Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

Does anyone remember b. s. johnson?

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

20:54 / 22.05.05

Hey all,

I was introduced to bsj in 3rd year university, Albert Angelo

loved it so much, bought the other two novels in print, House Mother Normal & Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry.

Highly experimental fiction, but written in a light, friendly, sympathetic voice instead of bogging down in high seriousness. His structural experimentation, particularly the hole in the page in Albert Angelo and the character sketches (for lack of a better description) in House Mother Normal.

I have found very few people who are familiar with his work hereabouts (Vancouver and Ottawa) - but think it's definitely worth checking out (from the library at the very least).

any other fans? people who loathe bs?

ta
pablo

Tryphena Absent

02:06 / 23.05.05

I have just finished Christy Malry and I really enjoyed it although the ending was horrible in the tragic sense. Oh the havoc he never got to wreak! Over the weekend I had a look for some other books by Johnson but unfortunately I could only find The Unfortunates and I know people who already own it so it seemed a bit mindless to buy it.

matsya

03:36 / 23.05.05

you mean a physical hole in the page, or a blank space, more like the way the black page in Tristram Shandy is done?

m.

nedrichards is confused

06:41 / 23.05.05

matsya: I haven't read Albert Angelo specifically but if it's like his other stuff then that'll be a real hole in the page we're talking about.

Nina, if you can gt hold of a copy of House Mother Normal, if you can't borrow mine. Reading back through him again I think it's some of his best work even if it's excruciatingly uncomfortable reading. In terms of work that 'ages' I feel that'll be right up there, if only becuase age and the unsentimental but loving dissection therof looks like it'll be such a theme of the next hundred years or so.

DaveBCooper

13:29 / 23.05.05

After seeing the film of Malry, I read the book and enjoyed it, and intend to read more of his stuff.

I think there’s a been a slight revival in interest in his stuff, as Jonathan Coe’s written a well-received biography, and three of his books - Albert Angelo, House Mother Normal and Trawl – are gathered together in one volume, released in 2004:

Hope this works

Ethan Hawke

16:28 / 23.05.05

There's a film of Christy Malry? Who made it?

I've read that and Albert Angelo. Reminds me a bit of Flann O'Brien mixed with Donald Barthelme.

DaveBCooper

08:15 / 24.05.05

The film was directed by Paul Tickell, and had a soundtrack by Luke Haines of the Auteurs. It starred Nick Moran, Kate Ashfield and Neil Stuke. There’s an Imbd entry here

It’s pretty good, though I suspect that the terrorist element made it a hard film to publicise – in the same way Fight Club would probably suffer if it was being released today. And it looks a bit low-budget in places, though that doesn’t really bother me.

If you live in the UK, you can often find it for 99p in cheapie shops (that’s where I got mine), and the soundtrack’s available pretty cheap too (and presumably is easier to obtain at a decent price internationally).

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

01:35 / 25.05.05

yes matsya, in Albert Angelo there are physical holes cut in two consecutive pages. a concrete foreshadowing of sorts.

he plays a lot with form in that one, and House Mother Normal.

ta
pablo

dispatx

07:36 / 03.06.05

Johnson is a very intersting character - I recently read and enjoyed the Jonathon Coe biography, though I did find that Coe managed to charmingly belittle Johnson's "writing fiction is telling lies" stance - mainly because, as a novelist himself, it's belittled his living in turn!

I subsequently became very interested in the moments when the 'falsehoods' of fiction were removed and the underlying structures revealed, such as the famous 'apotheopasis' section towards the end of Albert Angelo - "stop all this lying!".

The whole axis of the book is shaken in such a break, but then, in the end, the fiction RESUMES - to me this is fascinating. I began to consider what was happening to the reader through all this, and where any notion of truth, or belief, remained.

I would still love to see the filmed version, with Johnson coming into shot and arguing with the lead actor!

unheimlich manoeuvre

08:46 / 16.06.05

Coe has been awarded the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction for Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B S Johnson.
Independent 15 June 2005

DaveBCooper

15:15 / 15.07.05

And if you're a UK reader with a Waterstones near you, Coe's book is available as part of their 3 for 2 deal at the mo. That's how I bought mine.

Bloomin conspiracy of Jo(h)ns, Coe winning that prize, though: JONathan Coe writes about BS JOHNson and wins the Samuel JOHNson prize? Hmm...

DaveBCooper

11:38 / 09.09.05

Bump.
Am working my way through the Omnibus, and enjoyed Albert Angelo, but I’m finding that Trawl is… well, just that, in a sense. Densely packed pages, and quite claustrophobic in a way, but the effect of the main character having to endure the hardships of the voyage and his memories is kind of working too well, and making it a bit of an endurance thing for me as a reader.

In a way, it feels as if it shares certain affinities with Dennis Potter’s work – certain similarities of themes (women ‘betraying him’, for example), though that may be because I tend to think of DP’s stuff in a 1970s setting, as I’m doing with Johnson.

I think his tinkering with typography and the physical page is interesting, though a quick Google of his name seems to suggest that a lot of the time this becomes the focus for the reader as opposed to the content of the books, which is a bit of a shame, as the writing’s never dull.

Add Your Reply