rational. The interviewee came as being in over her head and intimidated by Self. Throughout the interview Self repeatedly tells her that she should have brought a "waterproof" because it will rain and he "doesn't do wet." He focuses a lot of his attention on the rain and his dislike of being wet which was rather interesting. Self seems, from this interview, to be an obsessive and educated person, which leads him to be very crass.
http://www.edinburgh-festivals.com/viewpreview.aspx?id=3062

Mary Gaitskill and American Transgressive Fiction Writing

I am uncomfortable comparing Mary Gaitskill's work with the novels we have studied in class for the sole fact that the writing was mediocre. My entire experience with the piece was unsatisfying and I just really did not enjoy reading it. The descriptions were very topical and devoid of sensory clues, I never understood what the grand concepts like "souls" and "spirits" and "Gentleness" meant, and thus never felt anything towards the story. In novels like Crash and Nights at the Circus I was with the characters being moved by the same emotions they were being moved by and that connection comes down to the value of the descriptions. I don't want to feel like the author is telling me how to feel towards there words, which was everything I got out of "Mirrorball." I was extremely disappointed to not enjoy this story because Robin has hyped Gaitskill up to sky-high proportions, and I felt so much less. I feel we would have gotten a better sense of an  American trasngressive author from someone like Hubert Selby Jr. and his short story "Tralala."