Going through the comments . . .

 

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The first thing I notice, as I take a look at the comments I receive on this blog, is that I don't receive very many comments on this blog. I mean, I have gotten some, but it's not like I am setting the internet ablaze with bookish conversation.

Is it me? I can chaaaaange!

*ahem*

The next thing I notice is that those people who do post a comment are usually the same five or six people. And I love those people (thank you for engaging!), but I can't help but wonder whether the rest of you are left bored by my bookish blog posts? Did you close the page down before you got to the end? 

If you've made it this far I'm impressed. The internet has, as Bo Burnham put it, "a little bit of everything all of the time"; there's a lot for a humble little book blogger to contend with!

Thirdly, I notice the posts which have been commented on most are review posts. But, they don't take the title in a landslide. Instead they only just edge out the other posts with comments. The other posts being discussions with myself on book related topics (bookish social media accounts to follow, bookish controversies, tips on book blogging, etc.).

My book blog is a bit like my bookshelves - a varied and haphazard assortment of diverse contents.

Sometimes I write a post about a classic novel by Jerome K. Jerome, sometimes I write about controversies in the book world, and sometimes I write a review of a non-fiction book on psychology. I sometimes wonder if I haven't crippled myself a little bit by not focusing on one genre. That way people would know what they are getting and I might have guaranteed myself a larger readership.

But, to be honest, I kind of like the freedom in writing about any and all bookish interests, in writing about all of the books I enjoy reading. It does make it harder to create something of a brand/identity though, something to which people can respond with, "Oh yeah, that's the blog where . . . "

I suppose I could set up a number of blogs, each one concentrating on different aspects of my bookish interests. But, to be even more brutally honest, unless I start making money of of this writing lark, I don't have the time or the energy to invest in all that!

When I started blogging, I had no idea what I wanted to achieve. I enjoyed writing and I wanted to make something out of that. I still do. I think I am good at writing. I am not great, and there are others out there in the great big void that is the internet who are struggling away just as much as me, and getting perhaps even less attention than I am. But, there also people out there who are getting engagement I have been dreaming of and  . . . well, I'm better. I said it.

Okay, so I like writing about classic novels, poetry, and bookish topics of interest. But, what do you like reading about? When you come to a book blog, what do you like to read? What is it that makes you feel compelled to become a part of the conversation?

I would love, love, LOVE to build a something of a little community here, in this little humble corner of the digital space we all come to for comfort, entertainment, and information. Wouldn't that be fun?

Please do leave a comment, share a post with your friends, and come back again soon. I'd love to have you back for more bookish discussions and whatnot!

Links to posts that have received comments from readers . . .

(This is not an exhaustive list)

How to get people to read your bookish blog . . .

A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd - review and analysis

You're a book lover? You need to see these!

Reading Challenges - Part 2

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - review and analysis

Thank you for reading. Please do leave a comment and some feedback if you have any, it is very much appreciated. And if you've any questions, I shall do my best to answer them. You can support MonstaReader on ko-fi.com with a coffee - the caffeine keeps me writing and reading through the comments! Thank you for your support and your time!

A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd - a review and analysis

 

Disclaimer: should you make a purchase through any of the links in this blog, I might earn a commission from the sellers. However, this does not effect the cost to you as the consumer, nor does it influence the content of this blog.

In this novel, we follow the misadventures of Morgan Leafy, a First Secretary to the British Deputy High Commission in Western Africa. And indeed, part of the absurd humour in this novel is derived from the portrait of an Englishman in a foreign land; the Englishman engaged in a constant struggle with unbearable heat, with foreign customs and traditions.

However, the real central themes of this novel are love, and the difference between how things seem, and how they really are. From these themes is derived much of the comedy, and much of the tragedy, in this story. Morgan, the main character, has a number of affairs throughout the novel, and uses these, and the love he imagines that might flourish there, as a kind of crutch to get him through his days. Unfortunately, none of these affairs are exactly successful. But, when they fail, he still has alcohol!

And, these relationships do fail. Partly because Morgan is a bit of a bumbling fool. But, also because everyone in this novel seems to be dishonest, acting with ulterior motives, and cannot be trusted. However, as we find, there is a difference between how things seem and how things are. As we follow the story through the eyes of Morgan Leafy, we see that Morgan's perception of how things are has influenced much of his adventures, and if he had but taken the time to see how things really are, rather than drinking and shagging is way along, in between bouncing from one mess to another, he might have avoided many of his problems.

Morgan is not a particularly likeable character. He is unkind in his thoughts toward people, he is quite selfish, and he can be shallow and thoughtless. He careens from one mess to another - getting involved in wholesale bribery; pursuing his boss' daughter; one alcohol inspired bad decision after another. But, that's exactly the sort of character that Morgan needs to be for this novel to work. 

Morgan needs to be the unkind anti-hero that he is for this comic novel to produce wicked laughs. He fumbles his way through the novel as only he can. As mentioned, a lot of the comedy comes from his refusal to see things as they are, instead applying his own point of view to things. He looks at life through his own lens; it just happens to be a lens that is smeared and smudged by his foolishness, and, quite likely, either a drunken state or the inevitable hangover that follows.

Being Boyd's first novel, it has been said that he hadn't quite found his voice here yet. But, it was still much praised and won him the 1981 Whitbread Literary Award, and the 1982 Somerset Maugham Award. Indeed, the absurd characters and comic situations are memorable, and the novel is very well written. If you are looking for something funny, you can do a lot worse than pick up this novel.

You can get a copy of A Good Man in Africa here from bookshop.org, who support independent bookshops. Choose indie bookshops!

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