David Jays
Into the Wild
The setup of David Guterson’s new novel is pure tabloid. There are two old friends, one from a rich family, the other a diligent teacher. The rich kid leaves humanity behind and becomes a recluse in the forest, and when he dies in almost outlandish circumstances the teacher inherits a fortune. Or, as an excitable headline writer puts it, ‘Mummy Bequeaths Millions!’
Guterson (still best known for Snow Falling on Cedars) takes that scenario and soaks the sensationalism from it. The bald oppositions promised by the novel’s title – of wealth and modesty, community and solitude – play out through a style
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
'The trouble seems to be that we are not asked to read this author, reading being a thing of the past. We are asked to decode him.'
From the archive, Derek Mahon peruses the early short fiction of Thomas Pynchon.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/rock-n-roll-is-here-to-stay
'There are at least two dozen members of the House of Commons today whose names I cannot read without laughing because I know what poseurs and place-seekers they are.'
From the archive, Christopher Hitchens on the Oxford Union.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/mother-of-unions
Chuffed to be on the Curiosity Pill 2020 round-up for my @Lit_Review piece on swimming, which I cannot wait to get back to after 10+ months away https://literaryreview.co.uk/different-strokes https://twitter.com/RNGCrit/status/1351922254687383553