Nate D’s Comments (group member since Sep 17, 2012)

Nate D’s comments from the Completists' Club group.

I think I favor the idea of reading to completion over the practice.

I also think I tend to favor wide-reading over completion. But once I hit upon (through wide-reading) an author who intrigues me, I very much like the idea of reading the entirety of their work, even the less essential bits for the insight it provides (ie Anna Kavan's pre-experimental material). But I think I've yet to complete any single author, as I'm still attempting to gather in too many different directions for that level of focus.

But also an addition to my former list:

I'm going to take an arguably unorthodox position and say that Dennis Cooper's 5-part George Miles Cycle, probably to be reprinted as a single 700-odd-page tome at some point, is going to be looked back upon as one of the definitive works of the end of the 20th century. Despite its "pop" stylings (sure to be of greater sociological interest later), it's an incredibly intelligent formalist late-postmodern study of contemporary media representation, desire, and the artist's attempt to negotiate the two in order to to reconcile his own experience and create something transcendent (usually failed, but Cooper himself has indeed reconciled desire, representation, and art here to create something nearly perfect).

The entire cycle is also too fearless in addressing its subjects directly and uneuphemistically, to be widely processed in its own time, also a mark of a work that grows into its legacy. Given the tendency of past transgression to age into palatability and recognition, I could even see this winding up on school reading lists in a century. (Although, conversely, I'd like to think that this will always be a little too harsh (though too self-aware not to be funny as well) not to retain its danger.)

Actually I'd love to see some more wild guesses from others here!

Somehow, despite reading different books by several of those, I'm also still at utter zero point. Or wait, I have read "anything" by Barnes, at least. Not yet everything.

I actually re-read the last, incredible, chapter of Nightwood at a bookseller's table yesterday. I had the Dalkey-restored edition, so I wanted to scan an old New Directions uncorrected version for differences.

Looking back at this one. Steve Katz is on here?! There are some very non-concensus options on here, amongst the acknowledged behemoths. Interesting to see so much sci-fi being repped.

Everyone should definitely be reading Konwicki at least, that guy doesn't get enough credit!

How much of Miss MacIntosh did you manage to get through, MJ?

This seems a likely one for me as well.

Have read:
Death, Sleep, and the Traveler
Second Skin
The Lime Twig

On deck:
Lunar Landscapes
The Cannibal

Incidentally, Therese Raquin has been very loosely adapted into one of the best of the vampire movie wave of the last 10 years. It's so good that I'd actually really like to read that one especially.

Well done! You're knocking down all the behemoths of the post-war/modernism set.

right, definitely. And that's what I'll be interested in hearing from you, since everyone else is likely to have read them in the other order.

Ha, again I would say that Mercury is most interesting in light of the later, more (to me) developed work. However, I'll be intrigued to see how they strike you in that order, so I'll be waiting to read those reviews.

chronological re-reads -- interesting, but be careful not to expend your enthusiasm before reaching the key works. With Kavan in particular I think the earlier works are much more interesting if you have the context of the later work to go on. Unless you're only doing the stuff from post-name-change (leaving Helen Ferguson as a different author), in which case you should be all set.

Absolutely.

Since this has basically become my own Anna Kavan blog at this point (and possibly the most active and up-to-date source of Anna Kavan information on the web), maybe I should just actually collect all this information in its own blog of all things Kavan-related.

I'll keep posting here as well, but I think I'm going to gradually move everything over to a permanent home on tumblr. To these ends: housesofsleep.tumblr.com

To any who have desired to see or even purchase any of Kavan's visual art, a number of originals have appeared on Abebooks.

You have all done excellent work here.

Carla, the only Spark I've read was The Driver's Seat which I love (likewise the weird Italian film version) but what else should I check of hers next?

Would you consider ranking your top 10 or something?

Says the same NR who just completized the still-living Barth.

(but I agree -- it's not like Barth is going to suddenly appear with his most significant strings of works in years at this point, or Pynchon, or whoever).

Right, agreed on all of those. It's quite remarkable. But still leaves me wanting to see him turn such talents to something more adventurous. Dom Casmurro it will be then. Thanks.

That's how I have them as well, but they do form a kind of set together. I'm actually astonished that there wasn't a Calvino thread on here before, though.

I've read all the fictions besides Spiders, Folktales, and Palomar, as well as all of Our Ancestors and Under a Jaguar Sun. Plus, Six Memos. So 10/22.

It might be useful at some point to cross-index all the stories, so as not to miss any, and also to identify collections composed only of the elsewhere-available and dodge around those.