Can you discuss literature or just gossip like a teenage girl?

>>25044548
>In that cramped interval between his fingers' faltering insistence and the floor's mute expectancy, the cylindrical burden already half‑forgotten as an object and remembered only as the fleeting damp it had impressed upon his palm described its reluctant descent, a kind of minor abdication enacted with all the misplaced ceremony of something that had never belonged to his grasp in the first place.
Kek spot on

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>Can you discuss literature or just gossip like a teenage girl?

>>25045023
>i limit my self awareness to orgasms

>>25045080
>Excerpted from 'The Letters of William Gaddis' (ed. Steven Moore)

>>25044548
I did not read it... it's bullshit....i did not read it. I did NAAT

>>25045500
Easy on the daiquiris, Willy.

Do you think Gaddis ever heard English rock combo The Cure's 1982 LP "Pornography"?

>>25044548
biggest little bitch in american letters

At least he was being an insecure liar in a subtle way unlike that preening pompous maggot Nabokov

>>25049856
rent free

>be Gaddis
>write 1000 page book on authenticity, creativity, art and life
>retards spend the next the next 70 years ironically proving they completely missed the point in the most hilarious way possible
>can't call them out on it
>would ruin the fun of people who havn't read it yet
>not like it would change anything anyways, retards be retarded after all
>what do?
>need to retard proof next book
>1000 pages of unattributed dialogue should do the job

>>25044577
You mean the trollotype that is on every board and possibly bots at this point?

>>25050850
kek.

>>25049856
what did big nab lie about

>>25044548
This niqqa was a thousand percent CIA.

>>25053849
What makes you think that?

Otto :)

>>25055464
e mezzo (:

>>25056633
I am not sure what you are getting at? you mean half from an analytical standpoint in that combined with Wyatt he provides a full perspective?

Otto is one of my favorite characters, few make me laugh like Otto makes me laugh.

>>25054975
No one can say what exactly blud was doing traveling all over Mexico, Europe, Africa and South America during the cold war after getting "kicked out" of Harvard, or what his PR/documentary work for the US Army and some of the biggest American corporations entailed. Some, however, may speculate that the guy working in South America for the CIA's notorious United Fruit in TR was based on his own experiences thoughbeit

>>25056907
Interesting. I want to read the Joseph Tabbi book on this guy but I haven't found it anywhere online.

>>25056907
quite generous of you. to me he just scans as a seething midwit, forever butthurt that the world didn't embrace his """genius""" and relieve him of wage labor. many such cases

I own a controlling stake in the William Gaddis estate AMA

>>25059654
Why do you larp on an American weeb forum?

So what's with this supposed connection between Gaddis and Joyce? I read Ulysses years ago, so it's not top of mind, but I did just finish J R and I don't see the resemblance. Is there a clearer influence on The Recognitions? (I haven't read anything else of Gaddis at this point.) Or is it just something like "Joyce wrote an unconventional, big, difficult novel. Gaddis did too. Therefore, Gaddis is really just regurgitating Joyce."? I just listened to an interview of Steven Moore and this topic came up. What's the deal?

>>25059722
Retards be retards. There isn't much there worth considering.

>>25059722
Gaddis was clearly lying about not having read it.

>>25060366
why do you say that and why does it matter?

>>25059666
Huh what u mean

>a "Jack Gibbs" makes numerous appearances in the Epstein flight logs
Gaddisbros…

>>25059722
What did Moore have to say?

>>25056907
You should read Carpenter's Gothic

>>25067223
Is Carpenter's Gothic more of the do everything in the dialogue? Really would like to see him developing some of things he did in TR other than the dialogue, things like the first chapter of part 2 are and I want more. The pure dialogue is interesting and fun, but not my thing.

>>25067289
It's mostly dialogue and transitional narration where swaths of time pass or activities that occur alone and in silence are narrated. I mention it because one of the main character's is ex-CIA fronting as some kind of natural scientist.

>>25067223
No one should read Carpenter's Gothic.

