Contemporary
Neil Powell fuses a critical look at language with an exploration of the political and existential problems facing humankind...
The Storyteller is tired of telling stories about Love, God and Beauty. With the invention of Eric Crawford, an English teacher at Davenport College, he explores what is required to tell new stories. As a result, a tantalising world of freedom beckons.
This encompasses Eric’s teaching, family and romantic life, the explosive relationship he has with troubled student, David Spurling, a protest movement about the role of Art, and a violent crime on college grounds. The Storyteller’s control of Eric’s life conversely makes the Storyteller realise the power language has over him. Reminding him that language is a public medium, not the exclusive tool of an authority or author.
A stylistically innovative novel, at turns both a philosophy and black comedy, The Office of Future Storytelling, examines the relationship of language to individual identity and freedom. It argues that the stories we need are those which demonstrate our unequivocal connection to the world.
Here's what readers have to say about this book....
Discusses the power of language and philosophy, but I repeat myself. The words we use shape our lives, and these characters learn that the hard way.
The Office of Future Storytelling by Neil Powell is an intriguing work that will require a second reading. Thought-provoking yet also a little (too?) unique in presentation. Language, storytelling and stories themselves, who tells and who receives, these are just some of the things that I thought about while reading this. While the book isn't exactly episodic, I found the manner in which it was written made it seem so to me. I had to spend more time and effort trying to catch where Powell made his little shifts which disrupted the flow; and disrupted the thoughts that some of the sections generated. If that was the plan, then I guess it didn't work for me. If that wasn't the plan, maybe some more tweaking is needed. I think the premise is wonderful and a lot of the writing is very good. It just doesn't, for me, hold together as a novel. Now that I have been through the book once, I think a second reading may well be rewarding. Whether it holds together better as a novel I don't know, but now that I have seen the big picture, I can ignore the format intrusions and just concentrate on the things I found interesting. I may well come back to increase my rating, but the fact I did get some good ideas to ponder will keep me from lowering it. Recommended for those readers who enjoy books that make you think about some of the bigger aspects of life and living in a social world, and readers who like novels that ask the reader to do some work to understand it. It may or may not work for you, but I think you'll find a lot to think about. Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
The writing style and presentation will not appeal to a lot of readers, but for those that are open to some creativity, this will probably be enjoyed. It tackles some big picture issues and maybe best for those that are OK doing some deeper thinking, not for those just seeking a quick, entertaining read. I really appreciate the free review copy for review!!
