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Mr. Squishy posted:Pointing scrub readers to pugnacious contrarian Nabokov as a yardstick is bad advice. The Lectures are really accessible and each lecture is "here's a great author, this is why their books are good," in rough chronological sequence. The lecture on Dickens is particularly good. It's basically just "Literature 101 taught by Nabokov."
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Dec 18, 2017 15:45
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the problem is that a novice might get chased away from authors that are actually pretty good (dostoyevsky, thomas mann, faulkner, to name a few) on account of Nabokov's contrarian opinions
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Dec 18, 2017 16:16
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ulvir posted:the problem is that a novice might get chased away from authors that are actually pretty good (dostoyevsky, thomas mann, faulkner, to name a few) on account of Nabokov's contrarian opinions From what I remember he doesn't really talk about those in the Lectures but maybe I'm wrong or maybe he does in the ones on Russian literature. I've only read the English and even that's been a while. I'm mostly pointing to them because the first two Lectures, on Austen and Dickens respectively, a very concise and effective explications of why they should both be considered "great authors" despite the standard attacks ("writer for women," "paid by the word," etc.)
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Dec 18, 2017 16:28
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iirc he also throws some serious shade at professors who like mystery novels in the intro. I was looking for the quote couple days ago, but apparently have lost my copy of the book. Time to buy it again, I guess.
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Dec 18, 2017 21:14
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whatevz fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Apr 25, 2022 |
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Dec 19, 2017 04:10
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I've never read Louis Paul Boon, maybe I should, I can read him in Dutch! I haven't read enough Dutch authors. My favorite is probably Nescio. In high school you get told that Harry Mulisch is the greatest Dutch author but I always found him poo poo. Willem Frederik Hermans is good though.
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Dec 19, 2017 09:18
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Gerard Reve is the best one and you know it. Becoming a gay catholic reactionary alcoholic is basically finishing the end boss of European male authorship imo.Shibawanko posted:I've never read Louis Paul Boon, maybe I should, I can read him in Dutch! I haven't read enough Dutch authors. My favorite is probably Nescio. In high school you get told that Harry Mulisch is the greatest Dutch author but I always found him poo poo. Willem Frederik Hermans is good though. If you only read Dutch Dutch as opposed to regional dialects it might not be so easy, as he uses a lot of weird words. Do you know what scharten is?
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Dec 19, 2017 11:20
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Antwan3K posted:Gerard Reve is the best one and you know it. Becoming a gay catholic reactionary alcoholic is basically finishing the end boss of European male authorship imo. I don't, it means scratching, apparently. Probably cognate with the English word.
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Dec 19, 2017 12:06
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:
By far? I've never read it but I'm a little surprised anything he wrote could be better than bleak house. Are they comparable/iterative or is it apples and oranges ?
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Dec 19, 2017 15:19
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Jack B Nimble posted:By far? I've never read it but I'm a little surprised anything he wrote could be better than bleak house. Are they comparable/iterative or is it apples and oranges ? Well, I don't want to get too much into a debate over what amounts in the end to a question of personal taste. They're probably his two most autobiographical works, which is why they're both so good. Thing is Bleak House is based on stuff he saw while working in the law courts, while David Copperfield is based (to a large extent) on his own personal childhood experiences living as a London street urchin. Bleak House might be more technically adroit but Copperfield communicates far more emotion on each page. You'll laugh, you'll cry, it's better than Cats. Bleak House does have the advantage that it's the book Nabokov selected for his Lecture, so there's that. My paperback edition of Bleak House has that lecture as its introduction. I shouldn't speak too generally though because there are some Dickens books I haven't read. I still need to tackle Our Mutual Friend and The Old Curiosity Shop, and I can't bring myself to start Edwin Drood because the lack of ending would be a woodpecker in my brain forever afterwards. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 15:56 on Dec 19, 2017 |
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Dec 19, 2017 15:53
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:I can't bring myself to start Edwin Drood because the lack of ending would be a woodpecker in my brain forever afterwards. george bernard shaw and g.k. chesterton put on a murder trial to figure out drood's murderer, and i think that was a much more satisfying endeavor.
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Dec 19, 2017 16:33
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I didn't love Rings of Saturn, half the time I felt like I was reading an encyclopedia
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Dec 20, 2017 11:48
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Ras Het posted:I didn't love Rings of Saturn, half the time I felt like I was reading an encyclopedia Rings of Saturn is his most delirious novel, tied with Vertigo. Read Austerlitz in which the narrators reveries are more bound to the plot. Or don't, because Sebald's style is consistent between his novels. Although I have heard that he is more funny and less sombre/antiquarian in German.
