Pulitzer Award for Fiction 2017
Since reading the Man Booking award winning "Finkler Question" and "The Sellout" , satire fiction has held an affectionate nook in my reading. But I was somewhat not prepared for Less. This is the first satire which is also a Gay romance, written from the viewpoint of a "Gay World". So much so, not long after starting upon the novel the notion that straight is strange atmosphere affects the reader ( if he or she is hetero).
I was skimming through a little of the author's biography as found in Wikipedia and it is clear that the work is partially biographical. The name Less too is telling - for Less is someone "less" successful in the world of literary giants, and am sure the choice of the name is well thought of.
We see the ever romantic, moderately successful author taking time to patch up, with a round the world trip, to come to terms with his not so successful life - that of loss, of his past - broken relationships, troubled childhood, drugs etc. The trip starts off bad, as he realises that his publisher won't accept his latest novel - one more defeat in a long series for Less.
In an Indian resort Island his life long rival says to Less "has the best life of anyone" he knows - of course by then Carlos ( his rival ) knew more than he was letting on to Less.
An unsuspecting white gay of fifty years, alone in the world, with humour and awkwardness all along the way, around the globe, with many a chuckle and a few outright laughs for the reader to indulge in. Its satire is what holds the book up - for instead of the tragedy of Less' situation, we are shown the comedy of it, and how those he has loved, loves him back in return unconditionally. It is this survival and Less' own non-realization of it that makes Carlos admit to his nemesis' success.
Towards the last part of the book, Less is being asked to break his way out of paper walled room in Kyoto, for an age old door is stuck. The use of parable here is clear.
The moment the reader realises that the book could be semi autobiographical ( Greer has been a more successful writer than his protegee in the novel, granted ), one wonders if there's a tone of self-congratulation concealed, but with traces to show.
A very readable book, and a new experience since the base from which the narration is presented is that of a gay seat - a first time to me - not even Forster's Maurice or any other work from a Gay author had this "from their natural world" outlook.
Although I enjoyed the book as a whole, I cannot deny the nagging feeling if what the book offered was sufficient to attract the success it did. Gay-world, satire, and a fresh look at what is success, not to mention a view of the not so sweet world of authors is what it offers. I cannot but wonder if I missed something the Pulitzer panel found revelatory .
Since reading the Man Booking award winning "Finkler Question" and "The Sellout" , satire fiction has held an affectionate nook in my reading. But I was somewhat not prepared for Less. This is the first satire which is also a Gay romance, written from the viewpoint of a "Gay World". So much so, not long after starting upon the novel the notion that straight is strange atmosphere affects the reader ( if he or she is hetero).
I was skimming through a little of the author's biography as found in Wikipedia and it is clear that the work is partially biographical. The name Less too is telling - for Less is someone "less" successful in the world of literary giants, and am sure the choice of the name is well thought of.
We see the ever romantic, moderately successful author taking time to patch up, with a round the world trip, to come to terms with his not so successful life - that of loss, of his past - broken relationships, troubled childhood, drugs etc. The trip starts off bad, as he realises that his publisher won't accept his latest novel - one more defeat in a long series for Less.In an Indian resort Island his life long rival says to Less "has the best life of anyone" he knows - of course by then Carlos ( his rival ) knew more than he was letting on to Less.
"You have the luck of a comedian. Bad luck in things that don’t matter. Good luck in things that do. I think—you probably won’t agree with this—but I think your whole life is a comedy. Not just the first part. The whole thing. You are the most absurd person I’ve ever met. You’ve bumbled through every moment and been a fool; you’ve misunderstood and misspoken and tripped over absolutely everything and everyone in your path, and you’ve won. And you don’t even realize it."
An unsuspecting white gay of fifty years, alone in the world, with humour and awkwardness all along the way, around the globe, with many a chuckle and a few outright laughs for the reader to indulge in. Its satire is what holds the book up - for instead of the tragedy of Less' situation, we are shown the comedy of it, and how those he has loved, loves him back in return unconditionally. It is this survival and Less' own non-realization of it that makes Carlos admit to his nemesis' success.
Towards the last part of the book, Less is being asked to break his way out of paper walled room in Kyoto, for an age old door is stuck. The use of parable here is clear.
The moment the reader realises that the book could be semi autobiographical ( Greer has been a more successful writer than his protegee in the novel, granted ), one wonders if there's a tone of self-congratulation concealed, but with traces to show.
A very readable book, and a new experience since the base from which the narration is presented is that of a gay seat - a first time to me - not even Forster's Maurice or any other work from a Gay author had this "from their natural world" outlook.
Although I enjoyed the book as a whole, I cannot deny the nagging feeling if what the book offered was sufficient to attract the success it did. Gay-world, satire, and a fresh look at what is success, not to mention a view of the not so sweet world of authors is what it offers. I cannot but wonder if I missed something the Pulitzer panel found revelatory .
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