Thursday, January 6, 2011

The Learners, Chip Kidd



I really enjoyed Chip Kidd's The Cheese Monkeys, Check Spellingwith that in mind I also really liked The Learners. So many are disdainful of second novels and even worse about sequels (read as if it's a dirty word), but I think it's a little unfair. How can a second novel ever be as exciting or interesting as a first novel? The reader goes into the first with a clean head, no expectations and no real idea how a story will pan out, what types of phrasing or twists the author uses etc. With a second novel some of that is expected whether consciously or not.
With this in mind I wonder how any of us could enjoy this novel as much as The Cheese Monkeys, when the tremendously interesting character of Himillsy plays such a small part. When the character Happy has been better formed by maturity, knowing the things we suspected in the first novel and owning them as such.
I really enjoyed the description of Happy's first position in advertising, having experienced a similar situation in the world of Interior Design, starting as a naive novice, learning about the world at large at the same time as I am learning the true details of my chosen career, the losses and disappointments, the true meaning and pressures of a deadline and presentations.
I hope that others who have read The Cheese Monkeys can open thier minds enough to see the story behind the story in this novel, there is much to be enjoyed and appreciated.

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