(This is a pre-written post scheduled to appear while I'm on vacation in Newfoundland.)
Many moons ago I read and discussed Joel Hynes's novel Down to the Dirt with a friend of mine. If memory serves, we had very differing opinions. While I somewhat enjoyed the hard-living, wild voice of the narrator, my friend thought it forced (and he also suspected that it wasn't too far off the image that Hynes likes to project of himself; so forced and lazy at the same time).
Hynes' short story "Conflict of Interest," unfortunately won't settle any arguments. The story of a guy who winds up in a drunk tank, one normally guarded by his grandfather, is, I'll concede, written with more of the same cocky, look-how-cool-and-rebellious-I-am voice. So perhaps Hynes is a lazy writer. I'm certainly not seeing a range yet.
That said, I still enjoyed it. Sure, I didn't like the narrator, but there's some great description in there, with the occasional insightful or amusing thought and rich imagery, plus enough action to keep me interested. Shades of Bukowski? I can't knock that.
Many moons ago I read and discussed Joel Hynes's novel Down to the Dirt with a friend of mine. If memory serves, we had very differing opinions. While I somewhat enjoyed the hard-living, wild voice of the narrator, my friend thought it forced (and he also suspected that it wasn't too far off the image that Hynes likes to project of himself; so forced and lazy at the same time).
Hynes' short story "Conflict of Interest," unfortunately won't settle any arguments. The story of a guy who winds up in a drunk tank, one normally guarded by his grandfather, is, I'll concede, written with more of the same cocky, look-how-cool-and-rebellious-I-am voice. So perhaps Hynes is a lazy writer. I'm certainly not seeing a range yet.
That said, I still enjoyed it. Sure, I didn't like the narrator, but there's some great description in there, with the occasional insightful or amusing thought and rich imagery, plus enough action to keep me interested. Shades of Bukowski? I can't knock that.
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