Other Titles > Disciple of the Dog

Just started this...posting my thoughts (and just general discussion)

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Francis Buck:
I started this last night. It's my first non-TSA book by Bakker. I figured it'd be good to have a sort of "miscellaneous thoughts" thread for the book.

My initial reaction, copy/pasted from Westeros:


--- Quote ---Anyways, I read the Kindle sample of Disciple of the Dog, then bought the book on a whim. I'm maybe forty-ish pages in, and rather enjoying it to be honest. I can tell Bakker's trying to be funny, and I did smirk here and there, but it's more just a casual amusement rather than genuine humor. But it's definitely well-written, the basic plot is interesting so far, and I'm enjoying the experience of reading Bakker's prose from first person, and without the (what I think is) often somewhat forced feeling "scriptural tone" of TSA.
--- End quote ---

I will post my other thoughts upon completion, but for now I have one question: is there any word of this becoming a series?

ETA: Oh, and one thing I meant to mention earlier is that I happen to live in PA, and it's amusing to me because Disciple's (and other characters') way of speaking sounds very...well, not from PA. Maybe it's Canadian? The biggest one was the use of "bloody" (like, "this guy's bloody ugly"). For me that's distinctly European. Is it common for people to say it in Canada? Just curious.

Of course this is wildly irrelevant to the quality of the story, it's just something I had to touch on.

Madness:
Gall, FB.

Just read his books - haters gonna hate ;). I give them my stamp of approval.

[EDIT: Especially, read the Light, Time, & Gravity draft on TPB, if you want to pick up writing tips from Bakker's works (though, Neuropath will always be among my favorites).

Lmao, segue, but I was just reminded of the time I was in Tim Horton's on break from work and made the terrible mistake of approaching a girl who happened to be reading Neuropath. I assumed she was reading a book because she was interested in, you know, what she was reading. I instantaneously realized my mistake as the look of horror came across her face while she connected me to the disturbing content of the book - apparently, a friend, who she was considering never talking to again, had recommended it to her (don't ask me why someone would keep reading, if such was their logic). Suffice it to say, no date after work that night.]


--- Quote from: Francis Buck on January 04, 2014, 05:09:17 am ---I started this last night. It's my first non-TSA book by Bakker. I figured it'd be good to have a sort of "miscellaneous thoughts" thread for the book.
--- End quote ---

Thanks, FB. Though I do hope you partake in the mixtape breakdown and analyses at some point.


--- Quote from: Francis Buck on January 04, 2014, 05:09:17 am ---My initial reaction, copy/pasted from Westeros:


--- Quote ---Anyways, I read the Kindle sample of Disciple of the Dog, then bought the book on a whim. I'm maybe forty-ish pages in, and rather enjoying it to be honest. I can tell Bakker's trying to be funny, and I did smirk here and there, but it's more just a casual amusement rather than genuine humor. But it's definitely well-written, the basic plot is interesting so far, and I'm enjoying the experience of reading Bakker's prose from first person, and without the (what I think is) often somewhat forced feeling "scriptural tone" of TSA.
--- End quote ---

I will post my other thoughts upon completion, but for now I have one question: is there any word of this becoming a series?
--- End quote ---

Do remember, Bakker thought this was going to be his vehicle to the mainstream. He seems to have worked on a stable voice for himself, something equal parts witty, cynic, armchair philosopher and psychologist. But... he's probably just flying to low on the radar of what's known today.

So yeah, there's the Enlightened Dead, which he's mentioned on the blog, and I was once privy to the title of a third, of which he's written some of both (Disciple only took him three months, arguably while writing WLW, so he definitely thought to attempt a money-making vehicle).

It's unfortunate.


--- Quote from: Francis Buck on January 04, 2014, 05:09:17 am ---ETA: Oh, and one thing I meant to mention earlier is that I happen to live in PA, and it's amusing to me because Disciple's (and other characters') way of speaking sounds very...well, not from PA. Maybe it's Canadian? The biggest one was the use of "bloody" (like, "this guy's bloody ugly"). For me that's distinctly European. Is it common for people to say it in Canada? Just curious.

Of course this is wildly irrelevant to the quality of the story, it's just something I had to touch on.

--- End quote ---

It's Canadian. And that particular one isn't super-common.

You have to understand, we basically appropriate any type of English word, in any language, dialect, or creole, which sounds pleasing to our ears. Hell, we even do it with French and just repeat expressions until they take on a new slang meaning ;).

Wilshire:
I love Tim Hortens (they removed the apostrophe a while ago didn't they?). Wish there were any where I'm at.

Happy reading FB. I thought they whole thing was pretty hilarious, but that's my type of humor.

Madness:
Lol - don't hate me buddy but I cut the umbilical about a 6 months ago. Been drinking nothing but fair trade at the three good local shops :).

Francis Buck:
Alright then, I finished it last night. After digesting a little, I'd say that, overall, I thought it was only decent. There were flickers of greatness here and there, and I suspect that if this had been more of a "main project", rather than a side-one that he wrote in three months, it likely would have turned pretty fantastic. Regardless, I still found it an enjoyable and occasionally amusing read. My thoughts:

 - Disciple, as a character, was pretty well realized. I didn't really like his "voice" though. I found it...I'm not sure, grating. The idioms and stuff put me off a bit, and in general there was an air of someone that thinks they're utterly hilarious, but really isn't. I get that Bakker wasn't exactly trying to make a super likable guy here, and I certainly don't need likable characters to enjoy literature by any means, but I felt like Diss just wasn't quite properly executed. The humor is a big thing. I think I just have a somewhat different sense of humor than Bakker or something, at least in the way it translates through his writing. TSA is virtually without levity for me, aside from the absurdity of Xerius's personality and the batshit craziness of Cnaiur. In DotD, I genuinely laughed maybe two or threes times. One was when he said (in reference to the size of Baars' mouth): "I tried to picture him eating a hamburger -- couldn't do it".

- The plot was good, but I did not find the ending very satisfying to be honest. The twists, while surprising, didn't have a lot of oomph for me.

- By far the best parts of the novel are the sequences when he's replaying old scenes in his head, but with a new context. That stuff was a great, and it's a brilliant literary device.

- None of the characters did much for me aside from Diss, Baars, and the cop (having a brain-lapse here on his name). The latter, especially, was very well done. I loved the scene where he draws X's on the map, and all Diss can think about is how gay they look. That got a good chuckle out of me too. I found Molly boring. I'm also still made uncomfortable with Bakker's writing about women. I don't know what it is in particular, but it just...I don't know, makes me feel sticky.

- I liked that, in a weird way, Diss does very little the entire novel that really contributes to the case. He basically just smokes pot and figures everything out in his head while watching CNN, but by then it doesn't even matter. This might be the most hilarious part of the book, really.

- Diss starts farting when he gets into dangerous situations. Brilliantly subversive of genre tropes.

So yeah, those are my off the cuff thoughts. I do have more, particularly in regards to the ties with TSA (especially concepts of memory, of course), but I'm short on time. Again, it was an entertaining read, but I feel like it just lacked enough polish in the big areas (plot, characters, resolution) to be considered a real success. I'd definitely be interested in reading a sequel.

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