Customer Reviews

Being Written: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Daniel Fischer, the main character of William Conescu's *Being Written*, occupies a rift--a fissure?--in his fictive universe. He knows/believes that he is a fictional character who can tell when he is--and when he is not--being written about. He is the only character in the book who "realizes" that he occupies a fictional universe, a realization that drives his obsession to capture the author's attention and increase his role in the action. Accepted on its own terms, Fischer's obsession makes complete sense. After all, once you realize that you live in a fictional space, what other purpose can there be to your life than to become a more compelling fictional character? And so Fischer sets out to integrate himself as deeply as possible into the action of the novel he knows is being written, a novel which may or may not be *Being Written.*

Is Fischer a self-aware fictional character or merely a lunatic? *Being Written* leaves the final determination up to the reader, as it can be read either way (or both ways if you really want to make your brain hurt). The book's niftiest trick, though, is its shift in voice: chapters detailing other characters' narratives are written in the third-person, but Daniel's chapters are written in the second person, forcing the reader to infer some degree of responsibility and empathy for a character who is socially awkward, obsessive, erratic, and amoral. Conescu's breezy writing style, excellent eye for detail, and above all sharp sense of humor ease the pain of occupying this guy's skin for substantial portions of the book and keep the proceedings moving along at a brisk pace.

This would be a fabulous book for a book group, because there are lots of layers to peel away and discuss. Think a less highbrow *If On A Winter's Night a Traveler...* or of Nabokov's unreliable narrators and you have a pretty good idea of what's in store for you with *Being Written."

I picked up this book because I liked (related to - if I am being totally honest) the image of the huge pencil being carried by and weighing down a person. And before the first page ended, I was hooked. The concept of a character being able to hear the scratching of an author's pencil writing a book was beyond-intriguing. And when I got to the very last sentence, I was just as smitten with this book as when I had started it. I loved the back-and-forth switch from third person for all the supporting characters to second person for the main character. But that's not all. Here is some of the other stuff this magnificent metafiction delivers: great character development; clever plot twists; intellectually-driven suspense; and self-deprecating, dark humor. The glimpse it offers into the world of writing is the icing on the cake. So, if you know what's good for you, pick up this book - because when Being Written is Being Read, the reader is in for a big treat!
-Bonnie Neubauer, author of Write-Brain Workbook and Take Ten, www.BonnieNeubauer.com

Being written - what a concept!

After reading the last two pages twice, I was stunned. I just sat through one of the most exciting, strange, entertaining, and well crafted novels I've ever read.
In a layman's term: Holy cow! This one's a fun and exciting thrill ride from the very first page on. The concept is complex and oh-so-intriguing, the characters drip of flesh and blood, and the dialogue SOUNDS vividly real.

Protagonist Daniel always dreamed about being a - well - protagonist.
Throughout his life he's come across this scratching noise he could never quite place. Until he finally figures out what this noise is: a pencil on paper. His dream is coming true; he is in a story. He's BEING WRITTEN.
Of course Daniel doesn't know who or what exactly this book is about, nor does anyone else around him seem to realize what's going on. He assumes however, that Delia, a singer and his recent one-night-stand, is a big part of the book. To stay in the story Daniel has to be around Delia, which isn't that simple because she's encircled by a somewhat odd group of people, and her boy friend - a (boy) hustler and inspiring pianist.

I don't want to try to detail the story because I couldn't do it justice. Rather let me compare this great book with food; like a nice dessert or a wonderful side dish. What Conescu has created is an entire meal. Well rounded and easily able to satisfy any appetite of literary hunger. Fiction - metafiction if you will - drenched in deliciously dark humor, simmered in suspense, sprinkled with twists of thrill, and topped with the sweetness of sensible sex. Oh, and lets not forget the way Conescu delivers those nifty switches between narrating in second and third person. It's a mind (or tongue) tingling treat Chef Ramsey himself couldn't have composed better.
The ending of this thing... well, you'll see. You will come across so many unforeseen tumbles that, let me tell ya: the finale is grant and completely off the charts. It's something you will roll around the inside of your skull for more than just a day. Promise.
Like I said: I actually read the last two pages twice. Then I went on to yet another treat; an interview between the author and a side character. A nice touch Conescu added to introduce himself to the (book) world.
Nuff said - For me Being Written is the book of the year, hands down. If I could I'd give it six stars.

