I agree that there is no real way to edit this manuscript as it stands. Certainly not to transform it from the critical kicking piece it is now into something that would have got good reviews.
Thanks for posting this article, Detritus.
The article encapsulates much of what I felt after I finished the book. For the handful here who keep shouting “Roman a clef! Roman a clef! Roman a clef!” like a blinking neon billboard, the usage of this mode is not proof of its quality in and of itself. It is a clumsy roman a clef and, frankly, tortuous reading. I understand that he may have used this as a device to reveal more about himself than he was willing to in Autobiography – but, as is, List of the Lost is barely passable as a draft.
To call this book a "novel" is remarkably charitable for 118 pages of the barest - and largely ho-hum - plot. The dramatic incidences read like an outline with repetitive, often anachronistic, polemical digressions clogging up any forward motion. And EVERY character is Morrissey in some capacity, to a distracting degree. By the end, I was picturing every character with his face and voice, akin to the climax of Being John Malkovich.
I have to imagine there were some remarkably uncomfortable conversations after – IF - he had his key coterie read it. And IF it truly was edited, it is shocking how poorly it was done. Tenses all over. Rapid POV shifts. Far, far too many “witty” alliterations creating dead wood in the narrative. For all the ballyhoo about them thus far, the sex scenes are by far the least of LOTL’s problems. The characters are rendered as ciphers: there is little relatable about or investable in them. He dispatches them, one by one, to such a dispassionate degree that it seems Morrissey cares less for the characters than shoving them off the stage as quickly as possible to return the spotlight back to his pet ills. And that is truly where the book hits all cylinders: observations on religion, police brutality, and the assumed normative nature of heterosexuality. If he had crafted these passages – distractingly long digressions in a narrative – he could have created a fine book of essays a la Christopher Hitchens.
Make no mistake: this book was published because it was written by Morrissey not because of its inherent quality. If I was to have blind tested it without that knowledge, I would have stopped reading well before page 50. I have had growing reservations about his scattershot public statements over the last eight or so years – but, artistically, this is the first time I’ve been genuinely embarrassed to be his fan. Caveat emptor.
This is the review I've been trying to express since finishing List of the Lost the other night. It's a weak plot (which probably could have worked if he had wanted it to) interlaced with irrelevant views and opinions. Every few pages there was a passage or a sentence or something which really impressed me, but every other sentence there were much greater problems that no occasional well-phrased line could make up for. I wonder whether he's been influenced by Kerouac's On the Road when it comes to the character and especially with the dialogue, but if he has then it really hasn't worked. I won't slate him for it like the reviews have, I just hope he tries again, is more thoughtful and restrictive on himself, and finds an editor who is comfortable offering advice.
I think he had a potentially great novel in him around 83-90. He was at the peak of his lyrical powers then and seemingly far less embittered about the world and his status in it. It would also presumably have been set in the UK, which would have suited him rather more.
The problem here is no one close to Morrissey being honest with him. He's clearly surrounded by Yes Men, no one dares go against the grain. What's sad is that his reputation is at stake. People who don't really know Morrissey well have this view of him now with the lack of record deal, this catastrophe of a "novel", the World Peace record which will surely be forgotten. Honesty hurts and it's not nice. But it can also lead to growth and change and a new era. It's not too late Moz, there's still fans who believe in you and know that there's still a possibly of an amazing album being released in the future and who knows, maybe even a book that is actually worthwhile and once and for all silence the critics and non believers. I feel his music has suffered over the years. Aside from Boz the boys around him are less than average. I don't care and I don't know all I do know is I'm bored and tired and angry that no one is real anymore. No honesty. Why should we the fans accept everything with a grain of salt? We're the ones that pay his bills certainly not a record label.
Barely hanging on to hope. Moz, get it together
I won't slate him for it like the reviews have, I just hope he tries again, is more thoughtful and restrictive on himself, and finds an editor who is comfortable offering advice.
The problem is not finding an editor comfortable with the giving of advice, but finding an author who will accept the advice given.
Penguin have done themselves no favours publishing this book. Unlike Autobiography it seems to have failed to even set the tills ringing. I couldn't find it in the Amazon Top 100 books earlier and I couldn't be bothered to send out a search party. Anyone know where it is?
Morrissey wrote the novel, was obviously happy with it to submit it. Helen Conford was happy with it. I thought it was excellent and others have liked it. Now once you start to follow the majority rule kind of thinking you end up with a dumbing down. I mean is The Sun still the most popular newspaper? Does Eastenders get more viewers than HIGNFY? Monet and Matisse used to have to give their paintings away for a meal. Bottom line, f... opinions, popularity does not equal quality.
Its also worthwhile to see what publication is reviewing . there are very few newspapers whose opinion I respect
So what? Seriously, so what?
the book currently sits at...............no 216.
its gone gone gone.