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Underground > Books, Criticism & Writing >

DBC Pierre's Vernon God Little - Spoilers

10:44 / 18.10.05

A quick check as to whether we already have a thread on this reveals that whilst we don't, lots of people on the board have read it, so I thought I'd start a thread.

I enjoyed this book -I found both the plot and the writing engaging, but it still felt like something of a guilty pleasure. Thinking about why, I think that it's because the plot is obviously screaming to be described as 'bleakly funny', 'darkly humorous' or 'bitingly satirical', whereas the writing itself is very much in the style of a comic novel that wants to be nothing but a comic novel. The repeated references to Vernon's condition, or Leona's boasts, or his mother's fridge, for example, all seem to come from a book with a far less serious intention than at least the plot would indicate VGL had.

I'm articulating that quite badly, so I'll move on from there. Another thing I enjoyed about the book was that the main character, whilst obviously trapped in his life, is a lot less trapped in the plot -I really started liking the book when he got to Mexico (which is, I know, halfway through -that might be another reason for the 'guilty pleasure' thing), because it seems to signal that anything could happen from that point onwards, and that the plot is not going to conform to what would really happen.

What did other people think? I've mostly ignored the fact that it was trying to address the bigger issues, so how did you think it handled those? How would you rate the writing?

13:42 / 18.10.05

I enjoyed this book and thought it was a fun read, but I think it was lazy and not worthy of any prizes. Part of my negative response may be (unfairly) due to the book being hyped as a satire on modern American life, which isn't exactly an original idea. To be biting, satire needs to be aimed fairly accurately and I found the potshots taken in the book were aimed at such general targets as to almost remove the sting entirely. So Americans eat too much fast food and worship tv, even to the point of feeling that tv is more real than real life. It's hardly new ground.

the main character, whilst obviously trapped in his life, is a lot less trapped in the plot

I wasn't so keen on that aspect of the book. I thought it was a bit lazy, and was an extenstion of the laziness of the satire. It smacked of the author not wanting to work harder on the plot and simply dick around for the sake of it. Not that it wasn't fun, but I think if he had worked harder on that aspect then the book could have had a great deal more resonance.

Hmm. Reading back over that, I do seem a tad negative. As I said, I enjoyed it. It just wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

07:25 / 20.10.05

I certainly think my reading of it benfitted from the fact that as far as media consumption goes I may as well have lived under a rock for much of 2003/4; the first I heard of the book other than seeing it in shops was an ambivalent "Aye, it's okay!" so my expectations weren't particularly high. I'd probably have been a lot more critical if I'd been expecting a searing indictment of American life and got a book full of silly jokes about whether suburban women would rather be called Vanessa or Rebecca. The satire is indeed less than subtle -one thing I thought of it for the first 50 pages or so was along the lines of, "of all the things I thought would have improved Catcher In The Rye, swearwords was not actually one of them".

It's possible that my liking the more fantastic elements of the plot was because of that comparison to Catcher; Vernon didn't just mooch around making plans and doing nothing much of use, he mooched around making plans and doing nothing much of use and then acted on the plans he made. It made his desparation seem quite vivid, that he'd try some ineffectual pimping / blackmailling combination before he'd mention the one thing that really would prove his innocence, because his innocence would have been proved by a bowel complaint, and that would be embarrassing.

09:52 / 20.10.05

Yeah, it's certainly streets ahead of Salinger. In fact I thought the character of Vernon was quite well done on the whole. His relationship with his mother was handled well, exploring his anger and frustration while maintaining his vulnerability and need. And unlike Holden Caulfield, Vernon actually had something to whine about, which gave his smart arse remarks an edge of bitterness (and some revealing moments of maturity) that were absent from Catcher in the Rye.

20:45 / 16.02.06

i missed most of the media beat-up, other than being aware it had been awarded prizes (and points?), so was quite pleasantly surprised by the book.

and some lovely little cynicisms buried in there:

> "Oh _no_," she says, "how can you do that to _Mommy_?"
She pretends to cry, but the baby laughs and gurgles like a psycho, and pulls even harder. I'm witnessing a fresh knife being laid into a brand-new soul. A training dagger. A maternity blade. Here's his mom quietly opening up the control incision, completely innocent in her dumbness to the world.

