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I'm about a third of the way through William Gaddis' sprawling first novel, The Recognitions. Actually, sprawling is an inaccurate descriptor, for although the thing is over 900 pages long, so far his control of character, plot and theme has been iron-fisted. A truly amazing reading experience, I began it by setting a low pace for myself (around 10 pages a day) so that I wouldn't get fatigued. Now that it seems the main characters have all been introduced, the themes developed, and a major plot arc has begun, I find myself "cheating" and reading as much as 30 pages a night.
The main character of The Recognitions is a "failed" painter who is now forging the works of early masters. At the spot I'm at in the book, he's about to begin a forgery of a work by the perhaps-mythical Hubert Van Eyck, putative brother of Jan. I must now read Bright Earth (actually, I had attempted to get that one out of the library at the same time as this, but it was checked out) and learn more about pigments, media, etc.
If this book holds true to form, it would certainly be my favorite novel ever. It's very strange to be affected so much by a book, so far after my tastes have been formed.
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Other books - I finished Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer last week (my subway book). It's the first Mailer I've read, and I really enjoyed his style. The book is a novelization of his experience marching on the Pentagon with the Yippies, Fugs, etc. to protest the Vietnam war. It's subtitled "The Novel as History and History as a Novel." It certainly could be instructive in many ways in answering questions such as those raised about ANSWER in the current anti-war protests.
I'm almost done with Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow (this week's subway book). I've tried to read Bellow before (the adventures of Augie March) but never got anywhere. This book, however, is a treat. The main character is a delight, and as in The Recognitions the author has complete control of his themes, characters, plot, etc. Bellow is the only living American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in literature, and Martin Amis has taken him as his mentor. Well, Bellow is so far beyond Amis that it's ridiculous to include the two in the same sentence.
Does anyone have any favorite Bellow books for me to read next? |
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