The Anxiety of Influence/Bibliomancy

[Chris Broderick]

Ghetta sez:

One can have difficulty reading Joyce, but the
superior quality and 
scope of his writing is a benchmark against which all
subsequent authors 
must face, willingly or not.

So I say:

I've never bought this idea of a single artist
creating a "benchmark" that all others must confront
if they are to make art in the future.  DeLillo (no
slouch of a writer, himself) has often asserted that
he hasn't read much of anything in the modern literary
canon, and I believe that the work he produces is
probably much better for it.  I believe he
specifically mentioned Joyce, but I dunno for sure.

An analogy in my life is John Coltrane.  As a horn
player, I've often been told that I must confront
Coltrane's music if I want to be a good jazz player. 
But when I listen to Coltrane's music, I hear
something that is both distinctively his own and
something I would never want to emulate.  I respect
it, but as many writers bristle at Joyce's academic
obsessions, I bristle at Trane's lack of rests.  Not
to say that either aren't masters of their particular
domains, but I'd rather sound like Eric Dolphy or
Johnny Dodds than Trane.

Robin sez:

I wonder what one would call a defender of Philip K.
Dick (a Dickian?). 

So I say:

Go ahead and laugh, but I've heard that term used
(though I prefer "a Dickhead".)

Then S/he sez:

"Wake", which is probably the finest book !
 for Bibliomancy I've yet encountered

So I say:

For a brief, delusional period when I first read GR, I
used it as a book of bibliomancy, with unsurprisingly
paranoid results.  

I've also found that FW is a fine bathroom book.  I've
never been able to get too far into it, but I've read
lots of bits & pieces while on the crapper.  Somehow I
imagine Joyce would approve.
-Chris

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