Thursday Palaver
Time to get back on the horse, club monkeys.
posted by Rake @ 7:34 PM
Gaddis Drinking Club
Reading "The Recognitions", Drink in Hand.
Important Links
The Gaddis Annotations Site and their annotations of the Recognitions.
Schedule
[Section] [pages] [date]
2.3 390-445 (1/16)
2.4 446-486 (1/23)
2.5 487-541 (1/30)
2.6 542-567 (2/6)
2.7 568-646 (2/13)
2.8 647-699 (2/20)
2.9 700-720 (2/27)
3.1 723-732 + 3.2 733-768 (3/6)
3.3 769-823 (3/13)
3.4 824-855 (3/20)
3.5 856-900 (3/27)
Epilogue 901-956 (4/3)
Contributors
Previous Posts
- “the static sane side outside to another outside s...
- In the Club
- Happy Birthday W.G.!
- “...that streak of cacodaemonic extravagance sunde...
- Holiday Hiatus
- William Gaddis and David Markson
- Pre-Friday Hi-Jinx
- Religion and Art
- Attribution and Signatures
- Life Imitating Art in Story About Man Imitating Ar...
15 Comments:
Let me just start by saying that the Gaddis reading has been slow going of late. Feels like I'm negotiating one of those barbed wire obstacle courses--surely I'm missing quite a bit, but nonetheless, I'm trying to forge ahead while staying as close to the ground as possible.
(And that concludes this installment of "All Along the Western Front.")
hi Rake, I'm here, fistful of Kleenexes in one hand, glass of Mad Fish shiraz in the other.
So what did you get for Xmas? (That never got discussed last week.)
Ah, lessee.
An iPod. That Thomas Frank book. "In the Shadow of No Towers." A nifty new Carhartt sweatshirt & hat. Wife & I received a digital camera, so I'm sure a pic of my bookshelves is on the way.
Oh, and The Cryptonomicon.
You?
Ooh, Mr. Tingle just started rereading Cryptonomicom. He had finished the Baroque Cycle and wanted to revisit some of the characters (which are first mentioned in Crypto.)
I already told my cool presents on the blog -- b/c have self-control of a five year old. The collected John Ruskin was a highlight. Also, my hubby has arranged for me to have a new Apple laptop, which I didn't think I needed but now think is awesome.
Sorry to be all unfaluting like this. I find it hard to think when I have a cold, and we've been watching "Anchorman" which tagged off another 10 IQ points.
Have you read any other Stephenson?
And/or why do you think you're having trouble with the Gaddis?
This will be my first Stephenson. People in the know demanded that I read this, and a long book is just what I needed right now. (Ugh.)
I've read Snowcrash and Diamond Age and enjoyed them both.
By the way, I just finished Perfect Circle today ... by Sean Stewart(?). Have you read it? I think you would like it. And it's v. short.
I think my issue with the Gaddis is that I'm generally distractable (and presently distracted--my drugs of choice are "The O.C." and bourbon), and when that's the case, I tend to start to skim books, and in the case of T. Recs. that can leave one completely lost.
Oh, and the laziness. Always the laziness.
Perfect Circle? I'll check it out.
Sometimes I worry that so much time on the Internet has made my attention span even more frittery. The Ruskin's nice long immersion, though. He's pretty kickass. But yeah, even from him I wander off to watch "Buffy" episodes on endless repeat.
But yeah, Perfect Circle. V. v. good -- ghosts and punk rock and a whole East Texas sensibility.
I made major scores at the library yesterday and have Jim Shepard too.
Ooh ooh ooh, I just remembered: I've been meaning to ask you about David Bezmozgis. Didn't you mention liking him , over at Ed's? Did you see the most recent Wood essay in LRB? I was wondering what you thought of Bezmozgis (if I'm not getting confused)...
But now I'm getting sleepy and vaporish.
I loved "Natasha"--possibly my favorite book of the year.
I have not seen the JW essay, to continue the thought.
But Bezmozgis reminds me--at least, his writing reminds me--of Denis Johnson's "Jesus' Son." Something very economical about it, plus a little I-know-not-what there that makes it resonate in a strange and lovely way.
Rake, Make sure to report back on "In the Shadow". I hated it.
Sorry I missed the talk, I totally forgot it was Thursday. It's been a long weird week.
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