Joyce Carol Oates discussion
What was the Oates novel you first read that inspired you to want to read more of her work?
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Shel
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Feb 02, 2018 11:10AM
The first book I ever read was Big Mouth and Ugly Girl. I was in high school and I just remember it resonating with me so much. I need to reread it. After that on , I just fell in love with her work.
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I wrote a documented critical essay on Joyce Carol Oates in my high school senior English class. It was a year-long project tying a common theme through three novels. I selected With Shuddering Fall, Expensive People and Solstice. Expensive People hooked me and I’ve been a fan all my life. I still remember my theme from her work : obsessive love is the root of violence and death.
I am planning to dive into Oates now as an adult after being haunted by a short story by her in one of my high school American lit textbooks. I have been searching and searching for the story but cannot remember its name and cannot find it. I wondered if anyone would recognize it. It was a story told from the point of view of a mother having breakfast with her child, realizing that she would soon have to institutionalize him. Does anyone recognize this plot and can you tell me what short story collection it is in? Thanks!
The Falls was also my first. The wonderfully drawn characters drew me in and i was an Oates fan for life. I've lost count of how many of JCO's books i've read. And I think she may have lost count of how many she's written!
My first book by Joyce Carol Oates was ”You must remember this”. This was over 30 years ago. Since then I am stuck with JCO. I am far from having read all her books, but I enjoy her books so much. Of course I like some books more than others but the reading of her books always gives me new insights in human behaviour and in human mind. Very often I find it quite hard to read her books in the beginning. It does not put me off, after a few chapters I get in to the book and at the same time the chapters which I have struggled with fall into place and the book becomes the challenge and enjoyment which I am reaching for. At the moment I am reading Carthage, is there anyone out there who has something to share about Carthage?
I love We Were the Mulvaneys - she is one of a very few prolific writers who doesn't use a formula.
We Were the Mulvaneys was the JCO book that had me hooked
I'll take you there. I was in my early 20s and never read anything like it.
Because It Is Bitter, Because It is My Heart. I read this book when I was pregnant with my son.The story touched me tremendously, I knew I had to read more of her work. I have read many of her novels, short stories, poems, but not everything she’s written. I remain a fan of her writing and the way the unreliable narrators pull us into the story, like we’re in their head,not releasing us until the final page. She’s brilliant.
She is, indeed, brilliant and never formulaic. One of my first favorites was We Were the Mulvaneys. I am a forever fan.
Pat I enjoyed We Were The Mulvaneys, also. I’m amazed by how prolific she is. She’s an excellent writer.
