General: this kind of sentimental humanism' that wallows in 'a certain set ofĪssumptions, certain models of subjectivity – for example, theĬontemporary cult of the individual, the absolute authentic self who is 'the default mode dominating mainstream fiction and most culture in Thousand stories launched by Raymond Carver's example, stories that Is an interesting phrase, for instance, and makes me think of the It captures many of the qualities I value. Questions, not answer them), but Galgut's formulation there feels like Of Chekhov, who famously said the job of the artist is to ask This is similar to things I've thought for a long time (I am, after all, a devotee Whereas if people are disturbed and unsettled, things have been raisedĪnd not resolved, people have to carry that around and work it out some Have closed any moral problems that the book raised and that’s it. When you’re reading that book, but when you close the book you basically The plot are neatly knotted at the end-you might have a good experience

Seems to me, if you provide answers-the usual forms of literaryĬatharsis are a kind of answer, things tie up and all the elements of It ties in with something Galgut himself said in an interview with Kianoosh Hashemzadeh for Web Conjunctions a few years ago: Worked so well for me where so many other books I've tried to read recently did not, I started toįeel like I was finally moving toward some understanding of what the Of nudging us endlessly with the question, 'How much can you take?'Īs I thought about why Damon Galgut's 1991 novel The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs The reader's gag reflex and puts the writer in the obnoxious position Plenty likely to be worthless, exploitative crap that aims primarily for Probably unsettling and disturbing, but also Unproductive ways - a pulpy, detailed story of child molestation is Inevitably there are things that are, for instance, unsettling in For years, I've said I like novels to be x, y, or z often that x, y, or z meant (in some way or another) unsettling,Ĭhallenging, surprising.

The beautiful screaming of pigs