Textermination

The premise of this book - that fictional literary characters die only when they are not read - is an old one but I doubt that it has ever been presented with more panache than Ms. Brook-Rose has done here. It is both a hard-nosed look - some woudl say an indictment - of the Age of Celebrity and our worship of same. (Not coincidentally, a recent poll reported that more people would rather be "famous" than rich.)A group of "real" reporters are sent to cover the event when suddenly, television and movie characters (from sit-coms to dramas) join the fray and soon it is a wild free-for-all with rich dialogue and numerous allusions. While a wide knowledge of literature is not mandatory but is certainly helpful as we attend the regularly scheduled convocation. Some complain that the story is too hard to follow, too "literary", too "esoteric" but the real question is why in the world a reader of literature would complain about the literary aspects of a novel. The chase scene, the interaction between the fictional and "real" characters (who, when you think about it, are also fictional) is a thing of beauty.

Textermination is an excellent book, but be warned - it is not an 'easy' read. Set at a convention of characters from literature, it is crowded with overt and subtle references to, and quotes and characters from, a huge number of sources. There will be books and authors you have never heard of mentioned in this book, and it can make you feel very small. There are also passages in French, German, Spanish and other languages. Those challenges aside, this book is worth reading for the way it engages narrative conventions, separating and subverting the roles of characters, authors, the "Reader", and more. Brooke-Rose's use of language is inspiring.