Rebecca Lerwill, author of the award winning romantic suspense Relocating Mia

Reading BEING WRITTEN was one of the best literary experiences I've ever had. From the first page, I couldn't set it down. The story is unusual, the writing masterful, and the characters flesh-and-blood. It is dark and funny, heart-wrenching and thought-provoking. Conescu breaks all the rules and breaks them beautifully. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to forget everything that's going on around him!

The book takes the premise that one of its character is aware, or thinks he's aware, of the novel being written around him. He hears the scratching of the author's pencil as he encounters different people and events, and calculates that it's because he's a minor character in their book. Desperate to become more central, he works to insert himself into the stories of others, through the process of deception, manipulation, romance and eventually murder. It's an intriguing premise for a novel in several ways, and lends itself to the kind of intensive meta-literature that I've enjoyed a lot in the past. I found this work rather weak and frequently infuriating, however, in no small part because of the way it engaged with its main premise. Fundamentally it doesn't really do anything with the setup. It postulates a situation that's either a metaphysical oddity to say the least or an indication of irregularly recurring schizophrenia and then just moves on to a shallow playing out of events, clearly so impressed with its own cleverness that it expects the readers to follow along merrily without question or further responsability for the author to do anything. The book doesn't launch into a complex inquiry on the nature of writing or the relation of the author to the text. It doesn't break down assumptions prevalent in the state of writing and the way the final text is considered. It doesn't explore the process of forming a narrative in drafts or struggling with conflicting ambitions. All that the titular "being written" involves is one character in the story that thinks he hears pencil scratches, and changes his behavior because of this belief. That's all there is to it, the author remains completely unknown and unknowable. The speculations involving what book it is or the wider relation of the awareness of the story element to the actual story remain arbitrary and unaddressed, plainly the book isn't concerned with actually addressing that aspect of things.

Some of this element could be taken as a premise that just didn't work for me, what makes it harder to bear is how plainly smug the book is into its ostensibly unique narrative pattern and underdeveloped premise that hangs the whole plot on. Further, there's a problem in that the pattern of pencil scratching and belief in authorial modification doesn't actually match how any novelist actually works. The premise is very hard to suspend disbelief on at several counts, but even more fatally it works itself into a fundamentally pointless situation. The very emphasis on second-guessing meaning and underlying purpose just point up on how arbitrary the whole venture is. Doubly so if one assumes the reality-bending content is just a mask, and it merely covers the protagonist's insanity. At that point the framing becomes too obvious and too self-effacing, crashing down the whole clevereness of the account into a literal element that should not be believed. At most the story works as a dramatization of the notion of every villain being the hero of their own story. In itself that's not a unique or powerful enough insight to base a story on, and in this context literalizing it kills the message, offering a type of narrative justification that rests on....narrative justification, circling round to an arbitrary and guesswork-driven process of assumed infallibility.

Another issue is the very quality of writing. My general stane of reading isn't such as to demand a high quality of prose or perfect book construction for every work. Provided it has a reasonable pace and engaging story a number of faults can be overlooked. However, it struck me as an inherent problem with Conescu's novel that it forced so much attention on the issue of writing and quality of story construction--and then ended up being itself rather badly written. To an extent that may have been intentional, an ironic statement involving an ever greater level of subjectivity and breakdown of expectation. Intentional or not it doesn't work well, and makes for the book a fairly awkward experience. The biggest offender is the laziness of the way the whole 'search for the pencil sounds segments' is conveyed, with a menail second person to push the reader into the situation of hearing the writing. It's not clever, it's not insightful and it's not fun. More generally the simplistic elements in the novel undermine it repteatedly, from an overly on the money shift between perspectives linked on the closing lines to a weakness of description that make it difficult to truly believe in the related circumstances. More generally, the characters are two dimensional, and the plot is at once highly awkward and rather padded. For major stretches there are just things happening, with little in the way of inherent links of direct dramatic tension, making for a basically unengaging reading experience.

