If you weren’t aware of it, David Foster Wallace died back in 2008 and had in his possession his unfinished novel; The Pale King. The novel has been published since his death and this candid review of it makes some interesting points about things other than the novel itself.
In the review he is praised as a great novelist although without a great novel, a point I paused on as I read it as my own writing has been assessed to be similar to his, among other authors; Dan Brown, Cory Doctorow, and Stephen King. But after holding my breath for a moment I remembered that my debut novel received a good review. Phew!
The review says this about the novel’s topic, “The premise (of the book) is truly brilliant, a group of characters who work at an IRS processing centre. Why has no one written a great novel about taxation before? The IRS is the focal point of the most important political development of the past 30 years: the conversion of citizens into taxpayers, and the triumph of the idea that paying less tax, abrogating our financial responsibilities to the communities in which we live, is a form of righteousness.”
The point made is very valid and leaves one to wonder if the IRS is a sacred cow to not be disturbed in the pages of novels, or is it just a matter of the preference of readers? Why wouldn’t people want to read about such a significant topic which has a real affect on their life?
Perhaps writing about the IRS is in a way similar to the notion of writing about the corporate world. After writing my debut novel which looks at a multi-national company that becomes part of a massive swindle, I received suggestions that it was too hot a topic, and more so, a taboo topic. People are regulated by the IRS who have a direct effect on the money every person earns and has to live with, and on a daily basis people purchase products made by the corporate world, which they bring into their homes, consume, and give to their children. It seems odd that people don’t want to read about these aspects of our societies which affect them as much as they do.
I had some people tell me they were intrigued by the synopsis of my debut novel, and that they were interested to know what went on in the corporate world. So I suppose there are some people out there, but still the topics written about have the IRS, the corporate world, and I would suggest other groups who have a strong impact on the lives of people low on the totem pole of bestseller novels.
In the review he is praised as a great novelist although without a great novel, a point I paused on as I read it as my own writing has been assessed to be similar to his, among other authors; Dan Brown, Cory Doctorow, and Stephen King. But after holding my breath for a moment I remembered that my debut novel received a good review. Phew!
The review says this about the novel’s topic, “The premise (of the book) is truly brilliant, a group of characters who work at an IRS processing centre. Why has no one written a great novel about taxation before? The IRS is the focal point of the most important political development of the past 30 years: the conversion of citizens into taxpayers, and the triumph of the idea that paying less tax, abrogating our financial responsibilities to the communities in which we live, is a form of righteousness.”
The point made is very valid and leaves one to wonder if the IRS is a sacred cow to not be disturbed in the pages of novels, or is it just a matter of the preference of readers? Why wouldn’t people want to read about such a significant topic which has a real affect on their life?
Perhaps writing about the IRS is in a way similar to the notion of writing about the corporate world. After writing my debut novel which looks at a multi-national company that becomes part of a massive swindle, I received suggestions that it was too hot a topic, and more so, a taboo topic. People are regulated by the IRS who have a direct effect on the money every person earns and has to live with, and on a daily basis people purchase products made by the corporate world, which they bring into their homes, consume, and give to their children. It seems odd that people don’t want to read about these aspects of our societies which affect them as much as they do.
I had some people tell me they were intrigued by the synopsis of my debut novel, and that they were interested to know what went on in the corporate world. So I suppose there are some people out there, but still the topics written about have the IRS, the corporate world, and I would suggest other groups who have a strong impact on the lives of people low on the totem pole of bestseller novels.
The books’ review also says, “There are (in the book) also hilarious snatches of dialogue, moving scenes with memorable characters and many, many pieces of bravura writing. None of them are organized in a way that communicates a meaningful storyline or congregates their manifold pleasures into anything more substantial than fragments, but they are there.”
This critique caught my attention as I had recently explained to someone that one of the challenges in writing my debut novel was in including topical information while maintaing the storyline in a reasonable way. I said, “I didn’t force the topic’s information into the plot simply for the sake of talking about it.” It appears my consideration in this is something which others are also attentive to. How nice, I thought.
This critique caught my attention as I had recently explained to someone that one of the challenges in writing my debut novel was in including topical information while maintaing the storyline in a reasonable way. I said, “I didn’t force the topic’s information into the plot simply for the sake of talking about it.” It appears my consideration in this is something which others are also attentive to. How nice, I thought.
I'm not anti-corporate world, it's because I worked in it and offered services to it for over two decades that I enjoy writing about it. And it's a little surprsing that people show the little interest they do in this aspect of our society, which has a major influcene on economies, yes, that means your job also.
Aside from this comment I wanted to make about the topics we see in novels, I thought the review was hard hitting considering David Foster Wallace is no longer with us. It gives a different take on the idiom, respect for the dead.
Aside from this comment I wanted to make about the topics we see in novels, I thought the review was hard hitting considering David Foster Wallace is no longer with us. It gives a different take on the idiom, respect for the dead.
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