Currently Reading

[cheerios]

The Collected Works of Bruno Schulz

[billygomberg]

[surfer]

Is there anything in that you cant get from Burden of Dreams?

[orangettecoleman]

I didn't realize this existed. Beeline for the library!

[Gaendaal]

A social history of the medieval underclasses (homosexuals, prostitutes, mystics, the excommunicated, and so on). Interesting so far.

[billygomberg]

Is there anything in that you cant get from Burden of Dreams?

I'm only partly through the book right now, and would say they compliment each other very well. I'm really enjoying Herzog's language (how clearly it translates to his films). Obviously, part of the impact of Burden Of Dreams (and Fitzcarraldo of course) is the photography and the landscape, which doesn't come across so much in writing, but the milieu in Peru, the complications amongst the film world and the press, and Herzog's own inner prose is worth it.

[surfer]

"I don't see how anybody could like my books or could even understand them. They are unreadable." - Felipe Alfau

Still meandering my way through this, and its wonderful. I could even call it a masterpiece. The narrator and his friend Garcia's stories reminds me of Scheherazade in 1000 and 1 Nights, stories within stories, leading to other stories, half finished, sketches, summaries, false starts, proposed rewrites, all adding up to a richly layered narrative paella. Alfau is a criminally underrated writer, writing in a lightly metafictional style (similar to Calvino) back in the 20s and early 30s whose only real contemporary afaik would be another proto-post-modernist Flann O'Brien (though "At Swim Two Birds" did not get published until 1939 - not sure when he wrote it - so Alfau might predate even him), though Alfau is clearly influenced by Cervantes and others. Anyway, Alfau refused payment when Steven Moore of the Dalkey Press "discovered" his first collection of stories "Locos" at a garage sale in Massachusetts and decided to republished it, insisting Dalkey publish this, his only other major work (he also has a collection of poetry and a children's book) "Chromos" instead, which had been sitting in a desk drawer since 1948 unpublished (he wrote "Chromos" in the early 30s iirc). Amazing to think how close this came to slipping through the cracks of history.

[leroysghost]

i remember taking a stab at Locus and agreeing with the author as to it's unreadableness (i came no where near finishing it, it's style was far too cute and insubstantial for my taste). is Chromos significantly different/better/more sophisticated?

on a quick skim, this article looks like it might be of interest: http://www.barcelonareview.com/12/e_fa_ret1b.htm

also of interest:

O'Nolan first explored the idea of fictional characters rebelling against their creator in a short story titled "Scenes in a novel", published in the UCD literary magazine Comhthrom Féinne (Ir., "Fair Play") in 1934. The story was a first-person narrative ostensibly written by a novelist called Brother Barnabas, whose characters become tired of doing his bidding and who eventually conspire to murder him

Locos was written in 1928 but not published until 1936, so even if the two didn't directly influence each other, such ideas were certainly "in the air" at the time.

Is there anything in that you cant get from Burden of Dreams?

[ I ] would say they compliment each other very well. I'm really enjoying Herzog's language (how clearly it translates to his films). Obviously, part of the impact of Burden Of Dreams (and Fitzcarraldo of course) is the photography and the landscape, which doesn't come across so much in writing, but the milieu in Peru, the complications amongst the film world and the press, and Herzog's own inner prose is worth it.

+1.

i'm a huge fan of Herzog's writing style (Of Walking In Ice is one of my favorite books, full stop) so i'm pretty biased, but i think there is a lot to gain from the first person perspective. very interesting to see how some of the musings and observations wound up making it into the film, for instance.


Philippe Petit - To Reach the Clouds

and speaking of Herzog style, i loved this (much more so than the film). a very short and easy read. the first person narrative is harrowing, i felt anxious quite a few times just reading. well worth your time if you can get your hands on the hardcover (i saw the paperback retitled "man on wire" in a bookstore today and it looked like shit).

[cheerios]

William T. Vollmann - Argall


Supposedly the story of Pochahauntus and John Smith written only in a way that Vollmann could. It's really capturing my attention so far, a pretty thick book, but I should be able to finish it by the end of next week (a guesstimate). IDK Vollmann's writing style has always been an easy read for me, even though it's totally scatterbrain and obscure. Looking forward to this.

[carlos]

Kem Nunn- Pomona Queen

my third Nunn (Unassigned Territory, Tapping The Source) - i like this one well enough. Tapping The Source is his best i've read.

[surfer]

i remember taking a stab at Locus and agreeing with the author as to it's unreadableness (i came no where near finishing it, it's style was far too cute and insubstantial for my taste). is Chromos significantly different/better/more sophisticated?

on a quick skim, this article looks like it might be of interest: http://www.barcelonareview.com/12/e_fa_ret1b.htm

also of interest:

O'Nolan first explored the idea of fictional characters rebelling against their creator in a short story titled "Scenes in a novel", published in the UCD literary magazine Comhthrom Féinne (Ir., "Fair Play") in 1934. The story was a first-person narrative ostensibly written by a novelist called Brother Barnabas, whose characters become tired of doing his bidding and who eventually conspire to murder him

Locos was written in 1928 but not published until 1936, so even if the two didn't directly influence each other, such ideas were certainly "in the air" at the time.

.

Is it significantly different? no, obviously not, its almost like the same book, and has many of the same characters like Dr. De Los Rios, Garcia, Fulano, and others.

Is it better? Well I read Locos almost 15 years ago when it was first republished by Penguin, when they bought up the rights from Dalkey Archive. This is the edition I have



seems like this Penguin edition is not around anymore. Anyway, I was 22 at the time, and I'm not sure whether I had already discovered Calvino, perhaps I had, but Locos floored me. I hope to read it again soon, maybe just the story "Identity", because there is a connection to Fulano in Chromos that I'd forgotten.

