Accessibility Tools

  • Content scaling 100%
  • Font size 100%
  • Line height 100%
  • Letter spacing 100%

Scorper by Rob Magnuson Smith

by
November 2015, no. 376

Scorper by Rob Magnuson Smith

Granta Books, $19.99 pb, 263 pp, 9781783781065

Scorper by Rob Magnuson Smith

by
November 2015, no. 376

For the most part, we move among books with ease, passing from one writer's prose to another without having to adjust the frequency of our inner ear. We detect shifts in style and sensibility, sure, but as readers we open ourselves to such a wide harmonic range that, should multiple books arrive on our lap with the authors' names deleted, we could segue from page to page without stumbling over minor variations.

Then there are those other writers, the ones with idiolects so distinct that their sentences startle us. Think of Nadine Gordimer, Shirley Hazzard, Clarice Lispector, or Janette Turner Hospital. We find ourselves seeking such writers precisely because of the temperament that makes their pages distinct. The first or even third encounter with their work can feel like a jolt, but as readers we often cling to our favourite writers precisely because of their differences. In this way, the taste and sensation of a book remains with us long after we forget the marriage plot or how the detective discovers whodunit.

In much contemporary fiction, point of view works like wallpaper to which we grow accustomed, usually within the first paragraph. We follow the first-person narrative, convinced that this story, told at this time, is absolutely necessary. And even if we can't find those notes from our literature class that remind us how to define the intricacies of the third person, we recognise them when we see them.

Kevin Rabalais reviews 'Scorper' by Rob Magnuson Smith

Scorper

by Rob Magnuson Smith

Granta Books, $19.99 pb, 263 pp, 9781783781065

Leave a comment

If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.

If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.

Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.