Nathan "N.R."’s Comments (group member since Sep 17, 2012)

Nathan "N.R."’s comments from the Completists' Club group.

Hadrian wrote: "I'm missing the Copernicus and Afghanistan Picture Show."

Only one to go? Till the next one drops.

Jim wrote: "Story ratios?! Sounds intriguing. Post if you come across the paper some time. "

; )

Jim wrote: "I wasn't thinking of the first 3 as needed for G G-B, but as an introduction to his canon."

In which case, I think you'll be happy to go mano-a-mano with Giles as introductory matter. I preferred Sot-Weed for that purpose for my own preference. Either/or. But there's not much stylistic continuity twixt the first twins and the second twins and no stylistic continuity twixt those two second twins. And they're packed with a [story :: difficulty] ratio of something in the range of [23 :: 6], but I've misplaced the paper which produced those rather profound numbers.

Jim wrote: "I'll be reading Giles Goat-Boy this November with the BP group, but to prepare, I also bought his first 3 novels. Hopefully I can get them read over the next 6 months... "

I can't say that those three will be of any assistance for Goat-Boy, but you'll still wanna have them for the time when you approach LETTERS. The only prep you might need for Goat-Boy is that Heroes Journey, Joseph Campbell's will serve just fine, and really you need only have a copy of the graphic taped to your library wall. Perhaps one of these: https://www.google.com/search?q=Hero%...
Barth's own accounting of his encounter with the hero myth can be found in The Friday Book (possibly Further Fridays, but likely the first one._

Richard wrote: "lots more funner than ackshully trying to completionize awthers. "

You must be wrong on that account because I feel Heavenly Joy descending upon me as I approach Completionization of: Gaddis, Barth, Theroux, DFW, and perhaps someone else in there. Joy!!!

Uh, yeah, it's called the Completists' Club. We Completionize authors till the don't want no mor'.

[sorry, but yeah, I know that Enlgish is already ugly enough without my making it more so]

Barthian Completionism.

Shortly, perhaps not before too long, two slim volumes to be delectitized, his final (please no!) twinned volumes of fiction, short stuff, Coming Soon!!! to my red shelves:

The Development
Every Third Thought: A Novel in Five Seasons

Also, see my Tidewater Tales review linked above in # 14 for a cute twinning of Barth's books. (April is Likes month!)

ee gads! Almost there. Outstanding merely:

Three Wogs
Primary Colors
Secondary Colors

And even so I suspect MJ will have completionized Theroux before I.

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "I've got CG and Frolic pending. His letters are being published early next year."

Outstanding is alone Frolic. Letters have a review pending and CG got knocked over in January. Next up will be the bio by Tabbi, for which yet no schedule.

I've chalked myself up for all the novels and all the critical stuff. Selected and other works of course should I run across them. I make no commitment in regard to the poetry.

Novels

Double or Nothing Swallow Press. Re-issued by Ohio University Press, 1976. New revised edition, Fiction Collective Two, 1991.
Amer Eldorado Written in French, Editions Stock, Paris, 1974. New Editions revised and expanded, Weidler Buchverlag, 2001.
Take It Or Leave It The Fiction Collective, 1976. New revised edition, Fiction Collective Two, 1997.
The Voice in the Closet / La Voix Dans le Cabinet de Débarras (Bilingual novel), Coda Press, 1979. Re-issued Station Hill Press, 1985. New edition, Starchrone Books, 2001. New expanded edition Impressions Nouvelles, 2001.
The Twofold Vibration Indiana University Press & Harvester Press Ltd., 1982.
Smiles on Washington Square Thunder's Mouth Press, 1985.
To Whom It May Concern Fiction Collective Two, 1990.
La Fourrure de ma Tante Rachel (written in French) Éditions Circé, 1997.
Loose Shoes Weidler Verlag, 2001.
Aunt Rachel's Fur Fiction Collective Two, 2001.
Mon corps en neuf parties Editions Al Dante, 2003.
A qui de droit (French) Al Dante, 2003. New edition, 2006.
Retour au fumier Editions Al Dante, 2005.
My Body in Nine Parts Starcherone Books, 2005.
Return To Manure Fiction Collective Two, 2006.
Chut(French) Léo Scheer, 2008.
The Carcasses (A Fable) BlazeVOX Books, 2009.
SHHH: The Story of a Childhood Introduction and Edited by Davis Schneiderman. Starcherone. 2010.

