3 Guys Talk "Lulu"
I mentioned them before, and now they've returned the favor. Three Guys One Book turn their attention to All About Lulu, our sweet-bundle-of-summer-coming-of-age-lovin.
After the jump, a medium-sized taste of how these guys interact. I think they're doing something rather special—not quite critic, because they are in too deep in the books. They allow themselves to become invested in the outcomes of the story itself. But they're not quite advocates for (or against) the book as such. It's somehow, I think, in their conversations, each is an advocate for his individual experience of being involved with the book.
Semi-related, nice item in the Los Angeles Times on how Lulu got optioned by an indie film production company.
Dennis Haritou: Jonathan, I must say you tricked me, not once but several times, in that I convinced myself that the plot was moving in a certain direction only to find out that you were taking your characters elsewhere. This is a very good thing. But the first puzzlement that surfaced while I was playing dodge-ball with this text was why William obsessed about Lulu so much. When Lulu's face is described early in the book by a reference to Mr. Potato Head (very funny, I must say) I knew what was working on William was more than just Lulu's looks. I wonder what you, JC and JR, thought of William's obsession with Lulu. Somehow this obsession, including the infamous "Lulu notebooks" that he keeps, helps William to become his own man. Is that the way you guys saw it?
Jason Rice: To be perfectly honest I was riveted to this book until about page 150 and then I thought to my self two things. 1. Why isn’t William more obsessed with Lulu? 2. How does Evison pull off what I’ve been trying to do my self for years? Tell a coming of age story, or have a character of an age under 18 talk like an adult, but still get the story out into the world, and have the kid live a kid life. So many people look at this type of story and say, “A kid wouldn’t talk like this.” No, he would, he’s surrounded by domineering adults, and situations that are anything but fluff and childlike. He isn’t given a second on the pulpit unless he can communicate his thoughts like an adult, to the only other people in the room, his parents. His brothers are just there for window dressing, and to have his character be soulfully alone and pine endlessly for a girl who is pineless. After page 150 I went into a place of shock and awe at how quickly Evison moves from his voice, to William’s and manages to make me believe that this guy is really someone and not just a mouthpiece for Evison. Then I noticed how manipulated Evison was by William. A shocking revelation to be sure. His hero took the lead and started to realize that his adult advice givers were full of shit, porn lovers, whacked out philosophers, and a very base and simple minded father, whom all combine to create a force in his life that is basically a deep well of bad advice, and this is the only place to get a drink of water for a thousand miles.