Firstly I need to say that I am a great admirer of David Constantine’s short stories. And secondly, I recognise the significant achievement in the three ‘long’ short stories collected together to comprise “Rivers of the Unspoilt World”. But…
…he could perhaps have made them easier to read!
I’m talking about format rather than language – though given the title story is set in 1822, Constantine delivers something of a tour de force in maintaining a slightly archaic style throughout.
No, the issue is with the fact that sometimes paragraphs go on for pages and pages, and within them there is no differentiation when it comes to who is speaking. The convention of starting an individual’s contribution to a dialogue on a new line is entirely abandoned, as are quotation marks. Adoption of these stylistic devices means a) that the reader is faced with huge blocks of texts to plough through, and b) can very easily lose track of who is speaking, or indeed if anyone is speaking at all.
Taking a step back, this may represent something of an achievement in the strictly literary or ‘craft’ sense, but from a reader’s perspective..? I confess I couldn’t finish the middle story; I simply gave up on it.
But if you’re up for a challenge from one of our best short fiction writers, look no further…
Ian Gouge - Writer 