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Front-end Development
Front-end Development: Crafting Engaging User Experiences
Front-end development is the art and science of crafting the visual and interactive aspects of a website or application. As the digital landscape evolves, front-end development has become more crucial than ever, playing a significant role in how users perceive and interact with online platforms. In this blog post, we’ll explore the essentials of front-end development, the key skills required, and why it is vital in today’s web-driven world.
What is Front-end Development?
Front-end development refers to the part of web development that involves creating the user interface (UI) and ensuring that a website or application is both visually appealing and functional. It’s what users see and interact with directly, making it a critical component in delivering a seamless user experience (UX).
The primary tools of a front-end developer include HTML, CSS, and JavaScript:
HTML (HyperText Markup Language): The backbone of any web page, HTML structures the content, providing the basic framework that other technologies build upon.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets): CSS controls the presentation of the HTML, including layout, colors, fonts, and responsiveness. It’s what makes a website look good on different devices and screen sizes.
JavaScript: This programming language adds interactivity to a web page, enabling dynamic content like slideshows, form validations, and interactive maps.
The Role of Front-end Developers
Front-end developers bridge the gap between design and technology. They work closely with designers to translate visual designs into functional code and collaborate with back-end developers to ensure the front-end interacts smoothly with server-side components.
Key Skills for Front-end Developers
To excel in front-end development, a developer needs a blend of technical skills and creative problem-solving abilities. Here are some of the essential skills:
Proficiency in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript: These are the foundational technologies every front-end developer must master. Advanced knowledge of frameworks like React, Angular, or Vue.js is also increasingly valuable.
Responsive Design: With the rise of mobile devices, understanding how to create layouts that work across different screen sizes is crucial. This involves using flexible grids, fluid layouts, and media queries.
Version Control Systems (e.g., Git): Keeping track of changes and collaborating with other developers requires proficiency in version control systems.
Cross-Browser Compatibility: Ensuring that a website functions and looks consistent across various browsers can be challenging but is necessary for reaching a wide audience.
Performance Optimization: Speed is vital for user satisfaction and SEO. Front-end developers must optimize images, minify code, and leverage browser caching to enhance performance.
Testing and Debugging: Identifying and fixing issues in the front-end code is an ongoing task. Tools like Chrome DevTools and various testing frameworks help in this process.
The Importance of Front-end Development
In today’s digital world, a company’s website or application often serves as the first point of contact with potential customers. A well-crafted front-end not only attracts users but also keeps them engaged, encouraging them to explore further and convert into customers.
Furthermore, as technology evolves, front-end development has expanded to include not just websites but also web apps, mobile apps, and even interfaces for IoT devices. This expansion has increased the demand for skilled front-end developers who can deliver consistent and intuitive user experiences across multiple platforms.
Conclusion
Front-end development is a dynamic field that requires a mix of creativity, technical expertise, and a keen eye for detail. As businesses continue to prioritize online presence, the role of front-end developers will only grow in importance. By mastering the essential tools and skills, developers can create engaging, user-friendly interfaces that stand out in the crowded digital space.
Whether you're a seasoned developer or someone looking to break into the field, front-end development offers a rewarding career path with endless opportunities for innovation and growth.
In this blog, we covered the essentials of front-end development, key skills required, and its growing importance in today’s digital world. For anyone interested in building beautiful, interactive websites, front-end development is the perfect avenue to explore.
#Front-end Development#Web Development#HTML#CSS#JavaScript#Responsive Design#User Interface (UI)#User Experience (UX)#Web Design#Front-end Frameworks#Coding#Programming#Tech Skills#Web Performance#Cross-Browser Compatibility
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AI Writer Services HTML Landing Page Template
Are you ready to revolutionize your AI writing services? Look no further than "Writey" - the ultimate AI Writer Services HTML Landing Page Template that combines stunning design with powerful functionality. Whether you're a content creator, or copywriter, or run an AI writing service, Writey has got you covered.
