Jeff Noon!

[HawkLord]

So very glad to see the return of the forum. Anyway, I thought a little discussion of Jeff Noon's writings might be in order. In my opinion his greatest work (that I have read) has to be Vurt. It was a brilliant novel considering it was his debut and features some truly beautiful moments. If there is one thing that Jeff Noon does well it is his talent at capturing the feelings of inner city youth. Although his novels tend to focus around Manchester, they seem so applicable to all cities of the UK and possibly even in other countries. I'm also quite a fan of Pixel Juice.

Incidentally, does anybody know where I might find a copy of Falling Out of Cars or Needle in the Groove? I ordered them from amazon a while back but they never came and I had to have my money refunded.

[johneffay]

I had a bad experience with Jeff Noon: People kept telling me I'd really like him, so I read Automated Alice and absolutely hated it. I've since been told that he is usually much better than that, but I've never got round to giving him another go...

[Jules]

Noon!

My favourite is probably 'Nymphomation' which covers the origins of the world of 'Vurt'. I idea I really liked was having a sort of mathematical counter-culture, starting out idealistic in the 60s, but getting darker and heavier and bit more black magic in the 70s.

'Pixel Juice' is my second favourite. Everything else I've found flawed. Alice, for instance, is a nice concept (and of course links in subtly to the other books) but I found it irritating. Especially compared to, say, 'Godel, Escher, Bach' which is equally influenced by Alice.

'Vurt' - I used to live along the street from where the main characters live in the book, and have even hidden from the police in the same park. The main reason I bought it was 'SF, set in Manchester? Got to be worth looking at'. It just missed the spot for me, but was good enough for me to carry on with his stuff (Pollen - better written technically, but less interesting overall).

[HawkLord]

Aye I know what you mean man. Just like Vurt = v. similar to my experience. So obviously it has resonance and that.