You maybe noticed the internet lose it’s mind over Alan Moore saying some disparaging things about superheros three years ago. As if his thoughts weren’t well known. Well, if you haven’t read the book he wishes were what people remembered him for instead of Watchmen, then why not read his novel Jerusalem and follow along with season 1 of the Hashish and Superiority Book Club? https://kickersofelves.com/category/hashish-and-superiority-book-club/jerusalem/
Intro – We just got a whole bunch of crap to go over, and we start like a shotgun blast.
Chapter 9: The Rood in the Wall (skip to 21:06) – An actor from Doctor Who: The Trial of the Time Lord acts like an American detective for awhile. It both is and is about shoehorning shit into a story.
Chapter 10: The Jolly Smokers (skip to 38:05) – The concussed flamingo takes a trip he paid for through the oldest trade.
Chapter 11: Go See Now This Cursed Woman (skip to 45:40) – The novel wraps up… mostly.
Afterlude: Chain of Office (skip to 1:03:25) – Alma’s art show is described in detail.
Intro – We are getting tired. And the book starts to wear thin on some of us.
Chapter 5: The Rafters and the Beams (skip to 6:40) –
We get the history of African immigrants to Northampton. Black Charley
leaves the third dimension. A new character is introduced.
Chapter 6: Under the Bridge of All Saints (skip to 24:17) – A play about pedophilia. And incest. Becketts and Johns are there. We have a strong reaction to it.
Chapter 7: Eating Flowers (skip to 43:25) – Snowy Dies. The Universe ends… eventually. Snowy lives again.
Chapter 8: Cornered (skip to 1:05:40) –
Jim Cockie is marxist. Well, a reformed Marxist. But really he is just a
neolib twat. Roman Thompson thinks he is a wanker. But also maybe he is
being haunted.
Intro – A sense of foreboding descends as we fret about the chance of an unsatisfying ending. Also, Dis book gets tough to read! Themes over plot. Joyce gets talked about, but not for last time.
Chapter 1: Clouds Unfold (skip to 7:44) – Might Mike finally speaks to us, but all that we hear is an argument about Free Will vs Determinism.
Chapter 2: A Cold and Frosty Morning (skip to 25:40) – Alma is finally the focus of a chapter, but all that we hear is an argument about Free Will vs Determinism.
Chapter 3: Round the Bend (skip to 47:24) – Loutal Joysea prenombulems round she ass y lums, ilbratses er concorpsescents… doubly sew, haunts Lucia nuts of materkynds tanks due all so womensole, a elast comborts into farces your two gramble calvon Freezed bills vagses Dieter man is him.
Chapter 4: Burning Gold (skip to 1:14:15) – Roman Thompson is like if Oliver Twist grew up to be Buenaventura Durruti, but without a Civil War to fight. Also, We learn the history of the British Pound. There is probably some Free Will vs Determinism in there somewhere.
Intro – We talk about… basically stuff we will talk about later too. We have lots of theories.
Chapter 9: The Trees Don’t Need to Know (skip to 15:55) – Marjorie drowned, and then fell in love with the written word. We talk about Phyllis alot though. And there is a semen obsessed sea monster. I guess that is worth mentioning. Also, some incest and rape is discussed.
Chapter 10: Forbidden Worlds (skip to 43:35) – Bill’s chapter. But wha’s up wit his mom? TRIGGER WARNING: Violent rape is unfortunately discussed at a tasteful but substantial length.
Chapter 11: The Destructor (skip to 1:12:50) – “The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild master and journeyman, in a word, oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight, that each time ended, either in the revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.”
Intro – We talk about how Alan Moore writes a lot, and how that is overwhelming.
Chapter 5: Flatland (skip to 13:07) – Reggie Bowler had a horrible life, but his death is turning out to be a hoot.
Chapter 6: Mental F(l)ights (skip to 31:35) – Two big guys get into a fight over a game of pool. One of them called the other a naughty word.
Chapter 7: Silent Swords (skip to 50:40) – War! Huh! What is it good for? Controlling the masses and entrenching oppressive power structures. Say it again!
Chapter 8: Malignant Refractory Spirits (skip to 1:18:50) – Some naked ladies start a fire and probably all free will is a lie.
As much as he may hate it, it’s the book that will probably be mentioned first in his obituary. We read the first three chapters of Watchmen and talked about it. What are some of the themes, some of the politics, and how does this book reflect a younger writer nearer to the beginning of his career?