All of this stuff is rather awkward and comes across as pretentious rather than genuinely clever, but it's harmless enough in the end. The point in the book where I moved from aesthetic dislike to moral disapproval involved the character Graham, the husband of the woman that's romantically involved with the "protagonist". He starts off as a seemingly minor plot foil, but then develops his own perspective and arc that carries much of the length of the novel. Graham's story involves putting out adds in local papers and being paid for sex with a variety of other men. This tendency is described as partly mercenary but mostly psychosexual gratification, a type of pleasure that comes specifically from the sordid and mercenary nature of the encounters, facilitated by Graham being the sexually dominant one within each encounter. It's hard to know where to start in assessing this element; there's the equation of homosexuality with inherence dominace or powerlessness, the reducing of the character to this single sexual quirk writ large, the failrue to depict the situation or character as holding any respect. Yes, the heterosexual characters in the book are shown as pretty petty, selfish and ethically hideous as well, and to an extent one could say that it's not signaling anyone out, almost all of the cast are shown in an unfavourable light. However the heterosexual characters aren't fetishized or shown to have their core problems be directly bound up in their sexuality the way Graham's is. There are other homosexual characters, but they appear only as briefly seen As a result, I was deeply uncomfortable across wide sections of the novel, and have to regard it as reactionary in its take on depicting gay characters. I can believe that it's not an intensional slur and proceeds from ignorance, but it's also an ignorance that's not really excusable in the twenty first century, and touches on an array of troubling heteronormative biases. And, frankly, if the intention wasn't to make a point of homosexuality as being fairly sordid and tending to dysfunctional relationships with other people, I'm at a loss as to why these scenes featured in the novel, from a strict plot sense, insofar as there is a plot, they're gratuitous.

As I mention below, and will plug for now, this book reminded me in many ways of Caitlin Kiernan's 2009 novel the Red Tree. Intense meta-writing, using literature as commentary on literature, features a flawed, psychologically commentary homosexual character. However it works vastly bettter on multiple levels, to the extent that The Red Tree was one of my favorite books of the past year and Being Written....isn't. Notably it features much more eloquent and better structured writing, does a lot more with the ambiguity on what is real and what is framed by a writer. Plus, it comes across as vastly more sophisticated in showing a problematic and messily complex gay character without making them less of a human being. There are basic differences in intent for the two books--most notably Conescu's novel is mainstream while Kiernan's works mostly in Lovecraftian horror--but fundementally my reading found Kiernan succeed in an ambitious project while Consescu fails at a far more modest and muddled one.

For virtues, it is quite short, moderately engaging on the surface level, has some clever moments and reads very smoothly. It's not a book that troubles one for too long, even with all the issues I had with the book I finished it off in a couple of sittings. It's not a bad book in the sense of beng boring or particularly grueling to get through. It is however a highly problematic work that is not effectively envisioned, plotted or written, and the homophobia prevalent in it gives more incentive to recommending against it.

Similar to and better than: Flesh and Fire by Laura Gilman
Similar to and worse than: The Red Tree by Caitlin Kiernan

Being Written... The Review
This is one of the first books that I have received from a publisher for review. I find it interesting that via the book tours and the publisher submissions that I am being introduced to such different genres of novels.... definitely ones that I'd never pick out from the bookstore shelves myself.

This book is definitely eclectic. It's different from the other types of books that I have read and I find it a bit difficult to review... for the lack of comparison to other works of a similar nature. But, what you don't know is what stretches you, I believe.

The Review:
Title: Being Written, A Novel

Author: William Conescu

Publisher: Harper Perennial/Harper Collins

Author Website: www.williamconescu.com

Publisher Website: www.harperperennial.com

Type: Fiction

Pages (Paperback): 193

ISBN #: 978-0-06-145134-8

This is a very interesting story... told from, I believe, the second person point of view. Although, in the beginning of the book, I wasn't exactly sure if it was written in first person from the narrator's viewpoint. I, at first, believed that the protagonist of the story was the author of the story, Daniel. I later changed my mind to believe that Delia, the love interest was my protagonist.

Daniel, an aspiring writer, believes that he is actually a character in a book that is being written. Simultaneously, he is the author of the same story that unfolds around him. What the reader discovers is that the story doesn't necessarily "unfold around him." Rather, his actions tend to affect the direction of the story in the way he intends it to play out.

The main characters of the story are as follows:

Daniel, the "author" and main "character" of the story... is he insane? Or insightful?
Delia, the "love interest" in the story... a beautiful singer from a wealthy family. She is in a dysfunctional relationship with a man who prostitutes himself with other men to pay his share of the rent.
Graham, Delia's boyfriend... the man-whore who only takes the dominant role in his "prostitution" ways.
Monty, Delia's friend.. an eclectic, yet insightful friend.
Jon, Delia and Graham's gay friend... most likely more so a friend to Graham.
These characters intertwine and Daniel's actions tend to advance the lives, or rather yet, alter the lives of these characters. He sees his actions as components of the story that is being written, the one that he is a part of, rather than a direct result of his actions. Simply, although he attempts to write, he in actuality hears the sound of a writer's pencil scratching paper writing the story about his life (and the other characters' lives) as he lives it out day by day.... almost as if his actions were led by the writer of the novel and not his own. I know this is difficult to grasp in reading a review, but the book does a much better job of explaining this than I do. You understand the approach in the novel as it unfolds.