>>25069009
Everyone should read Carpenter's Gothic (I have not)

>>25069117
I shan't, but I just ordered A Frolic of His Own.

>>25065849
Nothing significant. He just said Gaddis denied ever having read Ulysses and that Moore had no reason to believe that he had actually read it, given his talks with him and research. It came off as something like "oh this topic again..." and he gave a quick canned answer.

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>>25044548
WTF!

>>25070141
Figures. Company man.

You lissies? You mean Od-oosaeous?

>>25071203
Fart-sniffing convention?

>>25072715
oh word?

>>25071203
>START
>DOING
>*THIS*

>>25056860
Otto e mezzo is a very famous Italian movie from the 1960s about a movie director who reflects on his childhood

Im not sure the relevance just saying

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>>25077149
real

>>25063507
>---That's the thing Bast you don't even, see you don't even have to actually do anything like illegal or moral or whatever you just email this here jay ee vacatio-, vacationing, and see then he puts you on the flight logs and he knows all these guys Bast you wouldn't believe all the guys he knows. I mean like say I want to get this guy elected who like he would pass this law right to make, well to, it doesn't matter but I want him to win - he can just call up these other guys and get these ads on tv or the radio or whatever. You have no idea, I mean holy - Bast? Hey Bast?

this thread is like one of the party scenes in recognitions

Is he the last based American novelist?

>>25080600
seeing as mccarthy squandered his basedclout on hanging with the santa fe faggots for 30 years, probably yeah

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>>25080600
I am the last based American novelist.

The Letters of. Talk to me. Need it or keep it?

>>25079206
These plebs probably don't know a single thing about the solids in Uccello

This thread turned me on to Gaddis. He sounds based. Gonna start with J R.

>>25085659
Let us know if you ever finish it.

>>25085659
jr is the deconstruckted club of books (true story)

—Don’t move don’t talk outta time don’t think don’t worry everything’s just fine just fine don’t grab don’t clutch don’t hope for too much don’t breathe don’t achieve don’t grieve without leave don’t check just balance on the fence don’t answer don’t ask don’t try and make sense don’t whisper don’t talk don’t run if you can walk don’t cheat, compete don’t miss the one beat don’t travel by train don’t eat don’t spill don’t piss in the drain don’t make a will don’t fill out any forms don’t compensate don’t cower don’t crawl don’t come around late don’t hover at the gate dom’t take it on board don’t fall on your sword just play another chord if you feel you're getting bored. . . .

—I feel numb . . .

—Don't change your brand don’t listen to the band don’t gape don’t ape don’t change your shape have another grape . . . don’t plead don’t bridle don’t shackle don’t grind don’t curve don’t swerve, lie, die, serve . . . don’t theorize, realize, polarize, chance, dance, dismiss, apologize. . . .

—I feel numb. . .

—Don’t spy don’t lie don’t try, imply, detain, explain, start again . . . don’t triumph don’t coax don’t cling don’t hoax don’t freak, peak, don’t leak don’t speak . . . don’t struggle don’t jerk don’t collar don’t work don’t wish don’t fish don’t teach don’t reach don’t borrow don’t break don’t fence don’t steal don’t pass don’t press don’t try don’t feel don’t touch don’t dive don’t suffer don’t rhyme don’t fantasize don’t rise don’t lie. . . .

—I feel numb . . .

—Don’t project don’t connect, protect, don’t expect, suggest. . . .

Why is this thread still alive?

>>25089660
Why are you still alive?

>>25089664
Cowardice, mostly.

>>25089674
Shit, cat.

>>25089674
:-(

>>25059722
When I read it I thought the fact that Wyatt was supposed to be named Stephen as a nod to Portrait of the artist/Ulysses since they do share some similarities, but that’s mostly it.
I don’t think they’re similar, but I was surprised when I heard that he hadn’t even read Ulysses.

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>>25089660
Because Gaddis shall live forever.

