Vollmann

[chris sweet]

Murthy Yenamandra wrote:
> 
> Richard Nance writes, among other things:
> > And William Vollmann's name hasn't popped up in all this comparative
> > rambling.  Has he just been resolutely dismissed at some prior time? (like I
> > said, I'm new around here) Because (to keep with the biological metaphor)
> > the guy is a veritable rainforest -- to my mind, at least.  Some people may
> > just not be too fond of undergrowth...
> 
> Impressed by the raves of Vollmann that I'd seen on pynchon-l, I went to
> his reading from The Atlas at the Hungry Mind bookstore here in St. Paul
> when he dropped by recently. He was sort of entertaining, but I was
> thoroughly unimpressed by the selections I heard and browsed. It's more
> fun listening to the rain. He also got into a prolonged and unresolved
> (natch!) argument with a woman from the audience about the ethics of his
> hanging out with and getting most of his information from the prostitutes
> of the world (especially the third).
> 
> His series on North America (I don't remember the title) looked more
> interesting and I intend to give it a try one of these days (after I
> renew Infinite Jest a few more times at the library). Vollmann also said
> that he's working on a big non-fiction thing on Violence and its
> justifications - that sounds interesting too.
> 
> Murthy
> 

I was very surprised by many of the selections Vollmann chose to read at his
recent readings. They were, to put it nicely, boring. There is definitely
better stuff in The Atlas, particularly the title story which I feel is one
of the great novellas of the century....ranking up there with The Dead and The
Bear. 

	I am still reading IJ and enjoying it but I think Vollmann's "Fathers &
Crows" is far better if you are looking for a long novel.

chris