In the Approaches by Nicola Barker — Confusion abounds

BookerTalk

What do you need to know about me? 1. I'm from Wales which is one of the countries in the UK and must never be confused with England. 2. My life has always revolved around the written and spoken word. I worked as a journalist for nine years then in international corporate communications 3. My tastes in books are eclectic. I love realism and hate science fiction and science fantasy. 4. I am trying to broaden my reading horizons geographically by reading more books in translation

10 thoughts on “In the Approaches by Nicola Barker — Confusion abounds

  • May 12, 2023 at 7:57 am
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    I’ve tried Nicola Barker a couple of times. I’m glad I’m not alone in not quite getting her writing.

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  • May 12, 2023 at 2:06 am
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    You’ve certainly got me interested, there are far too many middle of the road writers. But I might be like you and think the parrot POV was a step too far.

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  • May 11, 2023 at 11:42 pm
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    I believe it is her version of what she believes stream of consciousness is about. Had fun reading albeit it resembled one of those pieces written as a part of an asylum’s occupation therapy.

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    • May 26, 2015 at 9:36 pm
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      It was frustrating because there were some good parts but then it would go off rambling again

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  • May 25, 2015 at 6:27 pm
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    Oh dear! I have In The Approaches and I think, if you two more experienced (when it comes to genres – I’m not saying you’re older than me!) readers can’t make much of her, I don’t know if I should waste my time? I too had kept seeing her named as “one to watch” by Granta and suchlike but, tbh, I think you deserve a book prize for getting to the end – I wonder how many DNFs she has?! I’ll have a bash but I won’t hold out much hope – pray for me…!

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    • May 26, 2015 at 9:37 pm
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      At least you’ll be reading it with eyes wide open as it were

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  • May 25, 2015 at 6:00 pm
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    I tried another title by the same author and gave up after a while. I felt just the same as you.

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    • May 26, 2015 at 9:38 pm
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      if that’s the style that she defaults to, then you’ve just saved me some effort in reading anything else

      Reply

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