>>25044548
Right, so I finished The Recognitions and absolutely adored it. I already bought J R and A frolic of his own, but I think I’m going to read something by Gass before starting another Gaddis. Which work of Gass would you scholars recommend?

>>25094124
The Tunnel is the place to start for someone who loved TR. Not to suggest they are much alike but you can obviously meet the challenge and it gives the best overview of who Gass was as a writer.

>>25094124
Unironically? THE PORTABLE GASS. Great selection.

>>25095830
Sorry, I meant THE WILLIAM H. GASS READER.

>>25095832
>a book of excerpts and some random essays
I really don't understand why books like this exist. Finding a Form and Omensetter's Luck would be a better easy in for people who want a taste but don't want to dive into The Tunnel and half as long. Or In The Heart of the Heart of the Country and On Being Blue if you want the crash course but are ok with a challenge.

>>25095842
I think it's a nice volume, a choice selection. Makes sense for writers like Gass who cover a lot of ground, but would of course be pointless for writers who focus only on, say, fiction.

>>25094124
Heart of the Country

More like GAYddis

>>25099617
gottem

>>25078336
kek

Funny in hindsight how Gaddis could only farm clout when he was out to clobber and exhaust. Vineland's reception was all raves compared to Carpenter, which was like one big "oh dear...".

>>25102907
I like to pretend he went directly from J R to Frolic.

>>25103951
i like to pretend im a girl (sometimes)

>>25103951
I like to pretend that /lit/ actually reads but you guys make it very difficult.
>>25104865
I also like to pretend that you are a girl.

>>25104885
Face it, Jack: Carpenter's Gothic is the Godfather III of the Gaddis ouevre. Read 'em and weep.

Has anyone read Cynthia Buchanan's Maiden? Gaddis was apparently a fan.

This thread makes me nostalgic for last month…
>>25088841
>deconstruckted club of books
How?

>>25106956
issa vibe ting blud

Gaddis, in a 1982 letter:

>My last statement from Harcourt Brace reads debit of $4.29, incorporating the 35 cents they overpaid me on my last royalty check six months ago of $11.48.

Nice to know that shit was cooked even for National Book Award winners during the halcyon days of litfic.

>>25108738
It had been 7 years since his last novel and he avoided doing most everything required to maintain sales past the initial surge. Gaddis made the choice to not play the game and do almost nothing to keep his name out there between novels.

>>25109287
Tru, tru. And, as proof that things have indeed changed and we are in hell, here's a nice anecdote from somewhere: when big G was active as a copywriter, he and the guy he shared an office with basically had free rein to dick around with their hobbies before lunch (which is how he prepared bits of JR), because their boss was hyped that he had a big important and commercially unsuccessful novelist working for him.

This is what Gaddis thought of other writers. He hated Nabokov with a passion lel: -

On Writers like Updike, McCarthy, Umberto Eco, Dostoevsky, Nabokov :

>I: What do you think of acclaimed writers like Cormac McCarthy, John Updike or Don DeLillo who don’t produce rubbish but do become best sellers?

>G: I’ve never really understood why McCarthy is now so successful. He’s fantastic standing far beyond the rest. Maybe his success goes with his theme of the American Western. Similarly with Larry McMurtry whose books so to speak are still opening up the frontier.

>I: And Updike?

>G: That’s a different kettle of fish. He’s very clever. When I say I’m interested in America, of course it goes for him too. But his and my America are entirely different. He writes about John Cheever’s America, of which I know enough myself. I’ve lived in Westchester, commuted to and from New York, liked a drink when I was younger and never missed out on a party. But Updike for example admires Nabokov. And I do not at all. I cannot excuse Nabokov for doing Dostoyevsky down. Of course, Nabokov is clever too, very much so, and sometimes he only wants to show that he’s much more clever than you and I, that he’s the most clever of us all.

>I: Have you ever read Umberto Eco?

>G: No, but his success fascinates me. My work on the one hand is judged to be difficult, inaccessible - there’s that terrible word. It’s always vexed me on the other hand because I find my books rather amusing. Entertainment is an important part of a novel, and I try to make mine entertaining.