Buy Now:
#html#ai writer#landing page#template#clean design#responsive#RTL support#PHP contact form#dark theme#light theme#animations#testimonials#FAQ section#sliders#W3C validation#cross-browser compatibility#updates#accessibility#SEO optimized#fast loading#social media buttons#SCSS files#back-to-top button#coding#landingpage#css
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Stay Ahead of the Curve: Latest E-commerce Development Trends
Zapeerr provides comprehensive e-commerce development services tailored to meet the unique needs of businesses seeking to establish or enhance their online presence. Here are the key e-commerce development services offered by Zapeerr:
1. Customized Website Development: Zapeerr specializes in building customized e-commerce websites from the ground up, ensuring that each site is designed to reflect the brand identity and offers a seamless user experience.
Platform Selection and Implementation: Zapeerr helps businesses select the most suitable e-commerce platform for their needs, whether it's Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, or a custom solution. They then handle the implementation and configuration of the chosen platform to ensure optimal performance.
Mobile Optimization: Zapeerr ensures that e-commerce websites are optimized for mobile devices, providing a consistent and intuitive shopping experience across all screen sizes and devices.
Payment Gateway Integration: Zapeerr integrates secure payment gateways into e-commerce websites, allowing businesses to accept payments from various sources securely and efficiently.
Inventory Management Solutions: Zapeerr develops robust inventory management systems that enable businesses to track stock levels, manage product variants, and prevent overselling, ensuring smooth operations and customer satisfaction.
Security Enhancements: Zapeerr prioritizes security by implementing measures such as SSL encryption, PCI compliance, and regular security audits to protect sensitive customer data and safeguard against cyber threats.
Performance Optimization: Zapeerr optimizes e-commerce websites for speed and performance, employing techniques such as caching, image optimization, and code minification to ensure fast page loading times and smooth navigation.
SEO Integration: Zapeerr integrates search engine optimization (SEO) best practices into e-commerce websites to improve visibility and attract organic traffic, helping businesses increase their online presence and drive sales.
Integration with Third-Party Services: Zapeerr facilitates seamless integration with third-party services such as shipping carriers, accounting software, CRM systems, and marketing tools, enabling businesses to streamline operations and enhance efficiency.
Continuous Support and Maintenance: Zapeerr provides ongoing support and maintenance services to ensure the smooth functioning of e-commerce websites, including software updates, bug fixes, and technical support to address any issues promptly.
With Zapeerr's expertise in e-commerce development, businesses can achieve their online objectives effectively and stay ahead in the competitive digital landscape.
#E-commerce website development#Custom e-commerce solutions#Platform integration. Mobile optimization#Payment gateway integration#Inventory management#Security enhancements#Performance optimization#SEO integration#Third-party integration#Continuous support and maintenance#User experience design#Responsive web design#Cross-browser compatibility#Conversion rate optimization
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Technology plays a vital role in everyone’s daily lives, from the simplest forms of applications to the most creative inventions. Every application or software has been built by a web developer. In these present days, students and youngsters want to be web developers to make their careers way better.
#Web Development#Remote Work in Web Development#Web Development Certifications#Interview Tips for Web Developers#Salary Expectations in Web Development#Job Satisfaction in Web Development#Future of Web Development#Content Management Systems (CMS)#Website Optimization#Cross-browser Compatibility#Mobile Development#Web Security#APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
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Deliver Seamless User Experience with GQAT Tech’s Compatibility Testing
Why Compatibility Testing is a Must for Today’s Digital Products
In today's information technology world, people use hundreds of different devices, browsers, operating systems, and screen sizes to access websites and applications. Users could be customers interacting with your app on a mobile phone or a professional accessing your software from a desktop. Overall, the user experience must be seamless and consistent across multiple endpoints.
In order to ensure a seamless and consistent user experience, your product must go through Compatibility Testing, which is part of the Quality Assurance process that will confirm your software operates correctly in multiple environments.
