Book Discussion #000675442

Karl Connor · 03-15-2005, 10:13 PM

this is essentially a literature post, so feel free to discuss whatever books. but the main reason i wrote it is because i wanted to discuss some of what i'm reading now: Joyce, Faulkner. so if you're not interested in any of these authors i suggest you just skip the latter of this post

--Joyce's Finnegan's Wake

i'm starting to believe the rumor that everything Joyce wrote after Portrait was a joke. here's an excrept from his supposed final masterpiece:

So olff for his topheetuck the ruck made raid, aslick aslegs would run; and he ankered on his
hunkers with the belly belly prest. Asking: What's my muffinstuffinaches for these times? To weat:
Breath and bother and whatarcurss. That breath no bother but worrawarrawurms. And Slim
shallave some.

. . . uh . . . yeah. and it goes on like this for like 600 pages.

okay and now read what literary critics have to say about it:

Finnegan's Wake is a mighty allegory of the fall and redemption of mankind...a compound fabe,
symphony, and nightmare...Its mechanics resemble those of a dream, a dream which has freed the
author from the necesssities of common logic and has enabled him to compress all periods of
history, all phases of individual and racial development, into a circular design, of which every part is
beginning, middle and end.

...i must admit that i like the idea that you can open the book at any one point and be able to read through, i suppose. but does FW really pull it off? to be honest i dont know if i can ever get thru this book. it was hard enought to get thru Ulysses.

-Faulkner's Light in August

this is the first Faulkner i've read and i loved it. the imagery is really good, and it employs the stream of concious technique without getting too abstract. i also like the way he handles the chronology of the the story: in medias res. i also like how he alluded to gender roles, the problems they incur, ect

has anybody read any other works by faulkner they recommend?

Nimrod's Son · 03-15-2005, 10:16 PM

I hate Faulkner so much

Most overrated author ever writing boring shit about boring people in a boring style

alexthestampede · 03-15-2005, 10:26 PM

he hates faulkner because he's a southerner and faulkner is about as insulting to southerners as it gets

Karl Connor · 03-15-2005, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by alexthestampede
faulkner is about as insulting to southerners as it gets

esp. black people. he tears on them hard. "he smelled of that pungent nigger smell" ect ect

Mayfuck · 03-15-2005, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randall Sandell
has anybody read any other works by faulkner they recommend?

Sound and the Fury is one of my favorite books ever. I don't think I'd enjoy as much as when I read it 6 years ago but at the time it was the most offbeat I had read. I've been exposed to other great styles since then but I really liked the way he ties issues concerning the south and a southern family during that time period with experimental narrarative. I don't blame anyone though if they find the book boring and a chore to read though.

Liquid-J · 03-15-2005, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mayfuck
I don't blame anyone though if they find the book boring and a chore to read though.

you're boring and your posts are a chore to read

Mayfuck · 03-15-2005, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sean Patrick Casey
nimrod hates the south because they share his ideals but do it with bad accents and slang

Yeah he's ashamed his political acumen is on level with this guy's:

Karl Connor · 03-15-2005, 11:02 PM

i was browsing google and found some interesting tidbits on Faulkner: for one, he was an 'uneducated' man, self taught. he abhorred academia, an in fact i dont think the ever finished college. The Sound and Fury, the book that arguably made him a household name, was written for himself, just for fun; he had no plans on publishing it until a good friend of his looked over the script and convinced him to. he also didnt move out of his parent's place until he was like 27 or something.

Mayfuck · 03-15-2005, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randall Sandell
i was browsing google and found some interesting tidbits on Faulkner: for one, he was an 'uneducated' man, self taught. he abhorred academia, an in fact i dont think the ever finished college. The Sound and Fury, the book that arguably made him a household name, was written for himself, just for fun; he had no plans on publishing it until a good friend of his looked over the script and convinced him to. he also didnt move out of his parent's place until he was like 27 or something.

like looking into a mirror

Karl Connor · 03-15-2005, 11:07 PM

Nimrod's Son · 03-15-2005, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sean Patrick Casey
nimrod hates the south because they share his ideals but do it with bad accents and slang

Dude, in college English 101 was Faulkner 101 and English 102 was just Faulkner 101 all over again

There are good southern writers. He isn't one of them.

alexthestampede · 03-15-2005, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Nimrod's Son
Dude, in college English 101 was Faulkner 101 and English 102 was just Faulkner 101 all over again

There are good southern writers. He isn't one of them.

do you realize that here you sound like me dissing radiohead over on the musicboard

Jonny5 · 03-16-2005, 12:31 AM

I'm taking a literature class this semester. I like it so much better then the general writing class I had to take last semester. it's a real layed back class. we have constant reading assignments and class is a discussion of the material.

we've already finished the fiction section (we're on poetry now and next is drama). we read faulkner's a rose for emily (meh) and barn burning, poe's tell-tale heart, vonnegut, fitzgerald, kafka's metamorphosis, and on.

one cool short story was Jack London's To Build a Fire. pretty hardcore story of a man hiking the yukon alone with a dog by his side. we're talking -100 degrees F, maybe colder. the guy's spit freezes before it hits the ground. he struggles to make it to camp before the cold can kill him and he gets himself into shit when he gets his leg wet from a hidden spring.