On Delillo, Pynchon, Coover:

>I: American authors such as Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo or Robert Coover are obviously greatly influenced by you. Do you for your part follow their work?

>G: When J R appeared it was rumored that Pynchon wrote it. I think that he and I have our parallels especially with regard to the entropy motive. But I’ve only read a little of him. And Coover, he now deals with things like Hypertexts or whatever they’re called. I mean, he is very intelligent and unique, but he goes in quite a different direction to me. DeLillo has said some very warm things such as I’ve been an influence on him, but it doesn’t mean that it’s reciprocal. I came across his book about the Kennedy-assassination, very good!

1/2

>>25111352
Is willy G feeling the anxiety of influence towards Joyce?: -

On TS Eliot, Jung, Joyce, Evelyn Waugh and Dosto-Nabo again:

>I: You are supposedly very much influenced by Joyce, but you’ve always contended this claim. There are, however, stronger influences from C.G. Jung, definitely T. S. Eliot and of course Dostoyevsky above all.

>G: I’ve never read Ulysses. That I must painfully admit. I did flick through Finnegans Wake at some time, and a couple of its lyrical passagesare really wonderful.

>I: But they had nothing to do with The Recognitions?

>G: Nothing at all. It’s really all in the clouds. My book appeared,and like Ulysses it was long, complicated, similar in its allusiveness and then there were those who maintained: He’s trying to write like Joyce. And that is ridiculous. But Eliot! Keats once said a poem should be the highest expression of our highest thoughts or something similar. And when at college I came across Eliot’s Four Quartets I felt: My God, he’s exactly expressed the way I perceive the world around me. Lines like "a world of a thousand lost golf balls" or "men and bits of paper blown by a cold wind" is as I see New York. I immediately devoured Eliot. And Dostoyevsky, you’re absolutely right. I’ve been reading him all my life. That man could do everything. Complicated characters, madness …He’s also very funny, Very very funny, yes. And passionate! The epitome of passion that someone like Nabokov could never understand; he knows nothing about passion. And Jung, definitely. I discovered him at college, the idea of a manifold myth that’s also in The Recognitions like the idea of the virgin birth in successive cultures.

>I: I also feel that Evelyn Waugh influences you as in the way his novels develop through dialogue.

>G: Waugh is very witty, very quick. He must be one of my favorite authors.

On German writers :

>I: are there other German authors that were or are important for you?

>G: Earlier at college, I was under the influence of the Romantics,especially Novalis. For The Recognitions, Goethe’s Faust had been very important, and Wagner’s Rheingold for J R - almost too much to tell the truth. A dwarf that grabs money and then says such a stupid thing as I renounce love for money and so on. And that he is a dwarf is even better.That I just couldn’t resist. For a while now I’ve been very enthusiastic about Thomas Bernhard. As crazy as he sometimes is. But his madness is always aimed at himself, and that concept fascinates me. And besides he is funny. Excruciatingly funny.

Beware any cunt who finds Dostoevsky and Bernhard knee-slappingly funny

tfw no gaddis novel about nfts and labubus

>>25111352
>he only wants to show that he’s much more clever than you and I, that he’s the most clever of us all
bit rich coming from mr recognitions

>>25115023
How is he being clever in TR?

>>25044548
This site actually has a good concept that anonymous users are just passing through

>>25115035
how is he not

>>25116651
I don't think you read it. He mostly relies on dialogue and character to get his point across and will happily have a character give a thinly veiled speech to avoid being clever with it. Narration is straightforward in its purpose. Gaddis wants the reader to engage with character as they would engage with people and this is where the difficulty comes in, the reliance on dialogue means we have to unravel who the character is from who the character thinks he is, just as in real life, and both the character and the character's idea of themselves are important, just as in real life. Add in dealing with the character interactions and how this all interacts and develops across 1000 pages, and things get complicated.

Nothing about this is clever or even particularly unique but Gaddis did it better than anyone and did not do it for just a couple characters, he does it for them all.