This is not chapter specific, so I started a new topic. I just wanted to say that I originally had no intention of buying or reading this book. I didn't like the title! Fine, I have been chastised....following I don't know how many "hits on the head with a fence post" (as we say in Germany, I finally got the metaphor. Geez, even a character (Lulu) at the end of the book--just for the ones of us who still haven't figured out Goon=time, discusses the use of metaphor, comparing the abbrevaitions and ideas she uses to poor Alex' "old-fashionedness". At this point, I could certainly identify with Alex feeling a bit like a dinosaur myself. Okay, I'm a slow learner.
I had made up my mind to be annoyed with and perhaps even skip over the PowerPoint chapter. And I am so glad that I did not. It worked! I'm amazed! But it worked and it worked really well.
I was also planning on pouting about the narrative voice going from 1st to 2nd to 3rd peron and back again. I was expecting this to be difficult to follow and was thrilled when I found myself floating along with this narrative device before realizing what I was actually doing.
I have finished the book (alas! It could have continued another 300 pages!). What I am irritated with, however, is that I don't really have anything to complain about. I'll keep looking and chew on it a bit
Any comments on the narrative voice (s)?

I've just started the book so I won't comment right now, but thank you for your comments. I'll keep this in mind while reading and post some thoughts later. I particularly like discussing this type of nuance while reading.

Thanks very much Oblivion. I didn't find the shifts in narrative as disorientating as the shifts in time. Like lindad_Amato, I like to comment as soon as I've read a chapter, otherwise I can't follow my changing opinion. I found this web site, - an Interactive Character Map - but couldn't get it to work. Perhaps because my net is too slow. Does it work for you?
http://www.filosophy.org/projects/goonsquad/
Must say, the title also put me off at first. I thought it was something to do with a totalitarian government, but apparently it is connected also with the television series The Sopranos.

I have just finished chapter two and have discovered the unique changes in the narrator's dialogue. In this chapter the narrator is Bennie. The narrative seems to be at least in this chapter to be stream of consciousness narrative. Bennie is speaking in the present but he is also bringing forth memories from the past.

Thanks, Helledd.....the chart did indeed work. And helped! The Sopranos? They had a couple of episodes of that here a while ago but I don't think it really went over well. Guess that's why I didn't recognize the title. But that leads me to another thought:exactly how many contemporary references can literature effectively deal with? Granted, one of the greatest pleasures in studying literature is answering that very question (thinking of Dickens and Duerrenmatt here). But this book is excellent and the title had put me off so much that, if it had not been the chosen book here at BT, I never would have read it--and all because of a reference from the Sopranos.

Suzanne and Oblivion - you could comment on this under the relative chapter headings. I'd be interested to see your views.

I'll try. I agree to an extent with the chapter by chapter reading but think there are overall themes, devices, etc that don't work quite as well within the chapter limitations.

Yes that is true But then you have to read the whole book to do that. And in the process of reading the book, one's opinions change. I don't quite know how to deal with this. Help?? Moderators??

Misunderstanding: I meant the possibility of doing a chapter by chapter as well as just asking a question or making a comment to something that doesn't seem to necessarily fit into one specific chapter.

Heledd:

You can add theme threads within the "Goon" forum. For instance you may want to add a thread about the music in the book and members can add to that thread while they read the book. Oblivion makes a good point, sometimes when there is a theme, or a particular writing style that runs throughout a novel creating a thread about that theme makes it easier to talk about it. Oftentimes the themes do not become clear until you start reading the novel. Chapter threads are good for discussing what happens throughout a particular chapter, and theme and writing style threads are good for discussing what happens throughout the entire novel.

Adding a thread is the best way to discuss any themes. That way we can discuss without spoiling the upcoming chapters for those who like to discuss that way. The interactive character chart is mind-blowing. I'm going to play with it for awhile.

Yes I understand now. Wish that interactive site would work for me, though. I have a problem with the Powerpoint chapter. did you read it on Kindle? It's too small for me to see, and I can't enlarge it.

I haven't read the powerpoint chapter yet. I'm moving along slowly because I have several books going, but I'll take a look at it on Kindle and see how it works for me.

lindad_amato - did you manage to read that chapter on Kindle. I had to use a magnifying glass and still could not read the grey parts with white writing

I skimmed it. It was mostly the teenager ranting against her parents. It really doesn't work well on Kindle. I wonder if I plugged my Kindle into my laptop if it would be more visible. Anyway, I don't think Egan's experiment worked all that well because Powerpoint is meant to be seen on a larger screen and with a narrator. In book or paper form it is non-dimensional and, therefore, less appealing to the reader.