PC192: The Interior Of Mr. Bumblethorn’s Coat

[bluetube]

I didn't find this story entertaining. It was just too weird and the narrative seemed unnecessarily flowery, as if the author was trying a little too hard to impress.

Weird is good, but this weirdness seemed arbitrary and disconnected. Perhaps the whole thing is some kind of drug-induced imagining. There were lots of interesting ideas but the strangeness was too dense. I felt as if I was just listening to a stream of ideas thrown together without much of an underlying story.

The reading was generally good, but often lapsed into a lazy style, dropping 't's. This would have been OK if it was intentional (for atmosphere) but I felt it was unintended and it distracted from an already difficult-to-follow narrative.

[Listener]

Even so I think the author, who clearly has an amazing imagination, needs to rein it in now and again. Unless I missed some of the symbology the whole section with the comic book Mr Bumblethorn reads could have been cut as I don't think it added anything.

That's how I feel about the Black Freighter parts of Watchmen, too.

[Listener]

I'm with most everyone else here -- lots of rich, creative imagery. But to me it was almost too much. It's like, I like China Mieville's biopunk stories (New Crobuzon series, Embassytown), but I do not like the VanderMeer world of Ambergris. This was too much Ambergris and not enough New Crobuzon.

The reading might have benefited from being a little slower in places, to let us digest some of the imagery. I lost track in some parts.

The concept of the florist reminding Mr Bumblethorn that he has water IN HIS COAT is probably my favorite part of the story. It's like saying "I have nothing to eat" when clearly there is food in the refrigerator that I'm saving to cook for dinner -- eating a few tomatoes won't ruin the entire salad, right?

[Gamercow]

The concept of the florist reminding Mr Bumblethorn that he has water IN HIS COAT is probably my favorite part of the story. It's like saying "I have nothing to eat" when clearly there is food in the refrigerator that I'm saving to cook for dinner -- eating a few tomatoes won't ruin the entire salad, right?

Personally, I think it was closer to being stranded on a desert island with a pet.

[Unblinking]

The concept of the florist reminding Mr Bumblethorn that he has water IN HIS COAT is probably my favorite part of the story. It's like saying "I have nothing to eat" when clearly there is food in the refrigerator that I'm saving to cook for dinner -- eating a few tomatoes won't ruin the entire salad, right?

Personally, I think it was closer to being stranded on a desert island with a pet.

Ooh, good analogy!

[ElectricPaladin]

The concept of the florist reminding Mr Bumblethorn that he has water IN HIS COAT is probably my favorite part of the story. It's like saying "I have nothing to eat" when clearly there is food in the refrigerator that I'm saving to cook for dinner -- eating a few tomatoes won't ruin the entire salad, right?

Personally, I think it was closer to being stranded on a desert island with a pet.

Ooh, good analogy!

A pet. Who's dying of cancer. And it's your fault.

[Scattercat]

The concept of the florist reminding Mr Bumblethorn that he has water IN HIS COAT is probably my favorite part of the story. It's like saying "I have nothing to eat" when clearly there is food in the refrigerator that I'm saving to cook for dinner -- eating a few tomatoes won't ruin the entire salad, right?

Personally, I think it was closer to being stranded on a desert island with a pet.

Ooh, good analogy!

A pet. Who's dying of cancer. And it's your fault.

Because you're Doctor Manhattan.

Wait...

[ThomasTheAttoney]

I didn't care for this one. 

I found the flashback section with Lavender disorienting--I wasn't really clear that it was Bumplethorn himself until the flashback was over, and that was a looong flashback, so I spent most of that time pretty confused. 

Even before that, there were so many weird details that were never really fleshed out, and so it seemed like just an attempt to heap up weirdness and hope that it was mistaken for a story.  .

but I suppose that would've removed the only tension in the main narrative, false as that tension was.

I could only listen to this one on a car drive when there was nothing else in the player, and only political comment masquerading as news on the radios.  Even then, it was too boring, and I gave up, too far into it.    I should have read Unblinking first.  Seriously, Unblinking, do you teach English at college?  If not, please consider it.

[Devoted135]

I'm starting to feel like you have your very own stalker, Unblinking.

[Fenrix]

Geez you guys are a tough crowd. It was less a story than a journey, possibly a weed-trip of its own. I stopped trying to figure it out and just went with the flow of the images, which were lavish, rich and astonishing.

To quote Cypher: "what a mind-job."

For comparison, Cast of Wonders ran a Willow Fagan story last year called "Cockatrice Girl Meets Statue Boy." It's more of a story, I guess, but it contains much of the fantastic ideas and imagery so present in "Bumblethorn." (Episodes 18 & 19)

I thought I recognized that into author blurb. The style is consistent between the two stories, and if you like one you'll like the other.

Here's a direct link to help pimp the other story. I didn't hate either, but they're weird fluffy bits that helped pass the time. I liked the surreal bits, but those could have benefited from stronger plotting.

What a lovely (well, beautifully awful) world that was. I wonder if anyone will write a story set in it someday.

ouch

also, doorgasm

[Unblinking]

I'm starting to feel like you have your very own stalker, Unblinking.

And me being so far behind on my forums, hadn't seen this until now. 

[Devoted135]

I'm starting to feel like you have your very own stalker, Unblinking.

And me being so far behind on my forums, hadn't seen this until now. 

No worries, I'm playing catch-up too