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John Neeleman

@johnneeleman.bsky.social

78 followers 70 following 370 posts

Lawyer; volunteer, ABA Death Penalty pro bono representation project; novelist, author of “Logos”

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · Nov 15

I'm delighted to announce the release of my second novel, CHILDREN OF SATURN, a tale of the French Revolution published by Open Books, a stellar literary press. I feel honored and fortunate to join the ranks of Open Books' outstanding authors of distinction. www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 4h

I was!

John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 7h

Agree with your point about the zeitgeist. Eventually I have to say enough though.

John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 7h

I liked Infinite Jest better than I thought I would. There's rubbish but also some powerful humanist vignettes. There's even plenty of rubbish in Dostoevsky. The Russian chauvinism and antisemitic suggestions. But enough greatness to make masterpieces.

John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 8h

I keep reading the banalities out of gratitude to my friend LiteratureSupporter. Because of him I have also read In Search of Lost Time, Magic Mountain (twice), ten volumes of Anthony Powell, Anna Karenina (twice), Infinite Jest. Can't say I would otherwise have. Cusk and Knausgard keep us in touch.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 10h

What bothers me isn’t the banality itself but the presumption that repetition of the mundane equals insight. Cusk seems to believe that stripping away plot and drama will reveal some hidden truth of experience, but too often it just exposes the flatness of her subjects.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 10h

Setting it alongside something equally commonplace—a writing seminar—made the whole thing feel unbearably dull. 3/

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 10h

#rachelcusktogether The story about the woman who gives in to her children’s pleas for a puppy, then regrets it once the dog grows up, was excruciatingly banal. I’ve heard that story a countless times. 2/

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 10h

Is there a spine of tension that sustains all successful relationships?

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 10h

#rachelcusktogether Interesting. "The polarisation of man and woman was a structure, a form: she had only felt it once it was gone, and it almost seemed as though the collapse of that structure, that equipoise, was responsible for the extremity that followed it." 2/

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Reposted by John Neeleman

Literature Supporter @literaturesc.bsky.social · 8d

She's only a part of the outline to HIS STORY
#rachelcusktogether

John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 9d

What wounds her isn’t only what he says, but the collapse of that self-image—the realization that she’s peripheral to his story.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 8d

Doctor Faustus yesterday: “I don’t want to call it beautiful; the word ‘beauty’ has always half-disgusted me, it has such a stupid face, and when they say it, people feel lewd and lazy.” Exactly. Not trying to depict beauty is lazy.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 8d

#Rachelcusktogether The narrator tells us Elena is beautiful but never shows us how. Saying a woman is beautiful without even a gesture toward what makes her so is a pet peeve of mine. It doesn’t need to be Tolstoyan detail—just something that earns the word. I happened to read this in Mann's 2/

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Reposted by John Neeleman

@karinj.bsky.social @karinj.bsky.social · 11d

#rachelcusktogether #Pilgrimage

'The word ellipsis...could literally be translated as "to hide behind silence"'

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 9d

Seems to me this is always true to a degree. Ultimately, everyone is a mystery and we are all alone. Dark, I know. But fascinating.

John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 9d

What wounds her isn’t only what he says, but the collapse of that self-image—the realization that she’s peripheral to his story.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 9d

What’s interesting is how the scene reveals vanity disguised as love. Elena wants Konstantin’s affection to confirm her own worth; she wants to be seen through his eyes, and through Yanna’s envy.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 9d

Rivalry curdles into humiliation.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 9d

#Rachelcusktogether I don’t think Elena’s hurt is as pure as it seems. She begins by showing Konstantin off, half-hoping Yanna will envy her. When he says he doesn’t want more children, the pain isn’t just about motherhood—it’s the recognition that he doesn’t imagine a future with her.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 9d

#rachelcusktogether How sad. Ultimately, potential for highest satisfaction in a relationship is in the story that develops. "If the relationship is going to end, in other words, I want to know it and confront it as soon as possible...Very often I have felt that my relationships have had no story."

John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 11d

Why do you say you mistakenly read the interview?

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 11d

It’s not just that I get bored; it’s the conceit that bothers me—the idea that this is somehow innovative or daring. That’s why Cusk’s remark that she doesn’t believe in characters grated.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 11d

I want to inhabit a consciousness more compelling—better or worse—to be reminded what oppression and suffering look like, to learn, to see vistas open. I like ideas in fiction; if it can make me laugh, all the better.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 11d

I think you’ve put your finger on why I’m not a fan of much autofiction or memoir. I don’t read novels to vicariously relive someone’s bourgeois life no more interesting than my own.

John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 11d

It would have been less predictable had narrator fallen for the guy. He's depicted as very unattractive, and just talked about himself. Never asked about her. His domestic tales and marital failures are commonplace.

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John Neeleman @johnneeleman.bsky.social · 11d

I called it predictable because the novel settles for the easiest move: the lecherous middle-aged man, a familiar trope. In life, men often value women as friends and colleagues. With all its self-seriousness, I expected something more—but Cusk gives us the cliché.

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