Compatibility Testing at GQAT Tech is conducted by seasoned QA Engineers who will test your product in a compatibility matrix across real devices and environments to ensure all users experience a seamless and consistent user experience.
What is Compatibility Testing?
Compatibility Testing is a sort of non-functional testing that tests whether or not an application or website properly behaves over various combinations of:
Browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, etc.)
Operating systems (Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux)
Devices (smartphones, tablets, desktops, laptops)
Network environments (Wi-Fi, 4G, 5G)
Screen resolution, hardware configuration
The intent is to uncover any discrepancies, bugs, layout problems, or functionality under different platforms.
Why is Compatibility Testing Important?
Let's say you have an excellent website that works correctly in desktop view with Google Chrome! But, your consumers on an iPhone using Safari experience layout issues or broken buttons. This will result in:
Poor user experience
Lower customer trust
Lost traffic and conversions
Potential revenue loss
In summary, not doing a compatibility test can cost your business users and money.
GQAT Tech’s Compatibility Testing Services
GQAT Tech provides Compatibility Testing services because they meet the expectations of the modern-day user. Their skilled team uses manual testing, automation, and real devices to simulate a wide range of use cases and environments.
Their Offerings Include:
Cross-Browser Tests
Cross-Device Tests
OS Compatibility
Verify UI/UX Consistency
Responsive Design Tests
Bug Logging & Reporting in Real-time
Every test case is targeted to make sure your software is able to function the same way, no matter what, where, or when it is used.
Why Choose GQAT Tech?
Competent Quality Assessment Group – Our group holds a wealth of knowledge and experience to perform testing in real environments on web and mobile platforms.
Real Device Testing – All tests are performed on real devices, so you are getting authentic results.
Detailed Reporting – An issues report that includes screenshots, device/browser specifications, and clearly-identified steps to reproduce.
Quick Turnaround – Ensures you are able to get your product to market on time, as you can do more cycles of testing.
Custom Testing Plans – Approach to testing that considers your audience, type of product, and release goals.
With GQAT Tech, compatibility testing can scale to your development cycle without missing a beat.
Conclusion:
Today’s digital ecosystem means users expect your app or site to just work – anywhere, anytime, on any device. If you want to meet their expectations and outplay the competition, you will need Compatibility Testing.
The GQAT Tech QA team will work with you on providing an enjoyable and bug-free experience across the board.
💬 Want to make your software world-ready?
👉 Explore Compatibility Testing Services at GQAT Tech
#Compatibility Testing#Cross-Browser Testing#Cross-Platform Testing#Software Quality Assurance#Mobile App Testing#Web App Testing#Device Compatibility#OS Compatibility#Functional Testing#QA Testing Services#User Experience Testing#Responsive Design Testing#Testing on Real Devices#Software Testing#GQAT Tech QA Services
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CI/CD Pipeline Integration: Streamline Software Delivery with Assure QA
In today’s fast-paced development world, CI/CD Pipeline Integration is essential for seamless, automated software delivery. By integrating continuous testing and deployment, businesses can accelerate releases while maintaining quality.
Assure QA is the ultimate online platform for software quality assurance, offering functional, automation, performance, and security testing. With cutting-edge tools, Assure QA ensures robust, high-performing software, tailored to your needs. Whether it's web, API, or cross-browser testing, Assure QA empowers teams with reliable, scalable solutions.
Optimize your CI/CD workflow with Assure QA—where innovation meets reliability!


#CI/CD Pipeline Integration#DevOps Automation#Automated Testing Tools#API and Web Testing#Software Quality Assurance#Cross-Browser Compatibility Testing
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React JS simplifies cross-browser compatibility by providing a consistent framework that abstracts browser-specific quirks. Its reusable components ensure uniform behavior across various platforms, while built-in tools like Babel transpile modern JavaScript for older browsers. This streamlines development, reducing the time and effort needed to address compatibility issues.
