Nathan "N.R."’s Comments (group member since Oct 28, 2012)

Nathan "N.R."’s comments from the William T Vollmann Central group.

Tom wrote: "I've long thought that the best of the case studies should be edited into one volume showcasing his journalism. "


I'd rather have a third volume collecting his post-2001 journalism! But, yeah, (at least) some of V & VI ought to be reprinted.

Not that it was ever terribly difficult to find a used copy, but I was pleased to find at The Village Bookshop yesterday that Penguin has provided another printing of their edition of YBARA.
https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Angels-...

I still find it (a bit) strange that this Cartoon is already on the way towards RURD. Even if in retrospect it makes plenty of sense. I can't help but trilogize ::

YBARA
RURD
EC

(damn abbreviations look like secret code!)
Naturally, one would include some other stuff ;; Afghanistan Picture Show ; Argal already cites RURD.

Chris wrote: "I haven't seen this anywhere here but may have missed it. With all the recent talk about RURD there is an Oral History of the publication of the book (which I happen to be a small part of).
https:/..."

So that was you!? Sweet!

And I have a soft spot for Carla Bolte, his book designer with Viking :: “I know he’s probably a genius and everything, but Bill’s just such a sweetheart. He puts so much of his desire for goodness into his books. So in a way, it’s as if each letter of every word he writes is like a little kiss. I guess that’s a lot of letters in this particular book. He’s a very generous man.”

William T. Vollmann: A Critical Companion now out in pb (but still forty=five bucks) ::
https://www.amazon.com/William-T-Voll...

Definitely one of the finer works of criticism I've read in the past few years. Really delightful ; and required reading for all you Vollmanniacs.

I seem to have missed this interview ::

"William T. Vollmann Channels His Female Alter-Ego Dolores in His First Art Exhibit"
By Heather Corcoran
January 27, 2015
http://www.vice.com/read/william-t-vo...

VICE: Hey, Bill. What are you working on today?
William T. Vollmann: I'm getting ready to start on a project—it's going to be a series of block prints from the Bible, and everybody from God to Jesus and everyone else is going to be a woman with no clothes. I think probably the human race would be better off if it were all women. I'm lining up my models and getting my blocks ready, so that's going to be a lot of fun.

I think this is the interview you have in mind ::
https://newrepublic.com/article/11874...

Here's one from his first art exhibition ::
http://www.vice.com/read/william-t-vo...

And some goolge=images ::
https://www.google.com/search?q=vollm...#
[don't miss the one of Bill with Vollmanniac Brian!]

Vollmanniac Cody just got this thing ::

The Tale of the Dying Lungs
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/user/...

Is this included in Rainbow Stories? I can't quite read it. Uncollected? Sweet piece either way.

Can't wait to hear that you've procured a Co=Tangent!

But maybe this should move to a more appropriate thread....

Cody wrote: "Hey Guys,

Check my new profile pic for my latest WTV score. Super happy, figure this may be the only group of people who care!"

That's just crazy!

Cody wrote: "Man, as someone that shuns television news (and tv at large) the Columbine chapter in RURD is really resonating right now. There is a difference between reportage and ratings. How sad our journalis..."

I don't have Television at all. But I think I know what you mean.

Nick wrote: "I don't think there is a moral debate to be had in this circumstance. period. "

If you don't believe there is a question at hand, please don't mix in. If you have arguments for your point of view, fine.

Thank you Anthony.

RURD is a work written in the coolness of reflection. It's difficult to conceive of the coolness of reflection in the heat of a moment.

It's okay with me for the discussion to continue. I think it is a question relevant to RURD. But if today is not the time for that, there is a season for all things...

Маx wrote: "I`ve translated Pynchon`s Lot 49 and Gaddis`s Agape already and now I`m working on McElroy`s Cannonball. "

Excellent!

For something shorter, take a look through Rainbow Stories.

Speaking as moderator here.

The tone needs to be ratcheted back down. Or I will lock it for a period of time.

Asking about the thought processes of a moral actor is the heart of RURD. If the actor is deemed non-rational, non-moral, then there is no question. But if you do deem the actor as responsible, then it is within reason to ask about what possible justifications that actor might have. He might be wrong. He might be acting out of passion. But asking about the point of view of such a moral actor is the essence of RURD.

Whether those justifications are true or not, acceptable or not.

Маx wrote: "Hello, Vollmanniacs!
Greetings from Ukraine!
I`m a translator and have a simple question:
What would you advise to translate from WTV first of all?
fiction / non-fiction? any ideas? what is his bes..."

Hi Max! Very nice to hear you're interested in translating Vollmann. If it's not too obvious of a choice, I'd probably go with translating Europe Central first. It's probably his most widely translated work and would of course be of interest to Ukrainian readers. For something shorter, probably either Whores for Gloria or Butterfly Stories perhaps. And if you want to do something linguistically challenging, one of the Seven Dreams. The Ice-Shirt probably.

What else have you translated already?

Sweet!

Hope someone picks it up. At that price it's a steal.

Tom wrote: "So how many people have actually read it -- a few hundred, perhaps? "

Not many more than that. Even in last year's Critical Companion, most writers were quoting the abridged, iirc. Right here at Vollmann=Central is probably where you'll find the densest set of RURD readers.

Lovely!

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Pico Iyer says some stupid things and some not-stupid things about Kissing the Mask ::"

Iyer's stupid piece got ripped a new one ::
"Pico Iyer: A Critic Calling for the Pissboy" by Edward Champion
http://www.edrants.com/category/vollm...

Pico Iyer’s anti-intellectual review in today’s New York Times Book Review begins with the sentence: “I confess, dear reader: I’ve always had a problem with William T. Vollmann.” This raises the question of why Iyer was even assigned the review in the first place. Certainly, Iyer is a widely revered travel writer, a man who has called himself “a global village on two legs.” His peripatetic escapades might be viewed, by those who rarely step outside Manhattan’s boundaries, as an able match to Vollmann’s. But in pairing Iyer up with Vollmann, the NYTBR‘s has once again demonstrated its crass commitment to useless criticism, stacking the deck against writers who do anything even a little idiosyncratic or anyone who sees the “global village” as one with broader possibilities.

The article illustrates well how one can lie by standing behind "quotations".