Comments for BIG OTHER

Comment on Tao Lin, Richard Yates by Theory of Prose & better writing (ctd): The New Sincerity, Tao Lin, & “differential perceptions” | HTMLGIANT

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:01:34 +0000

[...] Lin’s work is artless and easy. For two examples, see reviews of Richard Yates by J. A. Tyler (at Big Other) and Joshua Cohen (in Bookforum), both of which effectively accuse the work of being artless and [...]

Comment on Critical by Fulcanelli

Fulcanelli — Mon, 28 May 2012 11:49:44 +0000

Atom Heart Mother

Comment on THE SOT-WEED FACTOR, A Duet: Part II; in which we discuss foundlings and feminists, the exhaustion of forms, Twin Peaks, and how literature can’t compensate for a lack of toilet paper. by John Domini

John Domini — Mon, 28 May 2012 04:27:35 +0000

Mr. Essence — pure, but not D. Ripper, I hope — thanks so much for letting Amber & I know our shared contemplations on this late-20th-C. masterpiece continue to trigger further reading & celebration. For what it’s worth, we do have one more shared blog about SOT-WEED, here on Big Other. As for the way Barth engaged the reader, made him or her share in the entertainment, as you say: bravo, perspicuous indeed, since one of the defining points of Postmodern literature, which Barth pioneered in this country, is how it establishes new relationships between reader & text. A novel like SOT-WEED reveals its own devising, it lets the reader in on the joke, yet nonetheless catches us up in its drama; it flogs a dead horse, an exhausted fictional conceit, even as it resurrects the magic of storytelling.

Comment on THE SOT-WEED FACTOR, A Duet: Part II; in which we discuss foundlings and feminists, the exhaustion of forms, Twin Peaks, and how literature can’t compensate for a lack of toilet paper. by Purity of Essence

Purity of Essence — Sun, 27 May 2012 06:22:53 +0000

GGB, my first Barth, and TSWF my favorite Barth, have in common the ability to assume that the reader is part of the entertainment. Without a group which would as easily compare Barth’s works to Candide and Twin Peaks; both of which are accurate, he would just be filling up the page. Ebenezer, Henry B and Joan Toast are not just compelling characters, but aspects of our own shared experience. The “Contents” itself reads as a short story. The set pieces contained therein are magical, e.g. “Oblivion Is Attained Twice by the Miller’s Wife, Once by the Miller Himself, and Not at All by the Poet, Who Likens Life to a Shameless Playwright”. My favorite line is spoken by his father Andrew on more than one occasion, “Thus far hath the Lord helped us!’” I think it expresses his rough-hewn and new world gained knowledge in mocking biblical terms, and is lost on his naive hudibrastic offspring, the self-absorbed poet and virgin. It is a thoroughly modern work written in a self-consciously “dated” form with which we readers can join in the fun. His use of narrative devises such as the “Privie Journal” are brilliant.

Comment on Critical by Lily Hoang

Lily Hoang — Sat, 26 May 2012 17:38:40 +0000

Oh man, I’m famous again! (And every picture is a picture of you, Adam.)

Comment on Critical by A D Jameson

A D Jameson — Sat, 26 May 2012 14:54:48 +0000

I read somewhere that it is a picture of me.

Comment on Critical by Lily Hoang

Lily Hoang — Fri, 25 May 2012 23:54:39 +0000

I used to feel so special, back when I had my picture on this post. Now, I am sad. Thanks, Greg Gerke.

Comment on Feature Friday: “Anima Mundi” (1992) by A Guide to My Writing Here at Big Other « BIG OTHER

A Guide to My Writing Here at Big Other « BIG OTHER — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:28:47 +0000

[...] Anima Mundi (1992) [...]

Comment on Critical by A D Jameson

A D Jameson — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:46:57 +0000

He waved and smiled to see it pass by.

Comment on Critical by Greg Gerke

Greg Gerke — Thu, 24 May 2012 22:29:35 +0000

I hope he thought well of the Easter Parade in that one.