"maternity blade" -- love it.

22:59 / 16.02.06

without getting too much into my memory of it - i read it over a year ago - i can say that i enjoyed it more and more as it progressed. i think pierre held up the style very well, and it was a difficult one to maintain. the kid's behavior was consistent throughout, consistent to his youth, that is, and i liked that. i thought it well crafted and had the kinds of beautiful turns of phrases (as shown directly above) that felt real within the narrator's style.

have to think some more and maybe dig it out and go thru it.

03:21 / 17.03.06

s'a while since i read this, and remember being rather impressed, basically. i thought the character was rich and alive and his plight was universalisable - if that's a word! ahyway, a good booker winner...

anyway, i only bump this 'cause he's got a new book out and i am off to hear him over dinner in my town in a couple weeks... any questions anyone wants me to put to him if the opportunity arises?

can report back answers - will at least try to ask him one or two questions when i line up to get my copy of v.g.l. signed. have read enough about the next one to mebbe wait til i get it as a gift or see it second hand in a year's time!

07:33 / 17.03.06

Saw him interviewed on the tele last week and he comes across as very sharp and a quick thinker. He always had intelligent responses to the somewhat standard questions posed to him. I think he would be a very entertaining speaker astro so you should enjoy the event.

From what little I've heard about the new book I suspect I might have the same opinion as on the last one. Very sharp prose and some arresting turns of phrase but some of the takes on his subject matter a little obvious to anyone with regular exposure to modern media. It’s a similar reason to why I was disappointed in the only Will Self book I read. He’s obviously very clever and can roll out quirky prose all day, but it’s all just the same “insights” into modern life that you read in any media column or even Barbelith thread.

No doubt it will be an entertaining read though but like you astro I’ll probably wait till it finds me. Or I’ll encourage Ariadne to buy it and nick it off her.

15:44 / 17.03.06

Very sharp prose and some arresting turns of phrase but some of the takes on his subject matter a little obvious to anyone with regular exposure to modern media.

sort of like chuck palahniuk with better skilz, perhaps.

i've read interviews and he does seem bright and confident, i remember him saying that he was going to use his booker prize $$$ to pay off several old less-than-honorable debts.

i would ask him what he would do if he was selected by oprah's book club.

08:10 / 21.03.06

I'm sorry but I've gotta be honest here. This book was garbage. I can't believe that anyone would say that this book is an improvement upon "Catcher in the Rye." It was a blatant rip-off, pure and simple. There is nothing original here. There was zero character development and a painfully obvious plot progression.

There is nothing witty about this book. The writing is awkward and is uncomfortably self-conscious. For something somewhat similar - if we are to set aside "Catcher..." for now - I would prefer something like the completely underrated "Been Down So Long, It Looks Like Up To Me" by Richard Farina. Sure, the book is dated, but it deals with similar themes in a much more engaging manner.

If "Vernon God Little" is all it takes to win the Booker Prize, I'm worried for contemporary fiction.

All Acting Regiment

23:10 / 11.04.06

Will you give us some examples of the bits you didn't like?

00:32 / 12.04.06

he was a hoot! he is quite attuned and very incisive in his thinking, but is a wry wit in a rogue's disguise as a chap... but he was chuffed when i had him sign my copy of vgl 'to a future booker winner' - his advice was 'tell the truth'.

he read, on the night, from ludmilla's broken english [his new book] and it was a from a dialogue by this fictional russian state couple (one of whom of course is ludmilla), so he adopted a thick russian accent for the next ten or fifteen minutes. in an answer said, yes, i do other accents..., but not tonight.

yes, which bits of vgl didn't you dig, elutheria? i re-read it in a couple days before i saw him and was struck again at the brilliance of the vernacular and the articulate pace of the story. he's quite good.