(Click here for more Minor Tweaks or here for I Have OPINIONS!!!)
March 16, 2007
BOOK REVIEW: [no title]
This wordless volume is the work, no doubt, of some cynical postmodernist bent on further undermining the supposed tyranny of the mimetic narrative and perhaps even Western literature itself. Instead of a story, the "author" -- if so grandiose an appellation truly applies in this case -- gives us ten pages of simplistic illustrations.
The first page features a flower and a kite. What are we to make of this juxtaposition? That is followed by a falling leaf and a cloud. Again, what are we to infer? Is there meaning here? Does meaning, per se, even exist? What exactly is the author, who is not named, trying to tell us?
The book is littered with gimmicks. For instance, a cloth snake "pops out" on page three. On page six, there is a plastic lever; pull the lever and a friendly whale emerges. Page ten depicts a smiling cat holding an umbrella: If you touch the umbrella, it makes a crinkly noise.
These stunts (and that, indeed, is what they are) will do little to satisfy the discerning reader.
I showed the book to my six-month-old son. He seemed amused enough. Then again, he gets a kick out of empty water bottles. What I'm saying is this: Consider the source.
Posted by teb at March 16, 2007 12:05 PM