January 6: Some Thoughts on Conjure-Man

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I was work-gossiping so long today that I ate a very, very late lunch, but that’s okay, because at least it was quiet and I got to read my book. It’s been nice to get into Conjure-Man again. I don’t feel like I’m reading it particularly quickly but every time I look up I’m surprised to see what page I’m on.

It’s not really what I expected, not that I really knew what to expect, but I’m enjoying it a lot. I think the main thing is I did not know it was so funny. A pretty significant chunk of it is wordplay, and especially wordplay that uses the characters’ different dialects/voices/grammar/slang. I think those contrasts in voice are a lot of fun, too, like the language throughout, in both dialogue and description, is so precise but also so playful. One of the characters is from Georgia and I could hear that Southern accent in her dialogue. Jinx and Bubber have similar accents but their personalities are so in contrast and that affects their dialogue, too. And I love Dr. Archer and his habit of going the long way in his speech. (I think Dr. Archer is my favorite but I’m fond of all of them so far.)

I have absolutely zero idea who did it but I never really do. I’m not good at guessing the answers to mysteries. Honestly, I’m not really trying to reason along with the book but just letting myself go with the flow of it. I was actually thinking today that I was so focused in picturing the characters and the setting that I wasn’t sure I was paying enough attention to the reasoning and the clues etc. But I don’t think I’m actually missing anything and Dart and Archer will resume later, I’m sure.

I was also thinking that this could be a good Law & Lit book (not that I desire to teach that but for people who do). I know I’ll never get them to read The Axe–it’s too long and the law is probably too attenuated, even though it really scratched my law nerd brain. But this is a murder mystery, so kind of automatically law, and it’s not even 300 pages so very doable length-wise. I think it’s interesting how much time and space is devoted, at least thus far, to collecting facts through interviews, and very straight forward fact finding interviews. A lot of Dart’s questioning could be direct examination. His speech about not reckoning, but letting the facts reckon, and how the difficulty in collecting facts from testimony is that some people who know the facts lie, is what got me on this train of thought. I feel like there’s some sort of trial-lawyer type discussion there.