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Dec 20, 2017 12:46
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Can't say I liked the only Sebald book i read (Emigrants) very much either, i think it requires a particular way of reading, which comes easy to some people but seems unnatural to me
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Dec 20, 2017 14:24
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The Emigrants IS Austerlitz, isn’t it?
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Dec 21, 2017 00:06
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Heath posted:The Emigrants IS Austerlitz, isn’t it? No. At least, I hope not, since I got them both in the mail today.
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Dec 21, 2017 01:19
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 Modern literature critique is getting paid big bucks to shitpost "really makes u think" in the new york times.
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Dec 21, 2017 03:54
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In case it hasn't been talked about enough ITT, I finally got my hands on Lincoln in the Bardo and really enjoyed it. I'm always a sucker for themes of death and remembrance though.
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Dec 21, 2017 05:52
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Heath posted:The Emigrants IS Austerlitz, isn’t it? No it's a collection of 4 narratives about Emigrants while Austerlitz is entirely about 1 Emigrant (also about hotels and train stations and time as a river vs time as a ditch)
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Dec 21, 2017 08:57
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quit being a loving child and read lincoln in the bardo
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Dec 21, 2017 19:19
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I really really dont care about dead presidents though
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Dec 22, 2017 08:47
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I'm out for them to represent me.
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Dec 22, 2017 08:59
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Powaqoatse posted:I really really dont care about dead presidents though He's alive at the time the book's set.
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Dec 22, 2017 10:33
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I assumed as much. Alas, I still don't care 
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Dec 22, 2017 10:36
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It's not a loving biography dude
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Dec 22, 2017 11:21
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chernobyl kinsman posted:quit being a loving child and read lincoln in the bardo I refuse
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Dec 22, 2017 11:59
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Dr. Kloctopussy posted:It's not a loving biography dude I know, but another thing I don't care for is historical fiction about real people so Whatever, it's alright.
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Dec 22, 2017 13:42
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I bet this modern American man has really interesting insights.
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Dec 22, 2017 15:22
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Powaqoatse posted:I really really dont care about dead presidents though the only good American is a dead American
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Dec 22, 2017 15:34
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Lol and you guys make fun of me for my poo poo taste. At least I try new things
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Dec 22, 2017 15:51
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Shibawanko posted:I've never read Louis Paul Boon, maybe I should, I can read him in Dutch! I haven't read enough Dutch authors. My favorite is probably Nescio. In high school you get told that Harry Mulisch is the greatest Dutch author but I always found him poo poo. Willem Frederik Hermans is good though. Yes, read boon. Thank you. Antwan3K posted:Gerard Reve is the best one and you know it. Becoming a gay catholic reactionary alcoholic is basically finishing the end boss of European male authorship imo. I've never read Reve. Now I want to.
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Dec 22, 2017 16:10
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Powaqoatse posted:I know, but another thing I don't care for is historical fiction about real people so thanks for keeping us in the loop about your boring preferences man
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Dec 22, 2017 16:58
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There’s a scene in Lincoln in the Bardo where, while running after Abraham Lincoln, a ghost has to carry his feet-long penis in his hands to avoid tripping over it and that alone makes it worth reading imo
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Dec 22, 2017 17:06
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derp posted:'Lol and you guys make fun of me for my poo poo taste. At least I try new things' - man arrested at scene of sewer depravity
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Dec 22, 2017 17:20
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chernobyl kinsman posted:thanks for keeping us in the loop about your boring preferences man no prob  smug n stuff posted:There’s a scene in Lincoln in the Bardo where, while running after Abraham Lincoln, a ghost has to carry his feet-long penis in his hands to avoid tripping over it and that alone makes it worth reading imo alright that sounds fun, might give it a shot
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Dec 22, 2017 17:22
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smug n stuff posted:There’s a scene in Lincoln in the Bardo where, while running after Abraham Lincoln, a ghost has to carry his feet-long penis in his hands to avoid tripping over it and that alone makes it worth reading imo I'm a bit uneasy at this shift in literary taste towards the relatable
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Dec 22, 2017 17:23
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smug n stuff posted:There’s a scene in Lincoln in the Bardo where, while running after Abraham Lincoln, a ghost has to carry his feet-long penis in his hands to avoid tripping over it and that alone makes it worth reading imo That sounds good but the best book about ghosts with big dicks is Ghosts by Cesar Aira
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Dec 22, 2017 18:59
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pepperoni and keys posted:That sounds good but the best book about ghosts with big dicks is Ghosts by Cesar Aira Dona Flor and her Two Husbands 
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Dec 22, 2017 21:06
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chernobyl kinsman posted:i like the bit where the guy repeatedly rolls a pebble down his huge cock
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Dec 22, 2017 23:03
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I like the ghosts that miss the masses of ghosts passing on because they're having an orgy
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Dec 22, 2017 23:06
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