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you should all read javier marias instead. the paris review interview is p. cool too, except for the intro.
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Nov 14, 2016 08:23
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CestMoi posted:Now is as good a time as any to read Gravity's Rainbow because the parallels between the plot and the recent election in America are insanely creepy Is Trump a Mason?
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Nov 14, 2016 08:25
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true.spoon posted:At the risk of making enemies: I am some 150 pages int Gravity's Rainbow and I can't remember the last time a book has made me this angry. I always finish what I start but Pynchon is trying his hardest to make me stop. First of all, I hate his style. It's willfully obtuse to the extreme, the constant listings get really tiresome and occasionally branch out into pages after pages of basically unreadable wild associations. Everything gets bogged down with unrelated details which feel like an exercise in creative writing (similar to how every character needs to get some quirky traits but this is a pet peeve of mine and I won't hold it against him). What a man smokes while writing a novel is his own business.
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Nov 14, 2016 14:27
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Being obtuse and hard to read is a good thing because you have to read it twice or even three times. Good value for the consumer.
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Nov 14, 2016 17:09
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Burning Rain posted:you should all read javier marias instead. the paris review interview is p. cool too, except for the intro. Javier Marias is far inferior to T Pynchon, unfortch.
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Nov 14, 2016 19:49
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Trolling should be believable
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Nov 14, 2016 21:08
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Burning Rain posted:Trolling should be believable I know you're goofin', but just for the 'Blue Squares' type posters here I'm not trolling my man. I read "the Infatuations" which was good, But. his method of not creating plot architecture first, but just writing and seeing where the muse will take him seems 2 me like a major flaw and is really apparent in this book. The plot ideas are super cool and it seems like he's building toward some sort of thing where the main character accidentally becomes a detective + learns a lot about life, love, and friendship + most importantly there is a resolution of the conflicts, but the story just peters out, because Marias wrote himself into a corner. If the ideas were more thoroughly worked out, I think it might have been a major novel, but it's just a well written diversion
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Nov 14, 2016 23:23
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i haven't seen blue squares in a while, do you think he's okay
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Nov 14, 2016 23:50
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chernobyl kinsman posted:i haven't seen blue squares in a while, do you think he's okay He started watching movies and... ...and that was it... Edit: Mel's also been quiet. Suicide pact?
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Nov 14, 2016 23:51
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More like murder-suicide
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Nov 15, 2016 00:11
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My bet's on a simple TFF toxx pact.
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Nov 15, 2016 00:13
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When Hillary lost she invited her strongest supporters to be buried in her tomb with her.
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Nov 15, 2016 00:30
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david crosby posted:I know you're goofin', but just for the 'Blue Squares' type posters here I'm not trolling my man. I read "the Infatuations" which was good, But. his method of not creating plot architecture first, but just writing and seeing where the muse will take him seems 2 me like a major flaw and is really apparent in this book. The plot ideas are super cool and it seems like he's building toward some sort of thing where the main character accidentally becomes a detective + learns a lot about life, love, and friendship + most importantly there is a resolution of the conflicts, but the story just peters out, because Marias wrote himself into a corner. If the ideas were more thoroughly worked out, I think it might have been a major novel, but it's just a well written diversion fair enough, and i dislsiked the Modiano book i read for the same reason, basically. anyway, Marias s a very different author from Tommy Pynchon obv., but i vastly prefer marias style of endless transgressions even if the main plot doesn't interlock so well w/r/t themes and stuff. although now i'm finishing up Your Face Tomorrow, vol. 3, and i see the themes coming together quite well and building up to a nice crescendo - and he's mentioned every topic known to man or god. maybe he just needs 1200 pages to get going (pagin Abeliano!)
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Nov 15, 2016 08:17
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So what's everyone's opinion on "experimental novels" that use different forms (letters, journals, transcripts, academic articles, etc.) to create a narrative? I tried my hat at it with a short story in my writing workshop and I got a lot of people telling me they "couldn't piece it all together" or they "didn't understand it." I'm thinking of books like Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, Carrie by Stephen King, Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, and C by Tom McCarthy. I know Mel talked about how some people thought all novels should be epistolaries, but what about other collections? Also some recommendations that aren't epistolaries but are novels would be pretty cool.
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Nov 15, 2016 09:07
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:So what's everyone's opinion on "experimental novels" that use different forms (letters, journals, transcripts, academic articles, etc.) to create a narrative? I tried my hat at it with a short story in my writing workshop and I got a lot of people telling me they "couldn't piece it all together" or they "didn't understand it." they're good if they're by cool smart authors, which three of those four examples are not. the peeps in your writing class might be really stupid but also your writing might be really bad. farewell
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Nov 15, 2016 09:58
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A human heart posted:they're good if they're by cool smart authors, which three of those four examples are not. the peeps in your writing class might be really stupid but also your writing might be really bad. farewell Thanks I guess. I'll give you Mitchell and King, but you seriously think McCarthy is bad? I've honestly only read Remainder, but I thought it was pretty great.
