Comments on Simon Strantzas: Another review of BENEATH THE SURFACE

Ooops! Shhh... don't tell Laird...Oh, I agree the ...

2009-02-09T15:59:03.411-05:00

Ooops! Shhh... don't tell Laird...

Oh, I agree the reading is a fair one, but I'd love it of course if everyone though the book was made of gold. Nevertheless, I think Laird's concerns are a result of the didactic style of much of the work (or at least how interpret those themes and ideas) and I like to believe the next book will show that those things he laments are possible in my fiction — it's only in the style of this book they've been subsumed by other concerns.

(surreptitious nudge) Psst, Simon, IMAGO SUITE is ...

2009-02-09T14:25:51.055-05:00

(surreptitious nudge) Psst, Simon, IMAGO SUITE is the blog, IMAGO SEQUENCE is the book.
:-)

I think it's a perceptive review, and though it offers caveats to certain readers, I think those are not condemnatory and are reasonably fair. I happen to feel that the authorial distance in most of your stories is not too great, but that the appearance of a greater divide arises from the desolation of the themes and characters. Perhaps one can't get too intensely personal in a recognizable way with a character who is being rapidly subsumed in the Other.

Thanks, Laird. I'm investigating the possibilities...

2009-02-03T10:07:27.003-05:00

Thanks, Laird. I'm investigating the possibilities now but there's nothing to report at the moment.

Simon:The book deserves to be read and discussed -...

2009-02-03T08:04:00.368-05:00

Simon:

The book deserves to be read and discussed -- I wish you good fortune in getting a trade paperback release down the road.