Terrific novel about photography

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It's a kind of literary thriller by Elizabeth Hand, called Generation Loss.

Cass Neary made her name in the 1970s as a photographer embedded in the burgeoning punk movement in New York City. Her pictures of the musicians and hangers on, the infamous, the damned, and the dead, got her into art galleries and a book deal. But thirty years later she is adrift, on her way down, and almost out. Then an old acquaintance sends her on a mercy gig to interview a famously reclusive photographer who lives on an island in Maine. When she arrives Downeast, Cass stumbles across a decades-old mystery that is still claiming victims, and into one final shot at redemption.
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It's a quite competent mystery (whodunit is pretty obvious, but still), with unusually good writing. But I don't think I've ever read a novel about a photographer that is so satisfying on a photo nerd level. Photography isn't just a decoration, it's completely integral to the characters and plot. Lots of fun, go read it!
 
I'm definitely interested if you're recommending it!
Now to see about what that means trying to find it here in Taipei...
 
Thanks for the recommendation. Amazon have got quite a few second hand from the US that will post abroad -slowly- for not too much... .
 
Just as an aside (maybe we need a thread on this), I've read one great novel with photography as a central theme: "Picture Palace" by Paul Theroux, who is much better known for his travel writing. At root it's a tragedy about unrequited love, but the way Theroux winds the history of photography through it is just masterful.
 
5:00 PM said:
Just as an aside (maybe we need a thread on this), I've read one great novel with photography as a central theme: "Picture Palace" by Paul Theroux, who is much better known for his travel writing. At root it's a tragedy about unrequited love, but the way Theroux winds the history of photography through it is just masterful.
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I will check that out, I've never heard of it!
 
I read Generation Loss back when it first came out. I liked it, although I kinda wanted to hear more about the main character's back story, which sounded very interesting. But it's a very fun and exciting read.
 
Slow Man by Nobel Prize winner J M Coetzee

Novel about a retired photographer with a historical collection of photos. Read the description on Amazon before you decide if it's for you. I thought it was quite exceptional.
 
I've enjoyed David Searcy's two published novels; I wish he would write more. His first, "Ordinary Horror", includes some detail about the main character's use of a Leica camera, including a level of detail about the quality of the images and the tactile feel of the camera that makes me suspect Mr. Searcy has a more than elementary knowledge of the subject.

"Ordinary Horror" is not about photography (rather, about gardening gone awry) but it does have this little gem of detail for the photo enthusiast.

I'll have to check out Ms. Hand's "Generation Loss"; thanks for the tip. This thread reminds me of past threads on the subject of cameras in cinema, where everyone's immediate example is "Blow Up." Do you think that "Generation Loss" will be the "Blow Up" of the literary world?

~Joe
 
JoeV said:
Do you think that "Generation Loss" will be the "Blow Up" of the literary world?

~Joe
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Nah, it's not good enough, I don't think, to be the "definitive" photographer novel...if such a thing is even possible...

I haven't read "Slow Man," but Coetzee is brutal. A superb writer.
 
Agreed. "Generation Loss" doesn't have the philosophical heft of "Blow Up". Still a good book with some depth though.
 
Let me add to the list "The Painter of Battles", a fantastic recollection of memories from a war photojournalist
http://thepainterobbattles.notlong.com
Leicas and Nikons often mentioned, interesting comments and opinions on this kind of photojournalism.
Enjoy it
Joao
 
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