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Nov 15, 2016 10:15
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:So what's everyone's opinion on "experimental novels" that use different forms (letters, journals, transcripts, academic articles, etc.) to create a narrative? I tried my hat at it with a short story in my writing workshop and I got a lot of people telling me they "couldn't piece it all together" or they "didn't understand it." Read dictionary of the khazars you idiot
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Nov 15, 2016 14:00
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Books that experiment with form are actually the best when it's done by someone smart but they are mostly overrun by people whose main talent is the ability to think of stupid gimmicks
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Nov 15, 2016 14:02
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:So what's everyone's opinion on "experimental novels" that use different forms (letters, journals, transcripts, academic articles, etc.) to create a narrative? I tried my hat at it with a short story in my writing workshop and I got a lot of people telling me they "couldn't piece it all together" or they "didn't understand it." It really just depends. I'm pretty open to them in general, and I always appreciate the craft, but it doesn't always work out. Sometimes the storytelling gets thrown aside for form, which I dislike, especially if the plot or story is strong enough on it's own merits. Pale Fire was really good. I think that success comes down to defining the characters with their prose. After it gets moving, the poem and the footnotes have their own voice, and Nabakov's playfulness with Kinbote's ignorance does a lot to help this. I liked the project S. by J.J. Abrams & Doug Dorst, and thought it was a fun exploration of books/reading as a discussion between readers, reader and author, and the reader and the world. I've warmed up to Mark Z. Danielewski's typography novels from reading critiques and discussing it with other goons, though I still can't say I've actually enjoyed what I read. These books pull off negative space very well. By the story's end, there should be enough pieces for the reader to come to their own conclusion (or multiple conclusions). Adverbs by Daniel Handler is a collection of possibly interconnected short stories with a questionable amount of narrators exploring consequences of romance and love. Throughout the stories, there is a hidden plot that there is a volcano somewhere about to erupt and is going to destroy everything. It's an absurd twist that creates unease and danger in each of the stories. (His other adult novels are also experimental, though not for everyone. The Basic Eight is part diary, part textbook, with End of Chapter questions for the reader, and Watch Your Mouth, has an incredibly vulgar plot, and is a murder mystery involving Jewish folklore, told as an opera and a 12-Step Program.) Some other books I've peeked at, but haven't read entirely: The Raw Shark Texts, Wittgenstein’s Mistress, How to be Both, A Visit from the Goon Squad, Tree of Codes, Bad books: The Cry of the Sloth
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Nov 15, 2016 14:05
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There is no form or method, there is only emotion
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Nov 15, 2016 14:06
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Ras Het posted:There is no form or method, there is only emotion  
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Nov 15, 2016 14:08
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:So what's everyone's opinion on "experimental novels" that use different forms (letters, journals, transcripts, academic articles, etc.) to create a narrative? I tried my hat at it with a short story in my writing workshop and I got a lot of people telling me they "couldn't piece it all together" or they "didn't understand it." just copy cyclonpedia
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Nov 15, 2016 15:54
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Twerkteam Pizza posted:Also some recommendations that aren't epistolaries but are novels would be pretty cool. I really enjoyed Grief is the Thing with Feathers earlier this year, and I'm pretty sure it counts. It's short enough that it could done in an afternoon.
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Nov 15, 2016 18:00
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Franchescanado posted:Edit: Mel's also been quiet. Suicide pact? Still around you fuckers
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Nov 16, 2016 02:53
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Mel Mudkiper posted:Still around you fuckers I've been meaning to ask you, if you have to pick one: Caribou Island, Goat Mountain or Dirt?
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Nov 16, 2016 19:35
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Franchescanado posted:I've been meaning to ask you, if you have to pick one: Caribou Island, Goat Mountain or Dirt? I've only read Goat Mountain want to savor my remaining unread Vann
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Nov 16, 2016 19:36
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Mel Mudkiper posted:I've only read Goat Mountain I gotcha. I think I'm going to go with Dirt. The protagonist sounds interesting, and he talked about writing the family in an interview. Thanks, though.
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Nov 16, 2016 20:27
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some of you need to come sign up for the secret santa
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Nov 17, 2016 02:48
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im worried that if I sign up for secret santa one of the other book barn posters will assign me a brandon sanderson novel
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Nov 17, 2016 03:06
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:im worried that if I sign up for secret santa one of the other book barn posters will assign me a brandon sanderson novel The chances of that diminish if people from this thread participate.
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Nov 17, 2016 03:27
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no if i'm his secret santa i'm definitely giving him a brandon sanderson novel
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Nov 17, 2016 04:15
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Already got mine picked out https://www.amazon.com/177-Years-Your-Dick-completely/dp/1502310228
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Nov 17, 2016 04:34
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I'd call the number just to be sure.
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Nov 17, 2016 04:38
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Tree Goat posted:Already got mine picked out 
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Nov 17, 2016 04:54
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:im worried that if I sign up for secret santa one of the other book barn posters will assign me a brandon sanderson novel i got a brandon sanderson novel the one time i participated. i kinda liked it in the end tho
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Nov 17, 2016 08:30
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Lunchmeat Larry posted:im worried that if I sign up for secret santa one of the other book barn posters will assign me a brandon sanderson novel A legit fear, but the number one rule for "what present should I get" is "read his post where he said what he wanted". If you say no fantasy crap, you shouldn't get any. Tree Goat posted:Already got mine picked out Well come on and sign up then!
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Nov 17, 2016 15:29
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I will send a PDF chosen at random from my "Sex Magick" folder to all participants.
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Nov 18, 2016 17:47
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I just finished My Name is Red.. It was really good but I can't help think i may have missed a lot the book was offering due to being completely ignorant of the subject matter 🤔
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Nov 18, 2016 20:24
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Zesty Mordant posted:I'd call the number just to be sure. http://oceanvuong.tumblr.com/post/144062989130/uglyhonest-the-case-of-lovey-banh-lovey-banh someone did
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Nov 20, 2016 19:00
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I'm finishing out the year with Infinite Jest. So far it's okay, I've barely scraped the surface. The Eggars introduction was strained, though I've never read the guy before. It's a little wacky to make marijuana addiction as extreme as other addictions, but I get what it's going for.
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Nov 21, 2016 14:37
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