#react js development best practices#react js cross-browser compatibility#benefits of react js for cross-browser compatibility
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Moyna WordPress Theme is ideal for self-hosted Micro Blog, Community Social Network, News Headlines Publishing etc.
https://wordpress.org/themes/moyna/
#micro blog#social network#news headlines#news ticker#blog#news#one-column#accessibility-ready#microformats#translation-ready#minimalist#minimal#community#responsive#speed optimized#cross browser compatibility#mobile ready#clean code
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Moyna is ideal for micro blog, community social network, news headlines publishing.
#micro blog#social network#news headlines#news ticker#blog#news#one-column#accessibility-ready#microformats#translation-ready#minimalist#minimal#community#responsive#speed optimized#cross browser compatibility#mobile ready#clean code
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PureCode software reviews | The Challenge of Cross-Browser Compatibility
In the realm of JavaScript chart libraries, cross-browser compatibility is a crucial concern. Ensuring that a library works consistently across all browsers, including older versions, can be a challenging task.
#Cross Browser Compatibility#purecode software reviews#purecode ai company reviews#purecode#purecode ai reviews#purecode company
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Securing Your Website: Best Practices for Web Developers
As the digital landscape continues to evolve, website security has become a paramount concern for businesses and individuals alike. With cyber threats becoming increasingly sophisticated, it is crucial for web developers to adopt robust security measures to safeguard their websites and the sensitive data they handle. In this article, we'll delve into the best practices that web developers can implement to enhance the security of their websites and protect against potential threats.
Introduction
In today's interconnected world, websites serve as the digital storefront for businesses, making them vulnerable targets for cyber attacks. From data breaches to malware infections, the consequences of a security breach can be severe, ranging from financial loss to damage to reputation. Therefore, prioritizing website security is essential for maintaining the trust and confidence of users.
Understanding Website Security
Before diving into best practices, it's crucial to understand the importance of website security and the common threats faced by websites. Website security encompasses measures taken to protect websites from cyber threats and unauthorized access. Common threats include malware infections, phishing attacks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting (XSS), and brute force attacks.
Best Practices for Web Developers
Keeping Software Updated
One of the most fundamental steps in website security is keeping all software, including the content management system (CMS), plugins, and server software, updated with the latest security patches and fixes. Outdated software is often targeted by attackers due to known vulnerabilities that can be exploited.
Implementing HTTPS
Implementing HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) encrypts the data transmitted between the website and its users, ensuring confidentiality and integrity. HTTPS not only protects sensitive information but also boosts trust among visitors, as indicated by the padlock icon in the browser's address bar.
Using Strong Authentication Methods
Implementing strong authentication methods, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and CAPTCHA, adds an extra layer of security to user accounts. MFA requires users to provide multiple forms of verification, such as a password and a one-time code sent to their mobile device, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
Securing Against SQL Injection Attacks
SQL injection attacks occur when malicious actors exploit vulnerabilities in web applications to execute arbitrary SQL commands. Web developers can prevent SQL injection attacks by using parameterized queries and input validation to sanitize user inputs effectively.
Protecting Sensitive Data
It's essential to employ encryption techniques to protect sensitive data, such as passwords, credit card information, and personal details, stored on the website's servers. Encrypting data at rest and in transit mitigates the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access.
Regular Security Audits
Conducting regular security audits helps identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in the website's infrastructure and codebase. Penetration testing, vulnerability scanning, and code reviews enable web developers to proactively address security issues before they are exploited by attackers.
Choosing a Secure Hosting Provider
Selecting a reputable and secure hosting provider is critical for ensuring the overall security of your website. When evaluating hosting providers, consider factors such as security features, reliability, scalability, and customer support.
Evaluating Security Features
Choose a hosting provider that offers robust security features, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), malware scanning, and DDoS protection. These features help protect your website from various cyber threats and ensure continuous uptime.
Ensuring Regular Backups
Regularly backing up your website's data is essential for mitigating the impact of security incidents, such as data breaches or website compromises. Choose a hosting provider that offers automated backup solutions and store backups securely offsite.