In attempts to not be a "spoiler" of the story, I will, once again, avoid discussing the ending of this novel. Although, I must say that the last 1/3 of the novel was miles above the first two-thirds of it, as far as grabbing my attention and keeping it there.

It's a short novel, and if you are interested in a different approach to writing and story telling, it's a quick read and one that is interesting to know. If you are more the type of the "classical reader," this may not be your taste. Like I said, it's a hard book to review... at least, for me. But it did expand my horizons to think about the possibilities that writing a novel could bring to your world.

All of my other reviews contain my "favorite quotes" or "favorite sections" of the work. Due to the nature of this book, I can't offer that in this review. Although, there are cleverly written scenes and very descriptive narrations of the characters and their lives. It's more of a "read it and you'll see" type of book.

Sher's "Out of Ten Scale:"
Automatically, I feel that I'm at a disadvantage to rate this book in comparison to the others that I have reviewed on my site. There are definitely good components to this work that make be glad that I read it... however, because it is so different than what I am used to... I tend to want to give it a rather "average" score. That's not entirely fair to the author, who I believe, is far more creative than I to come up with the approach that he did in writing this book.

The other issue is that, I have always given a ranking in my reviews. If I neglect to do so for this, I wouldn't be true to myself, my readers, or the publisher who sent me this book to read. Therefore, I've decided to rate it on my scale as follows: I give it a 6 for overall content and read-ability. I give it an 8 for originality.

This is a clever, well-constructed metafiction of a young man who is aware that he is "being written" into a novel. He is also aware that the bigger parts in the story are going to sexier and more troubled characters. The wannabe protagonist tries to remake himself to get more attention from the unseen author but has to keep upping the ante to stay in the book.

The story is dark, but nicely lightened with humor. It's swiftly paced and a relatively quick read but nonetheless raises some interesting existential questions. If you've ever imagined yourself as a character in a book, you'll likely have some sympathy for the protagonist. But is he imagining this? Charming and highly recommended!

Written... The Review
This is one of the first books that I have received from a publisher for review. I find it interesting that via the book tours and the publisher submissions that I am being introduced to such different genres of novels.... definitely ones that I'd never pick out from the bookstore shelves myself.

This book is definitely eclectic. It's different from the other types of books that I have read and I find it a bit difficult to review... for the lack of comparison to other works of a similar nature. But, what you don't know is what stretches you, I believe.

The Review:

This is a very interesting story... told from, I believe, the second person point of view. Although, in the beginning of the book, I wasn't exactly sure if it was written in first person from the narrator's viewpoint. I, at first, believed that the protagonist of the story was the author of the story, Daniel. I later changed my mind to believe that Delia, the love interest was my protagonist.

Daniel, an aspiring writer, believes that he is actually a character in a book that is being written. Simultaneously, he is the author of the same story that unfolds around him. What the reader discovers is that the story doesn't necessarily "unfold around him." Rather, his actions tend to affect the direction of the story in the way he intends it to play out.

The main characters of the story are as follows:

Daniel, the "author" and main "character" of the story... is he insane? Or insightful?
Delia, the "love interest" in the story... a beautiful singer from a wealthy family. She is in a dysfunctional relationship with a man who prostitutes himself with other men to pay his share of the rent.
Graham, Delia's boyfriend... the man-whore who only takes the dominant role in his "prostitution" ways.
Monty, Delia's friend.. an eclectic, yet insightful friend.
Jon, Delia and Graham's gay friend... most likely more so a friend to Graham.
These characters intertwine and Daniel's actions tend to advance the lives, or rather yet, alter the lives of these characters. He sees his actions as components of the story that is being written, the one that he is a part of, rather than a direct result of his actions. Simply, although he attempts to write, he in actuality hears the sound of a writer's pencil scratching paper writing the story about his life (and the other characters' lives) as he lives it out day by day.... almost as if his actions were led by the writer of the novel and not his own. I know this is difficult to grasp in reading a review, but the book does a much better job of explaining this than I do. You understand the approach in the novel as it unfolds.

In attempts to not be a "spoiler" of the story, I will, once again, avoid discussing the ending of this novel. Although, I must say that the last 1/3 of the novel was miles above the first two-thirds of it, as far as grabbing my attention and keeping it there.