Anyway, Chromos has all the best qualities of Calvino, Marquez, Borges, O'Brien and others. Its very funny actually, and because its not translated (Alfau wrote in English even though his native tongue was Spanish), it has the grace of a native speaker with a slight Latinate accent. If you think Calvino and the others I mentioned are "too cute", then this wont be your thing. And at 350 pages, its quite a bit longer than even the longest Calvino, so if you think his style might irritate you in a longer form, you might not like this. But if none of that turns you off, and you are interested in a writer that predates them all, and incorporates elements of Spanish folklore, Einstein's Theory of Relativity, metafictional slights of hand, and witty and strong storytelling, I highly recommend this. I keep referring to Calvino, because like him, Alfau has an interest in the elasticity of time and motion and narrative, while maintaining strong roots in his native folklore. In his Six Memos For The Next Millennium, Calvino talks about the 5 qualities he values most in literature:

1. Lightness
2. Quickness
3. Exactitude
4. Visibility
5. Multiplicity

These are the qualities that make Chromos such a wonderful read imo.

I'll have to read that Barcelona Review article later, thanks for the link.

[surfer]

Kem Nunn- Pomona Queen

my third Nunn (Unassigned Territory, Tapping The Source) - i like this one well enough. Tapping The Source is his best i've read.

I love Nunn for obvious reasons, Carlos you have to read Dogs Of Winter, his best after Tapping The Source. Another similar book and writer I really recommend to those who like Nunn, is a book that was one of NYT notable books from a few years ago, Tim Winton's Breath. Excellent.

[carlos]

I love Nunn for obvious reasons, Carlos you have to read Dogs Of Winter, his best after Tapping The Source. Another similar book and writer I really recommend to those who like Nunn, is a book that was one of NYT notable books from a few years ago, Tim Winton's Breath. Excellent.

surfer- thanks. been meaning to pick up Dogs of Winter. i'll keep and eye out for Breath also.

[hnismokehash]

Does anyone have any recommendations to books about the Cultural Revolution?

Son Of The Revolution by Liang Heng & Judith Shapiro really blew me away when i first read it, kind of kick started my interest in modern chinese history. liang heng was pretty young when the cultural revolution started and both his parents were labeled 'rightists' during the cultural revolution, so its really interesting seeing the whole thing through his eyes.

[Stevo]

Finished The wisdom Of whores by Elizabeth Pisani after having it out of the library unread for too long. Very interesting book on attempts to combat aids mainly in the 3rd world & how its being mismanaged thanks to wrong ideologies getting in the way.
Christian groups not wanting to countenance the free distribution of condoms or needles when either would seriously help prevent the spread of the disease. & how money from the US gets wasted in needing to be spent on US domestic products when it would be much cheaper to buy locally in Asia/Africa. as in massively cheaper, factors of 10 or 20 etc.

Before that I read Rob Young's electric Eden which was very interesting. I'd heavily reccommend it with the probabler exceptions of the short fiction passages about Puck/the Rocket cottage.
Very interesting history of folk revivals in UK centrally focused on the late 60s/early 70s acid/wyrd/britfolk stuff I love.

Now reading a book called Shopped on the detrimental effect of the supermarket in the UK. in terms of quality of produce & expectations of the same by the populace. Very nasty in that supermarkets are forcing quality food out of existence with preference for supposedly good looking stuff that's virtually tasteless. Bankrupting suppliers en route thanks to sudden cancellations of longstanding orders, non security of purchase, forcing suppliers to pay to supply etc. Seems like the kind of thing I should have read a long time back and adjusted my diet/ buying habits accordingly.
Thanks to this I went & checked out the one local cheese shop that actually cares for its product rather than wanting to get rid of the bacteria providing most flavour , since it bubbles the shrinkwrap. Bloody nice to get really tasty cheese after buying its sham alternative.

[diederich]

I finished 2666 awhile ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I honestly didn't expect threads to be wrapped up, not that there weren't loose threads but I thought the way he ended it was somewhat brilliant. Also, goddamn can he write.

Am reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell next, long overdue on this one.

For nonfiction it's all New York Review of Books and New Yorker catchup, plus dipping in and out of Sorting Things Out: Classification and its Consequences by Bowker and Star which is fascinating and highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in information science/classification generally.

[Stevo]

A social history of the medieval underclasses (homosexuals, prostitutes, mystics, the excommunicated, and so on). Interesting so far.

I think Terry jones of Monty python fame wrote a few pretty decent books reinvestigating the Medieval worldview. I know his book on Chaucer's Knight in which he overturns the traditional view on the character as exemplifying virtue was a very good read. I think it was the only one I read though, did mean to read others especially in the light of seeing his tv shows on the medieval world.

[Stevo]

plus dipping in and out of Sorting Things Out: Classification and its Consequences by Bowker and Star which is fascinating and highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in information science/classification generally.

I read George Lakoff's book Women, Fire & Dangerous things a few years ago on the subject of the artificiality of category and the idea's stuck with me ever since. Very interesting book. I might try and find a copy & reread it.

This sounds interesting too.

[jenn devious]

[splityourwig]

Cerebral, short-story fiction, mostly with settings of urban dread, relying on the uncanny (as in psychoanalysis) to create subtle tension and thick-as-fuck atmosphere. Amazing stuff. Ligotti is the best contemporary horror writer going, I feel.

Concrete and unremittingly nihilistic. No surprise -- Ligotti elsewhere cited Thomas Bernhard and E.M. Cioran as two major sources of inspiration.