OT - William Gaddis - 'JR'

[MalignD at aol.com]

<< I just started this book, and my question is this -- was it Gaddis' intent
 to cause confusion in the reader by not specifically detailing who is
 speaking or when scenes change? Is this confusion intended to mirror the
 confusion in the business world? >>

JR is difficult--more at first than later.

It is impossible to know what Gaddis's intent was. My guess, reading it, was 
that he was attempting to work in real time, to recreate those maddening, 
frustrating conversations as they would unfold in life, minute by agonizing 
minute. (This is, of course, to a great degree, perverse, not unlike Warhol's 
film of the Empire State Building.) 

Some sections work better than others; the best are brilliant and tour de 
force.  JR can frustrate, but much of it is very funny.  You're not likely to 
reading anything else much like it.  I think it certainly worth the effort.