By Grand Central Station I sat down and Wept

[half a person]

I'm thinking about getting this for one of my (entirely secular) christmas presents. Has anybody read it? From internet reviews (terribly unreliable things) I can't decide whether it's genius, or incomprehensible drivel. Any comments?

 

[dazzak]

I'd say you have to be in a certain mood for it (or a certain type of person). Maybe you've just watched Dancer In The Dark, plan on falling asleep to some Yo La Tengo or The Decemberists... I'm not a fan of it.

 

[Worm]

I liked it, but it's really a shapless howl from the abyss rather than a formally brilliant novel. Soupy but frequently brilliant freestyle prose poetry. Angela Carter's back-jacket blurb calls it "Madame Bovary struck by lightning", an apt comment. Perhaps I liked it because I love The Smiths, but anyway, I recommend it.

 

[lilybett]

Thanks for reminding me about this! I was reading my housemate's 'Songs That Saved Your Life' when I got in last night, and discovered one of my FAAAAVOURITE songs (What She Said) is heavily influenced by this novella, so I vowed to read it. And obviously had clean forgotten about it this morning! I just ordered a used copy off amazon for £1.60

I trust Morrissey's literary taste. I genuinely loved A Taste Of Honey and The Lion In Love

 

[nightandday]

Thanks for reminding me about this! I was reading my housemate's 'Songs That Saved Your Life' when I got in last night, and discovered one of my FAAAAVOURITE songs (What She Said) is heavily influenced by this novella, so I vowed to read it. And obviously had clean forgotten about it this morning! I just ordered a used copy off amazon for £1.60

I trust Morrissey's literary taste. I genuinely loved A Taste Of Honey and The Lion In Love

I haven't read The Lion In Love. What is it like? I bought A Taste Of Honey and By The Grand Central Station I Sat Down And Wept from amazon.

I liked A Taste Of Honey, I'm not sure about By The Grand Central Station... While I was reading it, I was always undecided if it was beautifully poetic or just unbearably cheesy.

Still, I think it was worth the money, if for nothing else than for all the connections to Morrissey's work you can spot while reading it - you can recognize the sources for "What She Said", "Well I Wonder", "Reel Around The Fountain", "Shakespeare's Sister", and even some things Morrissey tends to say in this interviews seem inspired by some remarks in Smart's book.

 

[Bluebirds]

Its alright but tis not a patch on BravoTwoZero by the literary giant Andy McNab