Undoubtedly, the British meaning is intended, although VN would have
damned that amusement park inside his head, but welcomed the spinal slide
of a thrill.
A.
Bouazza.
To the List:
This is
aninteresting article. Smith's view of fiction seems antithetical to that of
VNN.
But my question is:
Main Entry: 2helter-skelter
Function:
noun
1:a
disorderly confusion :TURMOIL
2British
:a
spiral slide around a tower at an amusement park
Which does she
mean?
Sandy Drescher
On Tuesday,
January 23, 2007, at 05:08 PM, Sandy P. Klein wrote:
<image.tiff>
http://januarymagazine.com/2007/01/fail-better.html
Tuesday,
January 23, 2007
Fail
Better
<image.tiff>ì...
somewhere between a criticís necessary superficiality and a writerís natural
dishonesty, the truth of how we judge literary success or failure is
lost.î
In a two article series for The Guardian, Zadie Smith (White Teeth,
On Beauty) doesnít pull any literary punches. Smithís lengthy, two-part
piece is wonderful, managing as it does to be both accessible (ìThatís how
young readers are, too, when they start out. They are doubters and
seekers.î) and urbane (She quotes both Kierkegaard and Nobokov while somehow
never losing her of-the-reading-masses tone).
I have said that
when I open a book I feel the shape of another human beingís brain. To me,
Nabokovís brain is shaped like a helter-skelter. George Eliotís is like one
of those pans for sifting gold. Austenís resembles one of the glass flowers
you find in Harvardís Natural History Museum.
Thereís so much
here that is terrific, the temptation is just to quote and quote and quote:
most of what Smith shares in the space is worth repeating. But Iíll save
both of us the effort: part one is here, put two is here. Savor it for
yourself.