“DD Review: Jodi Picoult – small great things.”

Score: 5/10

.

I see it. You have to be “immaculate” to be “good,” in literature today, and you have to be “good” to be “passable,” the way maybe William Dean Howells and Kate Chopin were, once upon a time. Jodi Picoult is vastly preferable to many other authors out there, if only for her ability to embed metaphoric anecdotes within, say, the end of chapters, as a way of showing the mental/emotional side of life without being indulgent in such feeling. Unlike other mass market voices like James Elroy, she doesn’t really seem to fall prey to CHEESINESS, necessarily.
Still, I simply cannot abide all this good guy/bad guy stuff. I never watch movies. There’s this realm you get in sometimes as a fabricated creator where you’re just clenching every muscle in your body, trying to make every little mannerisms of some of the characters “good,” and all of those of the other ones unrealistically boorish, or overly aggressive. This might work on some readers, but I’ve seen too much… I’ve been through the “crusty old classics” like A Hazard of New Fortunes and Huxley’s Point Counterpoint and believe it or not — they have a SENSE OF HUMOR. They do not live in these bubbles of allotted, polarized morality. The rhythm of existence comes from some invisible divinity or deity, and all of these characters live under the same rhythm, all under the same sky both proverbial and existential. If they take a trip out to nature, then THAT transforms them, like in many Virginia Woolf novels. Until then, so much of life is circumstantial. We don’t have computer chips in our heads making us either good or bad, and until lots of these popular writers realize that a lot of behavior, and opinion, is just a matter of the little fractals of surroundings growing up and in young adulthood, we won’t rediscover true literature again. It’s certainly an uphill battle, but I cannot abide pouring syrup on this us vs. them stuff and calling it pancakes.
From what I read of the preliminary commentary on Picoult, it was billed as a “novel about racism.” And to be sure it is, and probably not the worst one out there. But still, maybe this is part of the problem: maybe we’re so reluctant to embrace a novel which isn’t specifically ABOUT something, maybe we’re afraid of what we truly believe, deep down, if we relinquish our taut grip around these chic issues of the day, and give in to the pervasive miscellany of life (notice I didn’t call it the SWEET pervasive miscellany of life). I say go easier on authors, and all artists, really, in the way of content, but require a little more worldview… require… a little more imperfection.

150 thoughts on ““DD Review: Jodi Picoult – <em>small great things</em>.””

  1. Pingback: buy levitra vardenafil
  2. Pingback: cialis india
  3. Pingback: buy levitra nz

  27. [url=http://glucophage.store/]metformin medicine price[/url] [url=http://buyampicillin.shop/]ampicillin sulbactam[/url] [url=http://hydroxychloroquine.agency/]hydroxychloroquine 90mg[/url] [url=http://lisinopril247.com/]lisinopril online prescription[/url] [url=http://bactrim.cfd/]buy bactrim online[/url] [url=http://erythromycin.cfd/]can i buy erythromycin over the counter uk[/url] [url=http://diclofenac.shop/]voltaren 200mg[/url]

  30. [url=https://suhagra.boutique/]suhagra 50 mg online[/url] [url=https://buybaclofen.shop/]baclofen india[/url] [url=https://buyalbenza.store/]albendazole buy uk[/url] [url=https://buyfildena.shop/]fildena online[/url] [url=https://celebrex.cfd/]celebrex medication cost[/url] [url=https://duloxetine.shop/]cymbalta coupon 30 mg[/url]

  32. [url=http://acyclovir.works/]where can i buy acyclovir 400mg tablets[/url] [url=http://ivermectinmj.monster/]ivermectin in india[/url] [url=http://propecia.best/]propecia merck[/url] [url=http://cialisbtabs.quest/]fast shipping cialis[/url] [url=http://finpecia.shop/]can i buy propecia in mexico[/url] [url=http://acyclovir.digital/]purchase zovirax[/url] [url=http://robaxin.shop/]robaxin generic price[/url]

  33. [url=https://buyprednisolonepills.com/]prednisolone buy online[/url] [url=https://cephalexin.golf/]cephalexin 500 mg buy[/url] [url=https://propecia.sale/]finasteride dutasteride[/url]

  37. [url=https://buypropranolol.monster/]propranolol 1mg[/url] [url=https://buycialis.guru/]tadalafil 10mg daily[/url] [url=https://buyventolin.works/]order albuterol from canada[/url] [url=https://arimidex.works/]arimidex cost[/url] [url=https://cialisgtabs.monster/]tadalafil 20mg mexico[/url] [url=https://lanoxin.boutique/]digoxin generic[/url] [url=https://viagrartab.quest/]order sildenafil 100mg[/url]

  48. [url=http://buycialis40mgtablets.quest/]cialis 20 mg price in india[/url] [url=http://onlineviagrapillwithnorx.monster/]sildenafil price in usa[/url] [url=http://amitriptyline.cfd/]amitriptyline 25mg tablet cost[/url]

  55. [url=http://buyzofran.life/]zofran tablet price in india[/url] [url=http://prozac.icu/]brand name prozac online[/url] [url=http://cymbalta.cfd/]cymbalta 60 mg cheap[/url] [url=http://atomoxetine.click/]cost of strattera 25 mg[/url] [url=http://buylyrica.quest/]lyrica online prescription[/url]

  57. [url=http://augmentintab.shop/]amoxicillin 500mg tabs[/url] [url=http://clomid2022.com/]how can i get clomid over the counter[/url] [url=http://metformin.click/]metformin india[/url] [url=http://lasixztab.monster/]lasix 80[/url] [url=http://dexamethasonetab.shop/]dexona tablet[/url] [url=http://zoloftsertraline.shop/]how much is zoloft[/url] [url=http://prednisone.sbs/]medicine prednisone 5mg[/url] [url=http://tadalafilx.online/]buy cialis 20mg australia[/url]

  66. [url=https://ciallis.online/]alli pills canada[/url] [url=https://dapoxetinetab.monster/]dapoxetine tablets[/url] [url=https://buynexium.monster/]medication nexium 40 mg[/url]

  68. [url=https://amoxicillin.us.org/]amoxicillin 100 mg[/url] [url=https://prednisolone.lol/]can you buy prednisolone over the counter in australia[/url] [url=https://tretinoin.trade/]retin a cream online uk[/url] [url=https://happyfamilyrx.net/]my canadian pharmacy[/url] [url=https://dipyridamole.fun/]dipyridamole tablets[/url]

  72. [url=http://buspar.fun/]how much does buspar cost[/url] [url=http://prednisolone.ink/]generic prednisolone 5mg[/url] [url=http://modafinil.foundation/]provigil pharmacy[/url] [url=http://baclofen.pics/]baclofen tablets uk[/url] [url=http://gabapentin2023.com/]where can i get gabapentin[/url] [url=http://buymotilium.monster/]motilium pills[/url] [url=http://onlinepharmacy.foundation/]mail order pharmacy no prescription[/url] [url=http://onlinepharmacy.us.com/]pharmacy prices[/url]

  80. [url=http://allopurinolf.online/]allopurinol tablets cost[/url] [url=http://tamoxifena.online/]tamoxifen purchase[/url] [url=http://stratteratabs.online/]strattera no prescription[/url] [url=http://bactrim247.com/]bactrim 500[/url] [url=http://gabapentin.men/]generic neurontin 300 mg[/url] [url=http://diclofenactab.online/]voltaren gel india[/url] [url=http://synthroid.pics/]where to buy synthroid online[/url] [url=http://ulasix.online/]buy lasix water pill[/url]

Leave a Comment