A satire in the spirit of Christopher Moore, The Murdstone
Trilogy by Mal Peet takes a stab at the writing industry as it is focusing on
the High Fantasy genre, bringing humor to a process that is usually much more
painful than it should be.
Peet distills the process early on,
skipping quickly to the bureaucratic aspects of the industry through Philip
Murdstone’s agent, Minerva. With her
perspective in play, the reader can easily discern the misunderstood nature of
the writer as recluse, as artist, even introvert. Philip has to very quickly divest himself of
not only his comfort zone as far as genre for the sake of staying legitimate as
a writer, but his personal comfort of sequestered bliss in the English
countryside. He has to step into the
public and be known, and neither he nor Minerva are prepared for what happens
as a result of that role adjustment.
This is why the chosen POV, third
person limited, works so well. In social
situations, the focus tends to be on Minerva, while the writing process
sequences focus on Murdstone. This is a
practical approach to structure but it also lends insight to Murdstone and his
writing career as each of them see and deal with it.
The point when Philip’s fiction world
crosses over into his reality is something of a climax, but he becomes afraid
of the ramifications, as many would. I know
I speak for many writers when I say this happens to all of us in one form or
another and too often leaves us questioning our sanity. But I think for that level of artistry, that
detail of creating an alternate reality, one has to be at least somewhat
insane. Peet takes this to the extremes
as is fitting in a satire and brings the insanity forward just a nudge more
than any reader has seen.
Anyone not familiar with the
process of writing or the business of writing will find this book informative
to the point of hilarity, and for those of us who are in the writing business,
well if you can’t make fun of yourself, you’ve no right laughing at others.