Poetry

Among the Beasts / Parmi Les Monsters (Bilingual poems) Milas-Martin Editions, 1967.
Me Too Westcoast Poetry Press, 1975.
Duel-L (Poems in English/French/German). The Stop-over Press, 1991.
Now Then / Nun denn (Bilingual Poems in English & German) Edition Isele, 1992.
99 hand written poems = 99 poèmes faits à la Main Weidler Buchverlag, 2001.
Here and Elsewhere: Poetic Cul de Sac Six Gallery Press, 2003.
Surcomixxxx (English and German with comic strips illustrations). Ed. Dirk Gortler. Klauss Isele, 2003.
Ici et ailleurs / Here & elsewhere Le Mot et le reste, 2004.
L'extatique de Jule & Juliette Le Mot et le reste, 2006.
Chair Jaune (English & French) Le Bleu du Ciel, 2007.

Critical Work

Journey into Chaos: Samuel Beckett's Early Fiction University California Press, 1965. Reprinted by Books on Demand, 1998.
Samuel Beckett, His Works and His Critics: An Essay in Bibliography (with John Fletcher). University California Press, 1970.
Surfiction: Fiction Now & Tomorrow Editor, Swallow Press, 1975. Revised & expanded edition, Ohio University Press, 1981.
Samuel Beckett (Co-Editor with Tom Bishop). Editions de L'Herne, 1976. New edition, Hachette, 1985.
Samuel Beckett the Critical Heritage (Co-Editor with Lawrence Graver). Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1978.
Critifiction: Postmodern Essays State University of New York Press, 1993.

Selected Other Works

The Rigmarole of Contrariety (Limited edition chapbook) The Bolt Court Press, 1982.
Eine Version meines Lebens (Autobiography with photos, in German) Maro Verlag, 1993.
The Supreme Indecision of the Writer: The 1994 Lectures in Turkey (Essays) The Boltcourt Press, 1995.
The Line, 1996.
The Precipice and Other Catastrophes / der abgrund und andere katastrophen (Collected Plays, bilingual edition, English/German). Ed. Thomas Harti. Poetry Salzburg, 1999.
The Twilight of the Bums (with George Chambers), 2002.[15]
More Loose Shoes and Smelly Socks Six Gallery Press, 2005.
Coup de Pompes (Fragments d’écriture). Le Mot & Le Reste, 2007.
The Sam Book (Memoir), Two Ravens, 2008.
Federman A to X X X X: A Recyclopedic Narrative

wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_...

Carla wrote: "Jessica, I see that everyone posting author threads lists every single book, including letters and bios. With Willa Cather, my goodness, that would take e while. I don't typically enjoy biographi..."

Carla--
As Jessica says, many many of the lists here are simple copy n paste. I've included occasionally things like bios and letters in my completionist lists because the author has few books, or because of the status of some of these studies and collections. James Joyce, for example, who has only four major works, was biographicalized by Ellmann whose work is usually taken as on of the better bio's written, and Joyce's letters are voluminous and peculiar. Which is all only to say that the completionist circle drawn around various authors varies from author to author and reader to reader. One of the interesting questions up for grabs in this forum is about what should and what need not count toward our readerly completionism. [only Kafka's includes laundry lists. ; ) ]

Say Something About MJ

Thanks for having organized this group, MJ. It corrects for one of many failures in the general organization of goodreads. Most useful this little space is.

Outstanding photography, Nate.

John E. Woods is a genius.

Nate D wrote: "Also, as of this afternoon, I have held a copy of Evening Edged in Gold in my real hands and it's even more insane than I was prepared for. Details when I have a chance to upload images."

Book porn! That's now something to look forward to. Take a picture of every page so I can read it. ; )

Larou wrote: "Oh, and some googling turned up this biblography of Elkin's works according to which there is no overlap between Early Elkin and Criers and Kibitzers "

Thanks, Larou. That's a fantastic bibliography. Ali, would you add a link to it in post #1?

I'll join you some day, passively, without ever making the joyous old man a priority. But I've only read Bad Man, S&S, and his best of.

Jim wrote: "Like this?


作為一個青年藝術家的肖像


(A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)"

And this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-...

Larou wrote: "He is just so essentially German, not only the language with the permanent punning and the idiosyncratic ortography but his whole attitude - the rudeness, the stubborness, the showing off of obscure erudition - just screams "Teutonic!" to me."

And the enticements continue! How about the Irishman Joyce in Chinese?

Nate D wrote: "Maybe you'll entice more readers "

I've still not read word one from him, but for some odd constellation of impressions, none confirmed, which seem to indicate that magic words can be said about Schmidt (Jahnn, too)--isn't there something familiar about the size, shape and out-of-printness and never-readness about both Zettels Traum und Fluß ohne Ufer--that I feel an Ali boiling up, schilling upon books and authors I know only by a fantastically formed fantasy of greatness, I flatter myself, and beginning to shout from Alpenhöhe in an Ali-inflected voice the grandeur of the great unread German novels.

Meanwhile, Sir Nate D of the Actually Having Read Deutsche Grossheiten, please draw the attention of readers to these Vergessene.