I initially did not know what I was going to write about for this blog post. As I began thinking about certain topics or issues, the frustration I have recently experienced while reading Gould’s Book of Fish became apparent. Determining the true narrator of the story has been difficult. Is the narrator William B. Gould? Or is it Sid pretending to be Gould? I also do not understand “the reason” as to why we are reading this particular story. From the other novels our class has read this semester, I could determine important issues from the narrative. In Pudd’nhead Wilson for example, I was better able to visualize the social atmosphere in the U.S. during the 19th Century with respect to race relations. However, I have found it difficult to determine or understand issues that may be important in this novel.
As others have discussed in the blog, there appears to be little or no plot visible in the novel up to this point. However, I would like to know where this novel is headed as far as the main character, William B. Gould, is concerned. We learn that William B. Gould is a prisoner with exceptional artistic skills. Yet as the novel has progressed, we hear more about other characters such as the Surgeon and the Commandant, and their stories. Will their stories ever truly impact the events surrounding Gould’s life as a prisoner? Even though both the Surgeon and the Commandant used Gould for his artistic abilities, their impact on his progression in this novel seems minimal.
Okay, so maybe I am just kooky but I am actually really beginning to like this novel. And to tell you the honest truth, I think there is more to it then we are giving it credit for. Yes, we have talked about how there is no linear plot, but as we discussed there is no linear plot in a normal person's life....so think about a criminal's.....
ReplyDeleteI really believe this novel has an incredibly strong focus on coping/escape mechanisms. Whether it is escaping the island in general, or escaping the fact that on this island the prisoner's are doing no sort of qualitative work, but rather meaningless labor. My ideas run with the ones that we discussed throughout Friday's class. I just think that there is definitely more to come and we should think about the novel as a way for Gould to mentally and physically create a tangible product of labor. And in this, he is mentally coping with the fact that at other times he is doing absolutely meaningless work.
I also find this novel increasingly frustrating. We keep getting introduced to characters who just seem to disappear never to be seen again along with details about the little things that also don't seem to be of any importance. In this novel I'm finding it very difficult to pinpoint what is important and what is not, however, I think that in the end everything is just going to come together to make sense. At least I hope so. The structure of the plot is also making it difficult to follow this narrative. I am beginning to understand that Gould is telling stories of his past while in the present day he is in a watery jail cell on Sarah Island. Overall I do think that whatever this novel is trying to say is powerful, as I agree with Kristel's thoughts. After she mentioned in class on Friday about coping/escape mechanisms, I began to feel that this is a strong theory. However, I do hope by the end of the novel we are brought to understand at least some of the craziness. Everything doesn't need to be wrapped up with a bow and displayed for us but some clarity would be nice.
ReplyDeleteI sort of feel like all the books we have been reading so far this semester have almost been building up to or preparing us for this book. Though the books we have read this semester have all had largely related themes of mystery, i think something else ties the books together as well--this book working as somewhat of a climax. To me the books we've read this semester really vivify the way a novel's structure can match its function. Gould's book of fish has a unique and unusual structure (which we are beginning to see as a parallel of life); in terms of relating structure to function it almost seems to one up the other books we have read by making the book almost seem as though it isn't a book at all. A friend of mine is taking a class about book art, and this sort of reminds me of that. The book itself, its very makeup, strengthens, parallels, and vivifies the message or though the book is trying to present.
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