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Barthelme, 1964 (fwd)
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From: Juan M Martinez <jmm80625@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu>
Here's a snippet from a wonderful essay by Donald Barthelme, _After
Joyce_, which is probably familiar ground for most of the people in the
list. The thing that struck me was how D.B. made an important difference
between VN and Robbe-Grillet:
"The difficulty here is not, as the critic implies, the writer's
culpability in imagining such a man [in _A Singular Man_], but the
slightly underinspired character of Donleavy's prose, which nevertheless
affords some remarkable passages. Henry Green and Vladimir Nabokov
similarly, in their elaborate mystifications, partake of this tendency,
demonstrating a consciousness of the word as object, of the medium as
message.
"The new French novelists, Butor, Sarraute, Robbe-Grillet, Claude Simon,
Philippe Sollers, have on the other hand succeeded in making objects of
their books without reaping any of the strategic benefits of the
maneuver---a triumph of misplaced intelligence. Their work seems leaden,
self-conscious in the wrong way."
By the way, information on the new _Lolita_ film can be found at
http://www.showtimeonline.com
Cheers,
Juan
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Speak softly,
drive a Sherman tank.
Laugh hard,
it's a long way to the bank."
They Might Be Giants, _Rhythm Section Want Ad_
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
---visit Strobe at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~jmm80625
Here's a snippet from a wonderful essay by Donald Barthelme, _After
Joyce_, which is probably familiar ground for most of the people in the
list. The thing that struck me was how D.B. made an important difference
between VN and Robbe-Grillet:
"The difficulty here is not, as the critic implies, the writer's
culpability in imagining such a man [in _A Singular Man_], but the
slightly underinspired character of Donleavy's prose, which nevertheless
affords some remarkable passages. Henry Green and Vladimir Nabokov
similarly, in their elaborate mystifications, partake of this tendency,
demonstrating a consciousness of the word as object, of the medium as
message.
"The new French novelists, Butor, Sarraute, Robbe-Grillet, Claude Simon,
Philippe Sollers, have on the other hand succeeded in making objects of
their books without reaping any of the strategic benefits of the
maneuver---a triumph of misplaced intelligence. Their work seems leaden,
self-conscious in the wrong way."
By the way, information on the new _Lolita_ film can be found at
http://www.showtimeonline.com
Cheers,
Juan
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Speak softly,
drive a Sherman tank.
Laugh hard,
it's a long way to the bank."
They Might Be Giants, _Rhythm Section Want Ad_
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
---visit Strobe at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~jmm80625