I Watched the World Glide Effortlessly Bye: And Other Pieces

by Richard Brautigan

This is the shortest novel of Richard Brautigan.

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1996

About the author

Richard Brautigan was an American novelist, poet, and short-story writer. Born in Tacoma, Washington, he moved to San Francisco in the 1950s and began publishing poetry in 1957. He started writing novels in 1961 and is probably best known for his early work Trout Fishing in America. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1984.

Reviews

[Mat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Four and a half stars, but what the hell, let's round it up to five.

I have been a fan of Brautigan's writing for over 10 years now and this year, being the 40th anniversary of his death, I thought I would start reading him again, taking up novels of his I had read before such as Trout Fishing in America and In Watermelon Sugar, reading his poetry, and also checking out some of his lesser known works, including this.

This is a small selection of short stories and poems that were found among the blood-spattered notebooks Brautigan left behind when he shot himself in 1984. Some of the material dates back to the really early years when he was living in Eugene, OR, before he headed to San Francisco and his late-sixties fame.

The stories and poems in this collection are very minimalist, like Beckett's late work, but less complex than Beckett. Becket's work seemed to get more and more compressed but beautiful at the same time. Brautigan's easygoing style is a real joy to read and these stories capture a sparkling but very fragile sense of innocence.

The closing words to "a visit from jake" sent shivers down my spine - "You just don't really appreciate people until after they've been dead for a few years."

I've been very disappointed with the lack of critical attention Brautigan has received since his passing in the mid-80s. Some Beat writers like Kerouac and Burroughs (especially Burroughs) have finally come to be recognized as great writers of their time. Although he is not what I would call a 'Beat', he is of that same generation, essentially, and I REALLY hope Brautigan is rediscovered one day for the genius that he was. Ishmael Reed summed it up perfectly when he called Brautigan "the Picasso of literature."

Highly recommended, especially for Brautigan fans (obviously) but copies of this are hard to track down. Good luck.

[Andrei Mocuţa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a novel very minimalistic in content but very ingenious in technique.
Don't let yourselves fooled by the table of contents: even though the first part has 26 chapters and the second part has 57 chapters, it's really not that long.
You should also check the Romanian translation of the novel, but I doubt you will find it.