Lessons from reading: a DNF

What I'm taking from my experience with Cleopatra and Frankenstein

The allure is strong. Two of the most recognisable names ever, that bring with them the promise of intrigue and drama. Cleopatra AND Frankenstein. What a mad, chaotic, and fascinating combination that could be.

Such was the attraction of Coco Mellors’s Cleopatra and Frankenstein. Leaning on two of history/fiction’s most compelling characters, the book promised rich and unforgettable characters and the fireworks from such an almighty collision of two powerhouses.

Sadly I did not finish the book. I gave it a good go, but after 70 pages I couldn’t keep going. This book really was not for me.

But learning from duds is just as valuable as learning from the very best books, so there are still lessons to take from it. And besides, it wasn’t all bad.

Three lessons I’m taking from DNFing Coco Mellors’s Cleopatra and Frankenstein to make me a better writer:

1. Writing killer dialogue

2. The power of repetition

3. Get me invested and then keep me interested

Writing killer dialogue

Let’s start with some of the good elements of the book.

Chapter One is great. The book immediately bursts to life as Cleo and Frank meet for the first time and spark up an electric conversation. The chapter is rich in dialogue and flourishes because of it. The chemistry between the two oozes off the page. The conversation is vibrant and interesting and you can feel the intimacy and the connection between the two protagonists growing with each exchange. So much so, that when they agree to go on holiday to Mexico City together, it feels much less shocking than that should feel for two people that only just met each other.

Through this dialogue, Mellors creates an instant and intense rapport that not only melds the two characters together, but also enamours the reader to the duo and gets you invested in them as a pair.

At the conclusion of Chapter One I had high hopes for this book.

The power of repetition

A tool that Mellors uses to great effect is repetition. This forms a key element of the dialogue we get between Cleo and Frank and plays an important role in building the chemistry between the duo. They riff off each other and loop back to great parts of earlier conversation.

Frank mentions multiple times, in jest, about how various things Cleo does or says ‘undo him’, and then at the end of the chapter Frank asks how the fleeting moments of peace feel when she’s completed a painting and Cleo answers “As you would say, they undo me”.

During the same scene, Cleo is jokingly flaunting her French language skills with her ability to say ‘C’est cool mais c’est fou’, meaning it’s cool but it’s crazy.

A few pages later, during some light-hearted friction, Frank exclaims that Cleo is “cool, but you’re crazy”.

‘“Sounds better in French!” she shouted back.’

It’s great for the dialogue and the chemistry is palpable.

But it’s not just in the dialogue that Mellors uses repetition to great effect.

Later, Frank’s working on an advertising campaign whose slogan is ‘There’s a party somewhere. Find it.’ Shortly afterwards Mellors ties back to this, adopting it as a quasi-slogan. Another character from the book is ‘crushed in a cab with five other people going to he isn’t sure where’ and Mellors follows it with the tagline in italics, as if summarising the situation in a somewhat satirical way. There’s a party somewhere. Find it.

Repetition of catchy, memorable phrases like these is so powerful because as a reader you notice the repetition and it makes you reflect, if just for a moment, on the skill that’s gone into structuring the narrative and the writing.

Get me invested then keep me interested

I was enticed by the concept of this book, but for me, it fell flat.

It’s entirely possible that this book comes together by the end and delivers on its potential, but if it does, I couldn’t get there. I struggled through 20% and eventually could go no further.

Firstly, you’ve got to hook me early, get me invested in the story, which Mellors does well in Chapter One. Thereafter, you’ve got to keep me interested. You’ve got to get me wanting to read onto the next page and crucially, you’ve got to give me a reason to pick the book up again every time.

This is where Cleopatra and Frankenstein fell short for me. I found the verve and appeal of Chapter One completely absent from the next few chapters. A vibrant and exciting story became dull, lacking characters of any interest and scene after scene without anything remotely interesting happening.

I understand this very well may be the concept of the story - exploring how an initial spark of excitement and love fizzles out through daily life - but it still needs to be interesting and something that gets me excited to read it.

The lesson here: you’re always fighting to win the reader back for the next page, the next chapter so it’s important to ensure every page counts. If the reader were to read a single random page, make it so that whichever page they pick they get the same great impression of the book.