Customer Support and Response to Security Incidents
Opt for a hosting provider that provides responsive customer support and has established protocols for handling security incidents. In the event of a security breach or downtime, prompt assistance from the hosting provider can minimize the impact on your website and business operations.
Implementing Firewall Protection
Firewalls act as a barrier between your website and external threats, filtering incoming and outgoing network traffic based on predefined security rules. There are several types of firewalls, including network firewalls, web application firewalls (WAF), and host-based firewalls.
Configuring and Maintaining Firewalls
Properly configuring and maintaining firewalls is crucial for effective security. Define firewall rules based on the principle of least privilege, regularly update firewall configurations to reflect changes in the website's infrastructure, and monitor firewall logs for suspicious activity.
Educating Users about Security
In addition to implementing technical measures, educating users about security best practices is essential for enhancing overall website security. Provide users with resources, such as security guidelines, tips for creating strong passwords, and information about common phishing scams.
Importance of User Awareness
Users play a significant role in maintaining website security, as they are often the targets of social engineering attacks. By raising awareness about potential threats and providing guidance on how to recognize and respond to them, web developers can empower users to stay vigilant online.
Providing Training and Resources
Offer training sessions and educational materials to help users understand the importance of security and how to protect themselves while using the website. Regularly communicate updates and reminders about security practices to reinforce good habits.
Monitoring and Responding to Security Incidents
Despite taking preventive measures, security incidents may still occur. Establishing robust monitoring systems and incident response protocols enables web developers to detect and respond to security threats in a timely manner.
Setting Up Monitoring Tools
Utilize monitoring tools, such as intrusion detection systems (IDS), security information and event management (SIEM) systems, and website monitoring services, to detect abnormal behavior and potential security breaches. Configure alerts to notify you of suspicious activity promptly.
Establishing Incident Response Protocols
Develop comprehensive incident response plans that outline roles, responsibilities, and procedures for responding to security incidents. Establish clear communication channels and escalation paths to coordinate responses effectively and minimize the impact of security breaches.
Securing your website requires a proactive approach that involves implementing a combination of technical measures, choosing a secure hosting provider, educating users about security best practices, and establishing robust monitoring and incident response protocols. By following these best practices, web developers can mitigate the risk of security breaches and safeguard their websites and the sensitive data they handle.
#Web Development#Website Design#Frontend Development#Backend Development#Custom Web Development#Responsive Web Design#E-commerce Websites#Content Management Systems (CMS)#Web Application Development#UI/UX Design#Mobile Responsive Websites#Website Maintenance#Website Optimization#Cross-Browser Compatibility#Performance Optimization
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Technology plays a vital role in everyone’s daily lives, from the simplest forms of applications to the most creative inventions. Every application or software has been built by a web developer. In these present days, students and youngsters want to be web developers to make their careers way better.
#Web Development#Remote Work in Web Development#Web Development Certifications#Interview Tips for Web Developers#Salary Expectations in Web Development#Job Satisfaction in Web Development#Future of Web Development#Content Management Systems (CMS)#Website Optimization#Cross-browser Compatibility#Mobile Development#Web Security#APIs (Application Programming Interfaces)
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https://gqattech.com/compatibility-testing/
https://gqattech.com/firmware-testing/
#Compatibility Testing#Cross-Browser Testing#Cross-Platform Testing#Software Quality Assurance#Mobile App Testing#Web App Testing#Device Compatibility#OS Compatibility#Functional Testing#QA Testing Services#User Experience Testing#Responsive Design Testing#Testing on Real Devices#Software Testing#GQAT Tech QA Services#Firmware Testing#Embedded Software Testing#Hardware Testing#IoT Device Testing#Quality Assurance#Low-Level Software Testing#Device-Level Testing#Embedded QA#Hardware Compatibility#Regression Testing#Automated Firmware Testing#GQAT Tech Testing Services#Tech QA#Software-Hardware Integration#Product Validation Testing