It's a short novel, and if you are interested in a different approach to writing and story telling, it's a quick read and one that is interesting to know. If you are more the type of the "classical reader," this may not be your taste. Like I said, it's a hard book to review... at least, for me. But it did expand my horizons to think about the possibilities that writing a novel could bring to your world.

All of my other reviews contain my "favorite quotes" or "favorite sections" of the work. Due to the nature of this book, I can't offer that in this review. Although, there are cleverly written scenes and very descriptive narrations of the characters and their lives. It's more of a "read it and you'll see" type of book.

Sher's "Out of Ten Scale:"
Automatically, I feel that I'm at a disadvantage to rate this book in comparison to the others that I have reviewed on my site. There are definitely good components to this work that make be glad that I read it... however, because it is so different than what I am used to... I tend to want to give it a rather "average" score. That's not entirely fair to the author, who I believe, is far more creative than I to come up with the approach that he did in writing this book.

The other issue is that, I have always given a ranking in my reviews. If I neglect to do so for this, I wouldn't be true to myself, my readers, or the publisher who sent me this book to read. Therefore, I've decided to rate it on my scale as follows: I give it a 6 for overall content and read-ability. I give it an 8 for originality.

Short version: I really enjoyed "Being Written"!

Longer version:

First off, the premise of a minor character/regular joe/person from our universe who is completely aware when he is in a story being written is very clever. And then having that character USE that knowledge to advantage is just fun. And perilous.

The story is intriguing in that it is really TWO stories. A fractured relationship drama that we get pieces of, and also the story of Daniel (a minor background character IN the drama with his unique ability). The use of the second person narrative to set off Daniel's storyline is deliciously unusual and uncomfortable for the reader.

(I also love how Daniel's sections are in a subtlely different font than the rest of the story!! What a brilliant nuance!)

The novel is twisty, and unconventional, and a lot of fun to read. And damn if Mr. Conescu doesn't leave you hanging a bit!

It's definitely a thinking reader's book, and you'll find yourself examining your own life stories and "reality" long after you've completed the novel.

Trying to explain the premise of Being Written to friends and coworkers is to talk yourself in circles, and garner some strange sideways glances in the process. "Well, it's a book about a guy who's in the book and knows he's in the book, and he's trying to get a bigger part in the book..." Yeah, that was me, in my lame attempt to answer the age old question "whacha reading?" ten times over during the course of reviewing William Conescu's novel. It's not as complicated as it sounds...or is it?

When we meet Conescu's protagonist, Daniel, he's just heard the familiar scratching sound of a pencil in one corner of a bar--a sure indicator there's a book being written somewhere around him. He sniffs out the familiar sound, tracking it down to an intriguing woman who is obviously the focus of the author's running storyline. Having already served bit parts in previous novels, he's determined to play a bigger role for once. Since the mystery woman at the bar has the author's attention, it's up to Daniel to worm his way into her life for his big debut.

Mystery woman Delia is a tragically conflicted character, surrounded by a small clique of starving artists, all struggling with dreams of success pounded down by years of rejection. She initially takes Daniel into her bed as a form of revenge against her lover's lack of ambition. But at first, Daniel isn't sure whether his role will be a romantic one or if he will simply serve as a motivating force in each group member's professional endeavors. He's content either way, as long as he plays an integral part in the plot.

Being Written is a dark comedy, and Daniel's scheme to affect Delia's life in some profound way eventually takes a turn for the worse. His lying escalates along with his criminal activity, which he takes in stride because it's all for the part. As long as he can keep the author's attention, morality is an afterthought. He's a desperate man and he's got the author prodding him along, validating his aims.

For those with a distaste for cliffhangers, Being Written may not be a suitable choice. It's the type of story that leaves the conclusion up to the reader's imagination. However, Conescu builds such a degree of suspense in the closing pages, it's difficult to put the novel aside. Daniel has put so much stake on the idea that he's the key player in this novel that he will likely overlook the possibility that the ending he's picturing may not be what the author has in store for him. But the reader won't. The reader will want to scream at the pages for Daniel to wake up. And Daniel only hears the scratching of the pencil as it creates his destiny.

William Conescu's Being Written is a quick read, not terribly in-depth, but not at all shallow. It flows along at a nice even pace, diverting the reader's attention more to the possibility of what's to come rather than the actions taking place. It's definitely one for English professors to dissect and analyze, and is sure to prompt some interesting reading group conversation. Conescu's short story "Blind" makes an equally entertaining treat at the end of the book. Being Written has a bit of an existential feel to it, along with a unique character-driven plot. It's a fun read for literature enthusiasts.