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Writers Reading. Review by Paul Kimm

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The Unfortunates by B. S. Johnson

I’ve always enjoyed reading books that challenge the reader, turn the experience on its head a bit, make me do some work in return for the work they’ve done, and just make me think about what’s possible with writing. There are those that do it with such force it makes for some mental heavy lifting and cognitive contortionism from the reader, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest and Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch being prime examples (even though I admit to having enjoyed reading both those), but I want to talk about one of my very favourite writers, B. S. Johnson.

The Unfortunates is perhaps B. S. Johnson’s best-known book, and often features on lists of the most difficult books to read, which I personally think is an unfair judgement. Its most unusual feature is that it comes in a box with all the chapters bound separately, 27 in total, the idea being that you read the first and last chapters in the correct order, but shuffle the other 25 in between and then read it in that order. What this means is that any number of people reading it will read it in a different order to one another. Pretentious? Of course. Any good? Well, my subjective opinion is yes, it is.

The story is semi-autobiographical and is actually quite prosaic and straightforward in nature. A football match reporter arrives too early at that week’s unnamed city to go to the stadium, and sits in the railway café, and whilst waiting reminisces about a good friend he lost to cancer.  The shuffled chapters, depending on what order they’ve ended up, determine which order these memories come to the reader, be they about their youth, later years, the friend’s final stages of his sickness, or before being diagnosed with it. For this reason, some chapters are, well, much happier than others. To be honest, not much else happens.

At this point, you can be very forgiven for thinking ‘I’m not reading that pretentious, miserable crap!’ However, the beauty of this book for me goes back to what I said before, that it really made me think about what’s possible with writing. And, even though the plot itself is simple, it calls into question how we deal with our memories, our thoughts of the past, in that they don’t leap out of a box from A to Z, from number 1 to number 2, that they jump at us in whatever order they wish, because our brains are not neatly arranged filing cabinets (well, mine certainly isn’t!). It is this experience of reading The Unfortunates that has stuck with me and it’s one of a small number of books I often think back on.

Other than being a meditation on how our memories work, the book is also a quite beautiful, if understated, ode to friendship. It’s also about how people manage loss and grief. Finally, and perhaps the most inspiration it has given me, is it’s also about the everyday, the mundane: footy matches, larking about as a kid, having a fry-up in a greasy spoon café, early and late trains, waiting for buses, having a cup of tea, reading the newspaper, and so on. In short, if you’re looking for escapism, then don’t pick this off the shelf next time you’re in a book shop, but if you want something moving and real, The Unfortunates is one of the best there is in my opinion.

Paul Kimm

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Published by literallystories2014

16 thoughts on “Writers Reading. Review by Paul Kimm”

  2. Hi Paul,

    Whether I know a book or a subject in any way, what I love about these features is the enthusiasm from the contributor is infectious.

    I was interested to read about the chapter order and what that made you think on – How we deal with our thoughts or memories and how they don’t land with us in any particular order. They normally never invade us by date order, significance or any logic what-so-ever.

    Between Diane, Leila and myself, we have commented on this so many times about inner dialogue. When there is logic and coherence (Especially if the character is out of it in some way) this isn’t realistic and doesn’t work…Especially if it is a long passage.

    I took these thoughts and tried to write a more realistic longer inner dialogue. The MC was pished, so he went off on tangents. Decided on what he wanted to eat or drink and then eventually got to the point on what he wanted to face.

    It’s always a pleasure to see you around the site my fine friend. You help make it what it is!!!

    All the very best.

    Hugh

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    1. Dear Hugh,

      Your ability to analyze and properly judge good writing is formidable; and your open-hearted generosity in writing is probably even more wildly impressive. THANKS for everything you do; it’s greatly appreciated!

      Sincerely,

      Dale

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      1. Hi Dale,

        Thanks for the kind words!!

        The folks on the site make it easy to comment and contemplate!!

        All the very best my fine friend.

        Hugh

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  3. Paul

    Thanks very much for this excellent piece of nonfiction. I was especially drawn to your discussion of how more difficult or complex work is worth it, and how focusing on the “everyday” is a very fruitful subject matter for good fiction. Probably why I’m so fascinated with James Joyce even though I’ve only made it all the way through ULYSSES one time and never made it all the way through FINNEGANS WAKE at all.

    I’ve read some parts of Ulysses countless times, especially the opening chapter; Bloom walking around in the city and on the strand; Stephen and Bloom drunk together in the bordello; and the unstoppable Molly Bloom at the end. I’ve also read various sections of Finnegan quite a few times. It reminds me of the book you talked about in your article, and how the separate sections don’t need to come in a consecutive order and are actually better when they don’t, etc. William Faulkner is another writer who some of his books are better when you just plunge in anywhere, read for a while, and then stop when you get too confused or bored. William Carlos Williams called it “a river of words.”

    I had never heard of B.S. Johnson before, but after your excellent intro, I look forward to exploring more.

    Thanks again!

    Dale

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    1. Hi Dale – I’ve read most of B.S. Johnson’s books and they all have this playful method of delivering a story. Some of them it’s to comic effect, such as Christy Malry’s Own Double Entry (I almost wrote about this one to submit to LS), but decided The Unfortunates was the one that had the greater impact on me. I’ve also attempted Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake a few times and agree with you on how to approach them.

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  4. Thanks for the recommendation, Paul. Goin’ to give this one a try. To be frank, normally, a 1960s experimental novel wouldn’t blow my skirt up. If I could live my life over again, I’d certainly give ‘Giles, the Goat Boy’ a miss. But I’m taken with the idea that ‘The Unfortunates’ reproduces the randomness of memories. 27 chapters appears rather daunting, but I guess they’ll all be pretty short if they’re going to fit in the publisher’s box.
    I like these ‘auld author’ posts: if we like the contributors’ stories, then there’s a good chance we’ll also like their recommendations.

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    1. Hi Mick – I’d never heard of Giles the Goat Boy before and just Googled it – I might have to give it a go! As for The Unfortunates, it’s under 300 pages and if I remember correctly some of the chapters are just 2 or 3 pages. I agree that these Auld Author posts give some great recommendations and an insight into what makes our fellow writers tick.

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      1. Thanks, Paul. 300 pages is OK by me. That’s surely OK for an experimental 60’s novel. And friendship is surely a fine theme for a novel. Will look forward to it.

        Giles the Goat Boy, on the other hand, must be at least twice that length – beware! will it really be worth of a fortnight of your life??

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  5. Excellent review, Paul. Many years ago, a lit professor mentioned a book that came in a box. I’d long forgotten the author and title. If the professor had described the writing as well as you have, I probably would have read it.

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    1. Hi David – thanks for the comment! I appreciate that one as I am a teacher, but of English language to Chinese students, and have always fancied the idea of teaching a literature course.

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