Julie Burchill on A Good Read (R4 today)

[ardcarp]

Who is Julie Birchill? I usually enjoy A Good Read, but I found JB's contribution perplexing. She spoke like a semi-literate chav, but I guess this persona was assumed, as was her use of the teenage 'like'. I doubt her level of literary criticism would have mustered a C-pass at GCSE. She dismissed Catcher in the Rye because she thought Salinger was a pervert and because she 'didn't like' Holden.....seems she was quite incapable of distinguishing a fictional character from a real person. She had to go and get the DVD of Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty to understand what was going on and declared it 'much better than the book'. Oh dear. Dumbing down on R4 too?

[Old Grumpy]

Who is Julie Birchill? I usually enjoy A Good Read, but I found JB's contribution perplexing. She spoke like a semi-literate chav, but I guess this persona was assumed, as was her use of the teenage 'like'. I doubt her level of literary criticism would have mustered a C-pass at GCSE. She dismissed Catcher in the Rye because she thought Salinger was a pervert and because she 'didn't like' Holden.....seems she was quite incapable of distinguishing a fictional character from a real person. She had to go and get the DVD of Elmore Leonard's Get Shorty to understand what was going on and declared it 'much better than the book'. Oh dear. Dumbing down on R4 too?

Answer - probably explains it.

[teamsaint]

Julie Burchill started out at the new Musical Express, where she was the most negative anti music journalist they ever had.
She appeared to only like the most narrow range of music, and spent a great many column inches proving the fact.

Pointless, egotistical, self absorbed, clever for its own sense journalism of a truly awful kind.

I don't know what her literary criticism is like , but if its anything like her music journalism, just don't bother.

The fact that she comes from apparently humble origins is neither here nor there.

[cloughie]

Julie Burchill started out at the new Musical Express, where she was the most negative anti music journalist they ever had.
She appeared to only like the most narrow range of music, and spent a great many column inches proving the fact.

Pointless, egotistical, self absorbed, clever for its own sense journalism of a truly awful kind.

I don't know what her literary criticism is like , but if its anything like her music journalism, just don't bother.

The fact that she comes from apparently humble origins is neither here nor there.

I used to like her cotributions to the Saturday Guardian a few years back but long term she's not impressive.

[Beef Oven!]

Julie Burchill started out at the new Musical Express, where she was the most negative anti music journalist they ever had.
She appeared to only like the most narrow range of music, and spent a great many column inches proving the fact.

Pointless, egotistical, self absorbed, clever for its own sense journalism of a truly awful kind.

I don't know what her literary criticism is like , but if its anything like her music journalism, just don't bother.

The fact that she comes from apparently humble origins is neither here nor there.

I loved reading her columns in the NME in the 70s. In fact I looked forward to it! I'm convinced that she and Morley knew precisely nothing about music!!

Mind you, I was a communist back then

[teamsaint]

I loved reading her columns in the NME in the 70s. In fact I looked forward to it! I'm convinced that she and Morley knew precisely nothing about music!!

Mind you, I was a communist back then

They are both smart. I sometimes enjoyed, and sometimes got irritated by Morley, but at least he usually had something worthwhile to say. Not sure how much he really knew about music, but he did know how to be in the right place at the right time.
Burchill only seemed to like the Sex Pistols and Motown, and was very dismissive about everything else. Very annoying when you want to read about the music scene in general.

The NME was a great read in those days. I wasn't a communist back then, but I should have been.

[MrGongGong]

Paul Morley DOES know quite a bit about music these days

http://sinfinimusic.com/uk/features/series/paul-morley/abo-conference-2014

[AmpH]

Julie Burchill started out at the new Musical Express, where she was the most negative anti music journalist they ever had.
She appeared to only like the most narrow range of music, and spent a great many column inches proving the fact.

Pointless, egotistical, self absorbed, clever for its own sense journalism of a truly awful kind.

I don't know what her literary criticism is like , but if its anything like her music journalism, just don't bother.

The fact that she comes from apparently humble origins is neither here nor there.

An accurate assessment ts. Just a talentless and attention-seeking mouthpiece really.

[Flosshilde]

She used to be married to Tony Parsons; had a son with him whom she abandoned when she walked out of the marriage when he was 5, & basically hasn't seen him since.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/to-mum-i-was-just-an-inconvenience-says-burchills-son-1104110.html

That probably doesn't have much to do with her standard of literary criticism.

(Is 'A good read' meant to be literary criticism, or just somebody notable - or notorious, possibly, in JB's case - explaining why they liked the books they read?)

[Stunsworth]

AA Gill in a frock.

[Flosshilde]

But not as pretty.

[eighthobstruction]

Anybody see the Tony Parsons on Monday Culture Show....ref Boxing....it was really annoying that Parsons quoted some pretty limp boxing prose of his own amongst some greats....but Parsons was quite impressive aerobically when sparring in ring...."good little engine on him" <Stan Collymore>....camera work did the job that Parsons didn't....

[Beef Oven!]

Paul Morley DOES know quite a bit about music these days

http://sinfinimusic.com/uk/features/...onference-2014

Yes I read that first time around. I also read him saying that he still can't read music. Still think that he and JB brought so much to pop/rock journalism in the time of punk and new wave.

[ardcarp]

I loved reading her columns in the NME in the 70s

In the 70s ??? How come she sounds like a stroppy 14-year old?

had a son with him whom she abandoned when she walked out of the marriage when he was 5, & basically hasn't seen him since.

That figures. She said she hated children on the programme. Clearly a paedophobe.

[Beef Oven!]

In the 70s ??? How come she sounds like a stroppy 14-year old?



That figures. She said she hated children on the programme. Clearly a paedophobe.

She started young. She was born in 1959. She was controversial, deliberately provocative and didn't seem to be particularly interested in music.

BUT, it needs to be remembered that pop/rock was a very paternalistic business back in those days (1970s) and we needed something irreverent. She fitted the bill as far as I'm concerned.