Coover's Pinocchio is yet another of Coover's novels which the weak of heart and the easily queezey ought to avoid. It's not the excessive poop stuff or the sex stuff ;; we all have to put up with that stuff on a daily basis, like breathing. And it's not really the dimensionality of characterization -- another author may have done something different, like, portray a fully-fleshed=out 3D human Pinocchio slowly losing a dimension as his flesh falls and he becomes wooden once again, perhaps trailing an increasingly wooden prose as the novel progressed. That'd be a very modernistic method and'd probably be a great thing to read. Coover though is probably more moralistic than that, and nihilistic. Basically, rewriting Collodi's little children's book as a portrait of the puppet as an old man, emeritus professor, returning to his roots ;; essentially Coover doubling Collodi. Whence we return to the thought about that type of reader who will want to continue to avoid Coover's Pinocchio, i.e., what will disturb that average reader isn't the lack of sympathetic characterization, but the degree of cruelty with which Coover treats his protagonists (Pinocchio is sympathetic, Our Author is not)--I recall Moore making this very complaint in regard to Lucky Pierre, in which Coover's protag=directed cruelty comes to an extreme akin to the misogyny presented in Darconville's Cat. But the point is, Coover is only following his leader, Collodi, who is rather more than unkind to his little wooden=nosed near=boy. It's as if one can do what one likes with little wooden-boys. In fine, kudos to my co=readers Brian and Amy without whose fellowship I may have continued to delay my Coover reading to unexcusable lengths. Do read Collodi first. Probably Mann's Venice novella too, which I ought perhaps to have done. But not to worry, Coover's Pinocchio is pure entertainment.___________________For the bibliographically aware, I'm tentatively placing this novel alongside three others of Coover's :: John's Wife, Gerald's Party, Lucky Pierre ; none are adequately read. Forthcoming further thoughts here perhaps in my eventual comments on John's Wife. ____________________Collodi's Pinocchio is bawdy ; can't really believe that Coover's gunna be able to improve upon the tastelessness of the whole thing ;; maybe he's just going to add a touch of Dirty Old Man. Dunno. But at any rate ; here's a quick invite to join a little co=reading of Coover's little novel ;; Brian and Amy already maybe on board ;;; there's a little thread in our little Coover group -- why not join in? https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...abebooks has several signed first/first hd's for your collecting pleasure ::http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Searc...________________To read in foresight:The Adventures Of Pinocchio.Mann's "Death in Venice."Disney's 1940 film, probably.And if anyone can help with an image:From Pietro Lombardo's Church of Miracles, a 1409 Madonna with child (painting) by Niccolo di Pietro; "an infant Jesus who indeed looks like a cartoon character."Coover's essay "Tale, Myth, Writer," from Brothers & Beasts: An Anthology of Men on Fairy Tales.And:"Notes on Craft: Some Instructions for Readers and Writers of American Fiction: An Interview with Robert Coover," by Gabe Hudson:http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/no...
Pinocchio gets his wish and becomes a real boy. Aaaahhhh! But does he live happily ever after?Sadly life is no fairy tale... nor is this book.In the book Pinocchio returns to Italy and meets up with his old friends - and enemies! Coover is a very imaginative story teller; skilful use of language create grotesque characters and nightmarish situations. Pinocchio - the human - gets to deal with all the crap the rest of us have to manage - growing old, failures in relationships, the loss of mental agility and the inevitability of death. Very much worth the effort in this novel novel.
What do You think about Pinocchio In Venice (1997)?
I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped I would but a big part of it is because the language was so dense and the movement so metaphysical that I found myself having to go back because I suddenly wasn't sure what I had been reading for the past five pages. This is one of those books where every word has importance and everything is a symbol for something else, and it is truly masterfully written, but went right over my head, much as I hate to admit it.The story follows a decrepitly aged Pinocchio as he returns to his homeland in Venice to finish his final master work and probably end his life. Since becoming a real boy he has recieved world wide fame, won the Nobel Prize for philosophy and even had several movie adaptation made about his life. He is more miserable now then he ever has been. What follows is a wandering of Pinocchio through a Venice haunted by the magic of his wooden life and gangrenous from the rampant yuppie tourism as he hunts for the Azure Fairy, literally falls apart and gradually turns back into a wooden puppet.The scenes are often absurd and perverse, but nonetheless masterfully written and hilarious. Pinocchio receives oral sex from two mastiffs, is used as a sex toy by the image of the Azure fairy, is forced to join an anarchic Venetian punk band of marionettes, and is obscurely coddled by a self-proclaiming loaf, though also a beautiful former student, and this is in the beginning of the book.this is a book best for an upper level English or Philosophy class, and while it can be read for pleasure, will certainly need to b e read actively. I recommend it, but only to those who are much braver readers thab myself.
—James
