Completists' Club discussion
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William H. Gass
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MJ wrote: "I WILL READ ALL THESE NEXT YEAR."YEP. I've only got four (?) knocked off, but he is clearly in my completist file.
What do you have left, MJ? It seems like you plowed through all the fiction already earlier this year. (except for that not yet in print).
I have all the essay collections to read except Temple of Texts. Plus the early novel and stories and upcoming novel. Lots more!
I've been reading through the essay collections Finding a Form and Life Sentences the past few weeks, here and there, not linearly or ultra-committed. I've read The Tunnel and am eagerly awaiting Middle C to begin it tout de suite, but every sentence from this man has something elegant or striking behind it, his thought is always tight and carefully expressed, I can't imagine his entire oeuvre isn't worth reading. I know that In The Heart of The Heart of the Country is difficult to find or pricey (hopefully a library request will come through), but what else of his is out of print or difficult to come across? In my collection at present is The Tunnel, Life Sentences, Finding A Form, On Being Blue, Cartesian Sonata, and Middle C is pre-ordered to be delivered this week.
At my last booksite check, Fiction and the Figures of Life, On Being Blue, In the Heart of etc, and Habitations of the Word were all out of print, and harder to acquire here in Britland.
MJ wrote: "At my last booksite check, Fiction and the Figures of Life, On Being Blue, In the Heart of etc, and Habitations of the Word were all out of print, and harder to acquire here in Britland."I ordered a new copy of On Being Blue this morning for 4.38 euros via The Book depository UK via Amazon.fr Here's a link, but I'm sure you can probably find it directly through the Book Depository or through Amazon UK
http://www.amazon.fr/gp/offer-listing...
My Gass scorecard :: The World Within the Word (1978)
Habitations of the Word (1984)
Reading Rilke: Reflections on the Problems of Translation (1999)
Conversations With William H. Gass (2003)
A Temple of Texts (2006)
Life Sentences (2012)
Fiction:
Omensetter's Luck (1966)
In The Heart of the Heart of the Country (1968)
Cartesian Sonata and Other Novellas (1998)
Darwin8u wrote: "Didn't know if you all caught this new site:http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/exhibits..."
Thank you. So much for getting anything else done today.
Darwin8u wrote: "Didn't know if you all caught this new site:http://omeka.wustl.edu/omeka/exhibits..."
*like*
Nathan "N.R." wrote: Thank you. So much for getting anything else done today."Yeah, I don't think I've been as excited about an author page since I first ran across the Thomas Pynchon Spermatikos Logos on the Modernworld.com
http://www.themodernword.com/pynchon/
Gass is the only author I can imagine who's going to cause me to turn around one day and realize I've inadvertently gotten through their entire bibliography. Course, I've only read one, but he's swelling my shelves something fierce.
Aubrey wrote: "Gass is the only author I can imagine who's going to cause me to turn around one day and realize I've inadvertently gotten through their entire bibliography."Me too. I remember Pynchon's novels dancing and swelling till one day, I just gobbled most up. I thinkst the same will happen with Gass. Dalton's law will make the inevitable expansion of his books reach some crisis at some future time that will only be resolved by actually sitting my ass down and reading them.
Darwin8u wrote: "Aubrey wrote: "Gass is the only author I can imagine who's going to cause me to turn around one day and realize I've inadvertently gotten through their entire bibliography."Me too. I remember Pyn..."
Crap. I lied. There's Pynchon to consider. Curse my penchant for wanting to complete the difficult ones.
Ali wrote: "Assuming you don't end up thinking otherwise after you enter The Tunnel. The recent rash of negative opinions about it from people who either have no problem with Gass or actively enjoy his work ha..."I'm trusting my instinctive 'bring it on' mentality for that kind of thing to get me through it. I may end up hating it, but by god I will finish it so that I am (in my mind) fully accredited to tell you why.
I didn't dislike the Tunnel or get bored with it, either. I was nothing but impressed by it, but at the time I was not in a mental state to be as attentive a reader as I needed to be so that I could get the most out of the experience. The book fascinates me endlessly, more so than most. I am looking forward to tackling it again and seeing what I get from just re-reading the first 150 pages. I may be more of a temopermental reader, but I never wish to be a reader who just dismisses a book in an off-hand fashion . I just don't think it is a bad thing (for me at least) to come back to a book when the time is right.
I've owned the book for almost twenty years now and occasionally just pull it out, open it, smell the pages, rub the spine against my cheek, and quickly reshelf. I've got to just start digging. I might just rent a cottage in the mountains with one lamp and one lightbulb and not much else and just sit alone and read for a couple days.
Ali wrote: "That's the sort of attitude that makes a valuable and perceptive reader. My suspicion, judging by the writings of yours I have read in the past, is that, due to its exploration of themes you have e..."That's very kind of you to say, Ali. It's true that I make an effort to admire books on a more objective basis rather than solely relying on gut instinct enjoyment, and if you believe that I'll respect The Tunnel using that methodology, I'm looking forward to it.
I reckon The Tunnel has spoiled me for all other Gassfic. Omensetter's is not going down like a lovebomb on me at the mo. I am finding Furber more objectionable than Kohler so far, which is more a reflection on my warped mind than the content of the books(!)
Hurrah! I just finished the last of Gass' fiction, so now only have a few of his essays collections to read. The Tunnel is top of the tree, as far as I am concerned, with Cartesian Sonata next...
Jonathan wrote: "Hurrah! I just finished the last of Gass' fiction, so now only have a few of his essays collections to read. The Tunnel is top of the tree, as far as I am concerned, with Cartesian Sonata next..."Congrats!
What did you think of Middle C? I have it on my shelf to read sometime soon.
Jim wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Hurrah! I just finished the last of Gass' fiction, so now only have a few of his essays collections to read. The Tunnel is top of the tree, as far as I am concerned, with Cartesian..."I thought it was excellent though a little "light" at times perhaps - I think The Tunnel is such a sustained, brutal work that anything else will suffer by comparison. Nevertheless, such a comment does not mean I did not think it masterfully done. It just did not get its talons into my heart...
Fiction and the Figures of Life (1970)
On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry (1976)
The World Within the Word (1978)
Habitations of the Word (1984)
Finding a Form: Essays (1997)
Reading Rilke: Reflections on the Problems of Translation (1999)
Tests of Time (2002)
Conversations With William H. Gass (2003)
A Temple of Texts (2006)
Life Sentences (2012)
Fiction:
Omensetter's Luck (1966)
In The Heart of the Heart of the Country (1968)
Willie Masters' Lonesome Wife (1968)
The Tunnel (1995)
Cartesian Sonata and Other Novellas (1998)
Middle C (March 2013)