Nimrod's Son · 03-16-2005, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by alexthestampede

do you realize that here you sound like me dissing radiohead over on the musicboard

I was dissing Radiohead on the music board when you were still in diapers

Karl Connor · 03-16-2005, 12:33 AM

alex is still in diapers, actually. he told me so on aim

Varien · 03-16-2005, 12:34 AM

If the book is as good as the song, Finnegan's wake is a slice of somethin sweet.

03-15-2005, 10:13 PM	#1
Karl Connor ADMlNISTRATOR Posts: 18,933	Book Discussion #000675442 this is essentially a literature post, so feel free to discuss whatever books. but the main reason i wrote it is because i wanted to discuss some of what i'm reading now: Joyce, Faulkner. so if you're not interested in any of these authors i suggest you just skip the latter of this post --Joyce's Finnegan's Wake i'm starting to believe the rumor that everything Joyce wrote after Portrait was a joke. here's an excrept from his supposed final masterpiece: So olff for his topheetuck the ruck made raid, aslick aslegs would run; and he ankered on his hunkers with the belly belly prest. Asking: What's my muffinstuffinaches for these times? To weat: Breath and bother and whatarcurss. That breath no bother but worrawarrawurms. And Slim shallave some. . . . uh . . . yeah. and it goes on like this for like 600 pages. okay and now read what literary critics have to say about it: Finnegan's Wake is a mighty allegory of the fall and redemption of mankind...a compound fabe, symphony, and nightmare...Its mechanics resemble those of a dream, a dream which has freed the author from the necesssities of common logic and has enabled him to compress all periods of history, all phases of individual and racial development, into a circular design, of which every part is beginning, middle and end. ...i must admit that i like the idea that you can open the book at any one point and be able to read through, i suppose. but does FW really pull it off? to be honest i dont know if i can ever get thru this book. it was hard enought to get thru Ulysses. -Faulkner's Light in August this is the first Faulkner i've read and i loved it. the imagery is really good, and it employs the stream of concious technique without getting too abstract. i also like the way he handles the chronology of the the story: in medias res. i also like how he alluded to gender roles, the problems they incur, ect has anybody read any other works by faulkner they recommend?

03-15-2005, 10:16 PM	#2
Nimrod's Son Master of Karate and Friendship Location: in your butt Posts: 72,943	I hate Faulkner so much Most overrated author ever writing boring shit about boring people in a boring style __________________ - Nimrod's Son: Problem Solver!

03-15-2005, 11:07 PM	#10
Karl Connor ADMlNISTRATOR Posts: 18,933	w3rd

03-15-2005, 10:26 PM	#3
alexthestampede Banned Location: I am from the sea! Posts: 4,947	he hates faulkner because he's a southerner and faulkner is about as insulting to southerners as it gets

03-15-2005, 11:02 PM	#8
Karl Connor ADMlNISTRATOR Posts: 18,933	i was browsing google and found some interesting tidbits on Faulkner: for one, he was an 'uneducated' man, self taught. he abhorred academia, an in fact i dont think the ever finished college. The Sound and Fury, the book that arguably made him a household name, was written for himself, just for fun; he had no plans on publishing it until a good friend of his looked over the script and convinced him to. he also didnt move out of his parent's place until he was like 27 or something.

03-16-2005, 12:31 AM	#13
Jonny5 Apocalyptic Poster Posts: 2,445	I'm taking a literature class this semester. I like it so much better then the general writing class I had to take last semester. it's a real layed back class. we have constant reading assignments and class is a discussion of the material. we've already finished the fiction section (we're on poetry now and next is drama). we read faulkner's a rose for emily (meh) and barn burning, poe's tell-tale heart, vonnegut, fitzgerald, kafka's metamorphosis, and on. one cool short story was Jack London's To Build a Fire. pretty hardcore story of a man hiking the yukon alone with a dog by his side. we're talking -100 degrees F, maybe colder. the guy's spit freezes before it hits the ground. he struggles to make it to camp before the cold can kill him and he gets himself into shit when he gets his leg wet from a hidden spring.

03-16-2005, 12:33 AM	#15
Karl Connor ADMlNISTRATOR Posts: 18,933	alex is still in diapers, actually. he told me so on aim

03-16-2005, 12:34 AM	#16
Varien Minion of Satan Posts: 7,230	If the book is as good as the song, Finnegan's wake is a slice of somethin sweet.