Jonathan’s Comments (group member since Mar 05, 2009)

Jonathan’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

. . . hell no, i'm not having a go at him-- i think it's a brilliant plan-- if you can pull it off . . . the media stuff is exhausting, even if you're on the z list like me . . .

. . . it's not true that salinger turned his back on success . . .the guy sold a ton of books which provided for him quite comfortably, one would think . . . i think he just stopped interfacing with the media, and in doing so, created a mystique that kept his public profile up, without having to do any work . . . it may have begun as media burnout, but after awhile, i feel like his insularity was calculated . . .

. . . you're rockin' this post, monk!

. . . see, i feel like my novels ARE a window into my soul . . . i'd feel like i was lying if they didn't really reflect what was going on inside of me . . . maybe because i'm sorta' crazy, i don't compartmentalize my art too well . . . am i will miller? no, but i've got roughly the same heart, and the same values . . . there are 50+ characters in WOH, and i care about all of them, even to a certain extent the villainous ones . . . i guess it's a boundary thing with me . . . the art and the life are all wrapped up together . . .

. . .yeah, she can write, huh?

. . .spin away, my friend . . . but you're going to be dizzy by the time this is over!

. . .just to prove i'm a good sport, here's a great little essay by leslie jamison from 3G1B in which she waxes beautifully about faulkner:

http://threeguysonebook.com/when-we-f...

. . . once again, somebody makes me want to love faulkner . . .

. . . well, so much of what i respond to in a writer is his/her ability to empathize . . . and when a writer can do it so well they can make you cry, i'd like to think that the humanity is something they can just turn on and off, you know? . . . i mean, if they can really walk a mile in anybody's shoes, that means they've got the capacity to be an amazing person . . . it bugs me to think some people have it and just use it for their art . . .

. . .but brian, how do we know what milli vanilli sound like if they were lip syncing?

. . . these kind of stories always leave me ambivalent . . . i have no trouble imagining that salinger was a dickhead, i just want to believe that there's some correlation between a writer's greatness and his humanity . . .but history always foils this belief . . . hamsum, celine, etc. etc . . .

. . . np american beer, here! british ales mostly..

. . .why does franzen ALWAYS have to say something that makes him sound like a dick?

. . . we did a 50 rules for writers post, on three guys, one book, a few months ago . . .

here were mine:

1. Don’t write. Tell me a story.
2. Don’t include scenes just because they’re good scenes.
3. Don’t tell the story with your head, tell it with your body, even when it’s cerebral.
4. Don’t let overarching symbolism marginalize your characters.
5. Don’t show off, it doesn’t serve the story.
6. Don’t try to be culturally significant, just report the human condition
7. Don’t hide behind sarcasm.
8. Avoid obtuse narrative devices and ambiguous POV transitions.
9. Don’t be too explicit, the reader has a brain.
10. Don’t burden me with peripheral information, unless your intent is to distract.

. . . wow, what a title! . . . oh, the bygone era when publishers invested in authors instead of titles . . . like faulkner, steinbeck didn't enjoy commercial success until his fourth or fifth book . . . i have to wonder if some of those jazz record weren't skipping--ha!

. . . interesting that the reviewer should choose conrad for comparison . . . i believe english was conrad's third (?) language, and yet i have aneasier time with his dense prose than faulkner's . . . seriously, though, does anyone else sense at times that faulkner was inbibing heavily in said corn liquor while he wrote? . . . i'm not just being a jerk, here-- this is the seasoned drunk in me speaking . . . the spiralling structure of some of his sentences, the effusive, palpably wet, sound of them, honestly reminds me quite a bit of a loquacious drunk-speak sometimes . . . but his tiny exacting handwriting would seem to suggest otherwise . . . and can anybody confirm the legend than hemingway stood up and ate raw onions as he typed? . . . i would SO LOVE to see some of faulkner's handwriting, and have it analyzed! in fact, i'm going to look for some!

. . .i've been stalled, but i'm not blaming it on faulkner, i'm blaming it on rewrites . . .hoping to get some time in this evening . . .despite a little grumbling-- let's just say i'm a little wordworn ans sentencewearied, -- this is my favorite faulkner . . .

. . . as i recall, our own adrian invented a fictional minor 20the century poet . . .

. . . i LOVE night of the hunter!!!

. . .leeeeeeeeaaaaaaaan-ing leeeeeeaaaaaaaaan-ing . . .

. . . awesome news!!! this trip will renew phillip's faith in people!!!!

. . . great post, hugh, and as always, i'm glad to have somebody defending faulkner, because i always feel bad tearing him a new one . . . i guess i just don't trust him all that much . . .the fact that he seems to be showing off all the time, leaves me feeling like he's running interference . . .that you--one of the best readers i know--digs him, is about the only thing that gets me past the irritating language . . .

. . . love the themes and ambitions, though. . .

. . . i'll put you under the table, oro--i'm manic, i don't even feel them!