"List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

I'll make up my own mind, but The Guardian are not impressed...

Morrissey: What we learned about him from List of the Lost by Michael Hann - The Guardian blog
Morrissey’s first novel is out and … well, it’s not very good. But the classic Moz tropes are present and correct

Excerpt:

"It’s commonplace in this kind of article to tell you we’re reading the book so you don’t have to. It’s a tease, usually. In the case of List of the Lost, however, it’s absolutely true. Do not read this book; do not sully yourself with it, no matter how temptingly brief it seems. All those who shepherded it to print should hang their heads in shame, for it’s hard to imagine anything this bad has been put between covers by anyone other than a vanity publisher. It is an unpolished turd of a book, the stale excrement of Morrissey’s imagination."

By the way ... I note at the very beginning "The author would like to thank Helen Conford"

The Dailybeast say...

Morrissey’s First Novel ‘List of the Lost’ Is a Bizarre, Misogynistic Ramble by Nico Hines - The Daily Beast
The writing is laughably clunky, the characters thinly drawn, the style stilted. But what’s worst about the ex-Smiths frontman’s List of the Lost is its repulsive treatment of women.
 
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I don't really read so I wouldn't be able to review this and determine it to be great or trash.. the last book I read was a novel about Minecraft that I read with my son. I'll buy it. I'll read it. I keep it on a shelf. I'll be happy to have something different from Moz. I'll probably feel fairly indifferent to it.
 
Re: Article: "List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

What, on the basis of three sentences out of the opening?

- - - Updated - - -

No. On the basis of the extended opening extract on Amazon. I think Moz is a great, great lyricist, but this doesn't necessarily translate into being able to produce a great novel. They are completely different forms and it's odd how his precise, concise, structured lyrics are the very opposite of his prose style.

It reads like a hastily-concocted first draft of a novella. Had Morrissey been an unknown it would have got nowhere near publication. But I don't think it taints his legacy as a singer/lyricist as some others are saying. Who has read Bob Dylan's Tarantula after all? I really don't know what Penguin were thinking publishing it though.
 
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i recommend it. once you start reading you will start laughing and never stop. the book is hilarious.
its like the pope writing the letters section of penthouse magazine.
 
Re: Article: "List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

No. On the basis of the extended opening extract on Amazon. I think Moz is a great, great lyricist, but this doesn't necessarily translate to be able to produce a great novel. They are completely different forms and it's odd how his precise, concise, structured lyrics are the very opposite of his prose style.

It reads like a hastily-concocted first draft of a novella. Had Morrissey been an unknown it would have got nowhere near publication. But I don't think it taints his legacy as a singer/lyricist as some others are saying. Who has read Bob Dylan's Tarantula after all? I really don't know what Penguin were thinking publishing it though.

bluntly, this novella makes tarantula read like high literature.
this may be the worst book ever written. it will forever i guess.
 
It's not a book I would choose to read, no matter who the author.

But from The Guardian, this phrase seems especially apposite:

"Morrissey’s best work was achieved with the aid of a great editor. The lyrics that left fans feeling more tightly bonded to him than they did to their own flesh and blood were made transcendent by having to fit with the jangling guitar beneath them."

The economy of poetry touches some more deeply than the extended extravagance of prose, no matter how well constructed and considered (or not).
 
Re: Article: "List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

I really don't know what Penguin were thinking publishing it though.

Well, it's #34 on Amazon UK, which is great. 20-30,000 copies right out of the gate, whether good or bad. That's what they were thinking.
 
Re: Article: "List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

Well, it's #34 on Amazon UK, which is great. 20-30,000 copies right out of the gate, whether good or bad. That's what they were thinking.

Very impressive.

Does that mean it is #1 in the Gothic Romance chart?
 
no 34 is pretty poor. maybe a couple thousand copies not twenty thousand.
 
Re: Article: "List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

No. On the basis of the extended opening extract on Amazon. I think Moz is a great, great lyricist, but this doesn't necessarily translate into being able to produce a great novel. They are completely different forms and it's odd how his precise, concise, structured lyrics are the very opposite of his prose style.

It reads like a hastily-concocted first draft of a novella. Had Morrissey been an unknown it would have got nowhere near publication. But I don't think it taints his legacy as a singer/lyricist as some others are saying. Who has read Bob Dylan's Tarantula after all? I really don't know what Penguin were thinking publishing it though.

Well, the point is don't you think you ought to read the book before being in a position to draw such a conclusion?
 
Re: Article: "List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

Well, the point is don't you think you ought to read the book before being in a position to draw such a conclusion?

What do you think of it? Have you read it yet?

I have. It really is very bad.
 
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no 34 is pretty poor. maybe a couple thousand copies not twenty thousand.

I think they do it on a rolling week, so for a book that's been out less than a day it's probably not bad and it will continue to climb. It's at 27 now.
 
Re: Article: "List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

What do you think of it? Have you read it yet?

I have. It really is very bad.

I haven't read it yet and will wait until I have to comment on it but you're opinion means nothing as everything morrissey does is " very bad" as far as your concerned
 
"Eliza and Ezra rolled together into the one giggling snowball of full-figured copulation, screaming and shouting as they playfully bit and pulled at each other in a dangerous and clamorous rollercoaster coil of sexually violent rotation with Eliza’s breasts barrel-rolled across Ezra’s howling mouth and the pained frenzy of his bulbous salutation extenuating his excitement as it smacked its way into every muscles of Eliza’s body except for the otherwise central zone.”

HOLY JESUS! That might just be the worst sentence I've ever read. Is it too late to cancel my order? :(

Bulbous Salutation is the new single off The Throbbing's self titled album. Worth downloading.
 
Re: Article: "List of the Lost" reviews in The Guardian, The Daily Beast

I haven't read it yet and will wait until I have to comment on it but you're opinion means nothing as everything morrissey does is " very bad" as far as your concerned

Wrong. Very, very, very wrong. You're an idiot. Likewise, and to quote the Anti-Nowhere-League..."I don't give a toss what you think, 'cos all your views, they f***in' stink"
 
I've read so many mixed reviews, but I'm excited about this book. Just picked up my book and limited print. That's my night sorted! ;)

IMG_20150924_200723.jpg
 
im not even going to read this one but i cant wait for the second one.LOL
 

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