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148th out of 188 books
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Cartesian Sonata and Other Novellas
In the words of the late Walker Percy, William Gass is a God appears in the form of a demon to a young man named Luther, whose progress from devilish youth to satanic manhood is recounted with relish and horror.A profound exploration of good and evil, philosophy and action, marked by the wit and style that has always defined the work of William Gass.
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
January 28th 2000
by Basic Books
(first published 1998)
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"Emma Enters a Sentence of Elizabeth Bishop's" and "Bed & Breakfast" are gorgeous, haunting pieces of writing, and the title story is worth it alone for Gass's description of clairvoyancy on p. 36-37 ("Space wasn't space to Ella..."). My feelings on "The Master of Secret Revenges" are mixed, but I can't deny the sly and lasting power of what Gass is able to merely hint at through his prose, and the service done to his characters as a result, the feel of wh...more
I taught this in an advanced undergraduate philosophy course in Postmodernism, and it was a mixed success. The individual sentences that Gass writes are simply awesome, and the complexities of character/author relationships are very interestingly pursued. We read it along with Barthes on authorship, it produced a good conversation, but without much to resolve in the specific images and characters that Gass introduces. I'll look forward to reading some of his earlier work.
Sometimes infuriating, but always engaging, Gass has a poet's method of expression of detail and expansion of time and gift for characterization and revelation unmatched by the rest of the postmodernist crew. "Cartesian Sonata" is the weakest of the four novellas, but the remaining three increase in thematic and narrative intensity.
This is why I read. I'm a sucker for Gass' wordplay. I appreciate the continuity running through the stories. Pretty sure these must be read in the order presented. I plan to wade through "The Tunnel" next year.
Cartesian Sonata
Spooky, creepy and funny. Mind and matter in abject isolated solo existence.
Bed and Breakfast
Redemption by bric-a-brac. I couldn't avert the horrifying details as Walter Riffaterre is engulfed by them.
Emma Enters a Sentenc...more
Cartesian Sonata
Spooky, creepy and funny. Mind and matter in abject isolated solo existence.
Bed and Breakfast
Redemption by bric-a-brac. I couldn't avert the horrifying details as Walter Riffaterre is engulfed by them.
Emma Enters a Sentenc...more
Writes against the grain.
more than beautiful, which sometimes works in its favor, & sometimes against it. fueled on vagaries & peripatetics.
First I've read by William Gass. Liked one novella, Bed and Breakfast, very much. Didn't care for the title work, and didn't finish it. The other two pieces fell somewhere in between. Gass is a very talented writer, however.
Gass's prose is original. I've not read any other writers who can mimic him, nor found any living writer who can match him in the art of the sentence. Though there were parts I found difficult to follow, I enjoyed this book.
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Vicky
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Recommended to Vicky by:
the elizabeth bishop story caught my attention
Shelves:
novella,
short-stories
Koen
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Christopher McGill
marked it as to-read
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William Howard Gass (born July 30, 1924) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, critic, and former philosophy professor.
Gass was born in Fargo, North Dakota. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Warren, Ohio, where he attended local schools. He has described his childhood as an unhappy one, with an abusive, racist father and a passive, alcoholic mother; critics wou...more
More about William H. Gass...
Gass was born in Fargo, North Dakota. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Warren, Ohio, where he attended local schools. He has described his childhood as an unhappy one, with an abusive, racist father and a passive, alcoholic mother; critics wou...more
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