[DNX]≫ Descargar Girl Imagined by Chance Lance Olsen 9781573661034 Books

Girl Imagined by Chance Lance Olsen 9781573661034 Books

Download As PDF : Girl Imagined by Chance Lance Olsen 9781573661034 Books

Girl Imagined by Chance Lance Olsen 9781573661034 Books

This book was The Paper Street Book Club's book for February under the category of Local Author, chosen by a member located in Idaho.

--------
The book takes a while to get into, mainly because of the use of 2nd person as the narrative style. This isn't the first time I have read a book in this style and it probably won't be the last but, it is by far my least favorite form of narrative and I don't think it was actually the best choice for this particular story.

The beginning moves slowly as the author tries to put "us" in his mind and understand the minds of him and his wife, Andi. I understand the purpose of this since we are technically are supposed to be one in the mind of the main character, but the slowness of plot and the speed of his ever changing thoughts are tiresome.

Once we get to the plot the pace quickens. From the moment that Andi tells Grannam she is pregnant the store gets its pace. But it is often interrupted by the authors photograph rambles. I agree with some of the points he tries to make but they go on and on, and repeat WAY too often. They start to pull away from the book and start to make you feel the author only wrote the book as a way to share his feelings about the way people look at photography versus what photography really presents us with. When he pulls out of the story for these moments it also pulls me, the reader out. I feel as if I'm reading someone's blog and like he doesn't know when to stop.

Almost every other page you can feel the authors pretentiousness over flooding the book. The pretentiousness of the novel tries to mask an okay novel as something brilliant and fails to accomplish this task.

I loved the idea, I liked the photography but sadly that is all this book had to offer...an idea.


Tags : Girl Imagined by Chance [Lance Olsen] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV><I>Girl Imagined by Chance</I> is a critifictional novel about a couple who find themselves having created a make-believe daughter (and soon a make-believe life to accompany her) in order to appease their friends,Lance Olsen,Girl Imagined by Chance,Fiction Collective 2,1573661031,General,Childlessness,Childlessness;Fiction.,Couples,Domestic fiction,Imaginary companions,Imaginary companions;Fiction.,Photography,Photography;Fiction.,Psychological fiction,FICTION General,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Coming of Age,General & Literary Fiction,General Adult,Modern fiction,POPULAR AMERICAN FICTION,UNIVERSITY PRESS,United States

Girl Imagined by Chance Lance Olsen 9781573661034 Books Reviews

It may have been Lance Olsen's words, but it was Chuck Palahniuk's voice. If you love Chuck P., can tolerate one sentence paragraphs and the always irritating second person narration, then I'm sure you'll like this.

Just a matter of taste. It wasn't my cup of tea.
Girl Imagined by Chance is a playful, ironic novel about an oddly taboo subject being married, getting older, and not wanting to have children. It follows a couple as they abandon the climate-controlled, high-rise world of East coast software development for a lone cabin fifty miles west of nowhere, deep in the wilds of Idaho. The story is sewn together with a series of photographs, blurring reality and fiction as the characters find themselves creating a counterfeit daughter to comply with the expectations of their family and friends. The tone is sunny, but the themes are moving and often sad. I found it disturbing and comforting at the same time--a lot like real life. For anyone who's ever fought feelings of guilt for resisting a culture devoted to mall zombies and procreation, or for anyone who has unresolved issues with their own parents, this is an entertaining and satisfying read. (Warning not for parents who actually enjoy changing poopy diapers.)
Lance Olsen's ability with language is uncanny. His experimental literature can compel a person to try writing -- he makes it seem like a fun, though arduous, activity. Fans of David Markson, the themes of William Gaddis' work, or perhaps the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein would like this particular book, as it recounts the upbringing of a girl who may or may not exist as an embodied person, but in any case does exist at least through means of stories and photographs. What is truth, then? That which we feel? That which we know? That which we convince ourselves and others through reproduction and repetition?
GIRL IMAGINED BY CHANCE was pure pleasure to read. I admired what Olsen accomplished with this novel. It is the culmination of a lot of right choices.
His choice, for instance, of using photography and the social pressures on childless couples to have children as his primary tropes in exploring our culture of reproduction, as well as the nature of memory and reality is simply brilliant. His handling of second person p.o.v. is seamless, never awkward or clumsy. The sentence structures, the paragraph breaks, the repetitions echoing like refrains throughout are inspiring. The language is fresh and surprising, strong from beginning to end.It is intelligent and never predictable. I liked that Olsen went back to what I most loved about BURNT and LIVE FROM EARTH, blending autobiographical details of his life (here at Bear Creek in northern Idaho) and his various travels with the theme of how our lives are basically fictions. In GIRL, Olsen takes his fiction stylistically in a new direction and one can easily view this novel as the culmination of a progressive trilogy, just as TONGUING THE ZEITGEIST, TIME FAMINE and FREAKNEST comprise such a trilogy.
The humor beautifully sustains the sense of not taking oneself too seriously, seeing the absurdity without letting it drag you into depression. This novel also helped me understand just what "critifiction" is, as it enfolds much information about photography into the narrative without it ever feeling like an "info dump." This is all made possible because of the "voice" of the novel and the enchantingly human portrait of the fictional Andi.
I applaud Fiction Collective Two for publishing this work. They are a vanguard for cutting-edge fiction which may one day break down the artificial barriers keeping writers like Olsen out of the mainstream.
C'mon, New York, it's time to reinvent yourself. There are writers out there who can be both intelligent and ENTERTAINING!
This book was The Paper Street Book Club's book for February under the category of Local Author, chosen by a member located in Idaho.

--------
The book takes a while to get into, mainly because of the use of 2nd person as the narrative style. This isn't the first time I have read a book in this style and it probably won't be the last but, it is by far my least favorite form of narrative and I don't think it was actually the best choice for this particular story.

The beginning moves slowly as the author tries to put "us" in his mind and understand the minds of him and his wife, Andi. I understand the purpose of this since we are technically are supposed to be one in the mind of the main character, but the slowness of plot and the speed of his ever changing thoughts are tiresome.

Once we get to the plot the pace quickens. From the moment that Andi tells Grannam she is pregnant the store gets its pace. But it is often interrupted by the authors photograph rambles. I agree with some of the points he tries to make but they go on and on, and repeat WAY too often. They start to pull away from the book and start to make you feel the author only wrote the book as a way to share his feelings about the way people look at photography versus what photography really presents us with. When he pulls out of the story for these moments it also pulls me, the reader out. I feel as if I'm reading someone's blog and like he doesn't know when to stop.

Almost every other page you can feel the authors pretentiousness over flooding the book. The pretentiousness of the novel tries to mask an okay novel as something brilliant and fails to accomplish this task.

I loved the idea, I liked the photography but sadly that is all this book had to offer...an idea.