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I’m pretty sure the people bitching about not giving money to tumblr are the same ones who complain when AO3 or wikipedia ask for donations, so I’m just gonna clarify something
Running a website is not free
Even if they made no changes and did only maintenance, they still need to pay for server costs, expert programmers for when something goes wrong, storage (although frankly storage is cheap as chips these days which is nice)
They need to keep up with the capabilities of new tech like improvements to web browsers, never mind their own apps keeping pace with old and new tech developments
Backwards compatibility (being able to run the updated app on old tech) is a massive problem for apps on a regular basis, because there are people out here using an iPod and refusing to update software
There’s a reason every few years apps like Animal Crossing will issue an update that breaks backwards compatibility and you can only play if your phone is running more recent software
This shit costs money even before you look into the costs of human moderation, which I’m not exactly convinced is a big part of their current budget but fucking should be if we want an actual fix for their issues with unscreened ads and reporting bigots
Ignoring that it’s apparently illegal for companies not to actively chase profits, running Tumblr is expensive
And advertisers know we fucking hate them here
They’re still running ads, which we know because they’re all over the damn place, but half the ads are for Tumblr and its store
Other ad companies know we are not a good market, so they’re not willing to put the money in
Tumblr runs at a $30 million deficit, every year, because hosting a site is expensive
They are trying to take money making ideas from other social medias because they’re not a charity; they need to make enough money to keep the site going
If you want tumblr to keep existing, never mind fixing its many issues that require human people to be paid to do jobs like moderation, they will need money
Crabs cost $3
One crab day a year can fix the deficit and hammer home for Tumblr that:
A) we do want to be here and want the site to keep going
And B) they do not need to do the normal social media money making strategies we all hate
They need a way to make money if you want the hellsite to exist, because we live in a capitalist hellscape and cannot all be AO3
If they think they can make enough to keep running without pulling all the tricks we hate, they have no reason to pull said tricks
But they need money
And a way to make money
And if we can show them we can do that, there is a significantly higher chance they will listen to us, the user base they need money from, than if we don’t
Tumblr isn’t perfect, or anywhere close. They need someone to actually screen the paid ads they put through, they need to take the transphobia, antisemitism, and bigotry seriously
These Are Jobs That Will Cost Money
People Need To Be Fucking Paid For Their Work
Tumblr Is Not Run By Volunteers For Free And Nor Should It Be
Paying People Is Good Actually
So if you wanna get all high and mighty over $3/year, by all means, go spend that hard earned cash elsewhere
Good luck finding a perfect and morally pure business to give it to though
Being a whiny negative asshole isn’t more appealing just because you’ve put yourself on a moral soapbox, it just means the asshole is a little higher up
For all the whining about “all the new updates are terrible this site is unusable”…. It’s one fuck of a lot more usable than it was in 2017, 2018, 2020
And yeah, it’s going back down and most of the newer ones have been fucking annoying and I would also like them to stop
But it got up somehow and that means it could do that again
Hope is more fun than edgy nihilism
August 1st is a good and exciting day to summon a crab army
#tumblr#crab day#fuck if i know what a profitable plan for tumblr as is will look like#since half the user base are entitled assholes who think they shouldn’t pay for less than perfection#and tumblr themselves are entitled assholes who think $5/month is a good base proce#motherfuckers would have so many more people if it was $2-3#totally not paying $5/month for this shit#but $3/year? yeah that’s okay
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The Möbius Book by Catherine Lacey
You can read it from either end, and go round again, as memoir collides with invention in a brilliant interrogation of art, faith and relationships
From her debut, Nobody Is Ever Missing, to 2023’s Biography of X, Catherine Lacey’s work has tested the forms and fabric of the novel with brilliant unease. In The Möbius Book, her experiment crosses the blurred border of fiction into something else. Life writing, autofiction, memoir? Whatever you call it, The Möbius Book is deeply serious and engrossingly playful, and it lavishly rewards serious, playful attention.
