I want to get into William Gaddis, which of these 2 novels do you think I should read first?
I want to get into William Gaddis, which of these 2 novels do you think I should read first?
I want to get into William Gaddis, which of these 2 novels do you think I should read first?
both suck but J R sucks less
this
Why do they suck? Is it the prose, the structure, the plot? Genuine question
They don’t suck, he hasn’t read them or he was filtered immediately.
Start with The Recognitions. It's more tangible, it draws you through it better than JR. JR is great but it's almost entirely dialogue and most people lose steam around halfway b/c there's nothing particularly edgy going on and frankly, JR is not in the book enough to keep the lulz rolling.
Recognitions
Thanks, what makes you think the recognitions is a better starting point, if you don't mind me asking?
NTA but main reason is he wrote it first. There are references to The Recognitions in JR, most notably quotations of negative reviews of The Recognitions. The stories of the “failed artists” (Gibbs, Eigen, Bast) are also more impactful if you’ve read them after The Recognitions, all three are kind of avatars of Gaddis. Also it seems that The Recognitions has become more well-known as a classic and is more widely read than JR. I personally prefer JR but definitely read The Recognitions first.
Thanks for your help, buddy! Getting the recognitions right now.
JR was cool but not worth actually reading imo. Dropped it 500 pages in.
You only had 200 more pages to go..
The message of the book was already received dude. Reading that book feels like going to work at some depressing factory job. I just had to stop. I respect the purpose and structure of the novel but it was one of the least enjoyable books to read. I can’t recommend it
Black person. JR was phenomenal. I Read it right after Gass' Tunnel and was blown away at how much better it was in every aspect.
i read J R first but i would go with The Recognitions first. it's easier to understand what Gaddis was preoccupied with in The Recognitions which will help you understand J R better.
You should probably warmup with Frolic or Carpenters Gothic lest you burn out on these tomes
Why warm up? AFAIK these novels are as long as the other two. Are they more accessible to read?
Carpenter’s Gothic is much shorter (clocking in at just 262pgs in most editions). A Frolic of His Own is decently long (592 pages in the hardcover printing I read) but remember, the fact that much of it is dialogue makes this shorter than it sounds.
I think all of his books are great, even Agapē Agape. As usual, it’s typically just his tomes (The Recognitions and JR) that get discussed here, and usually at a low level of discussion, because “bigger = better” to the mind of most anons wanting to wave their literary dick around.
Carpenter's Gothic is a phenomenal book. Definitely a good intro to Gaddis, if only for its length.
Also I didn’t even answer your question, sorry. Yeah, they’re mostly simpler reading experiences (but still pretty challenging, in an enjoyable way if you like Gaddis). They’re not as maximalistic as his first two, not as much of a proliferation of characters and subplots, but Gaddis still loves the device of starting in media res (being thrown straight into the dialogue of the characters without much, if any, exposition, characters already in the midst of their own “stories” which you don’t understand at first) in his dialogue-novels for much of the beginning of the novel before it ties together over the next dozens of pages.
definitely start with recognitions, it's his first novel out of like what, five? best to start at the beginning and go on if you want more, plus its maybe more readable than the rest at first go
I loved Carpenter's Gothic and it was an easy read. Very comfy. There was something in the last 3rd about conspiracies that was boring but 80% of the book was hilarious.