In my opinion, Adam Mars-Jones creates a very persuasive argument through out his article The Observer. I concur with his assessment that too many literary references make a novel too difficult to focus on. This causes the reader to lose interest especially if they do not recognize the other material that Cunningham is referencing.
Although I am not familiar with By Nightfall, this critique discourages me to read this narrative. One or two references adds detail and emphasizes the purpose of a piece but overuse of references can cause a piece to be too complex which makes it difficult to remain on topic. This can make the reader feel like the author has no purpose behind his work. While Mars-Jones recognizes that Michael Cunningham is a talented author, he feels that using all these references to other works overshadows his writing skills. Mars-Jones supports this criticism with the following quote: “All well and good—but Gatsby didn’t get to be Gatsby by dangling dozens of previous books behind it, like tin cans tied to a tricycle.” He is explaining how The Great Gatsby is a well-known novel but his story was not awarded distinction for using other authors’ work, it was the quality of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s creativity and not the references he used in the writing.
Another problem Mars-Jones highlights in his review is Cunningham’s overuse of art references. Mars-Jones suggests that Cunningham is adding these references when they do not add value to the story. I found a similar review by John Martin of Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life. In his review, Martin also tries to persuade his audience not to read Middlemarch. He argues “The book reads like a college student’s term paper in English Lit 101 in which the student tries to impress the professor by using a big word where a small one will do nicely and by using every name and obscure reference the professor alluded to in the lecture in hopes of getting an A.” Mars-Jones’ argument is essentially the same for By Nightfall except the Cunningham uses too many art references instead of big words. From reading Mars-Jones’ critique I feel he is using the art references to try to impress the reader rather than because they are necessary.
tjc2012 