A Möbius strip is a length of any material joined into a loop with a half twist. It’s an uncanny shape, common and obvious, easily created and yet awkward to describe geometrically. For literary purposes, a Möbius is interesting because there’s intricate structure and constraint but no ending. It goes around again, mirrored with a twist. Lacey’s book takes this literally, the text printed from both ends, with memoir and fiction joined in the middle. Twin stories experiment with plotlessness and irresolution, while remaining aware of the way fiction attaches itself to linear plot and reverts to romance and quest. Characters find and lose love, find and lose meaning.
In one half, two women, Edie and Marie, reminisce about their messy love lives and Christian beliefs in Marie’s grotty apartment, ignoring the pool of blood forming outside a neighbour’s door. In the other half, the first-person narrator leaves a controlling partner, recalls an ascetic adolescence and struggles to write and think about faith with clever friends during lockdown.
Lacey is fascinated by literary form and by the metaphors for literary form, finding fiction at once a constraint and a space for play. Late in the day, the narrator, “with trusted friends who knew how, got tied up and whipped”, as “a rite in all this, the chaos of having more freedom than I knew what to do with”. It’s impossible, in a book so preoccupied with crucifixion, martyrdom and self-denial, not to see the image of the twisted Möbius loop in this friendly bondage. The structures of novels and the iconography of Christian martyrdom are both narrative responses to suffering; both offer freedom through constraint. But for Lacey, suspicious of pleasure, the compatibility of faith and art is questionable.
The two modes of the book, which I hesitate to call fiction and memoir because neither is wholly committed to realism or reality, undermine each other, with images and anecdotes reappearing in transmuted form. The shadow of the angry, manipulative ex-partner falls across both, challenging the narrator’s memories and intentions although, reassuringly, never inviting the reader’s distrust. Edie’s recounting of a transformative encounter with a dying, talking dog which speaks of the meaning of suffering (is “dog” a Möbius rendition of “God”?) is reprised when the narrator attends to a man lying on the street. In the first-person section, the narrator sees Matisse’s painting The Red Studio in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, “the red I imagine on the floor of an otherwise white room”, reflecting the blood pooling under a neighbour’s door that Edie and Marie in the novel section decide is probably “paint or something”. As the narrator comments: “Reality at large has never been my subject, but interiority always has been.”
Lacey asks large questions about interiority, especially with regard to the subject of Christian faith. For some readers, it may be an alien idea that the sharply modern intellectual rigour on display here could be combined with religious conviction. How can a narrator who can play off Proust against Gillian Rose seriously expect to find consolation in the old myths about the baby in the manger and the man rising from death? It’s a question Lacey acknowledges, partly as unanswerable: “We want to speak of gnosis and mysticism without our phones listening to us and populating browser ad space with advertisements for Goddess Retreats and bogus supplements and acupuncture mats.” Even so, the narrator attempts an exorcism, employs an “energy healer”, is seduced by ideas about magic numbers. “Symbolism is both hollow and solid, a crutch, yes, but what’s so wrong with needing help to get around?”
The question is not rhetorical. There’s a deep ambivalence in this book about needing literary and philosophical “help to get around”, about whether we’re allowed to want or need art, which is related to the narrator’s lack of appetite and consequent emaciation. “I was afraid of the line between basic needs and cravings, between living and lust.” The fear of slipping from necessity into pleasure shapes the distrust of fiction. What if storytelling is for fun? What if we don’t really need it? What if only what’s necessary is true, or only truth is necessary?
Inevitably, the fictional half of this book refuses many of the satisfactions of a novel. Like a miniature homage to WG Sebald’s Austerlitz, the present action is mostly the recounting of past events, so that most of the characters, times and places appear only through a conversation between friends. There are complicated, triangular relationships in the background, between characters who never quite take shape, whose voices are only – and unreliably – recalled. Third-person narrative always calls into being a narrator, another layer of artifice, and here the slippage between present, past and past historic tenses also constantly reminds us that this story is at once engaging and not real. The questions are constant, implicit, teasing, elaborated rather than answered in the dark mirror of life writing. They don’t go away. You can go round again.
Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?
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