gaddis

[David Morris]

I started The Recognitions a couple of years ago, and got a little
past half-way through.  I decided that I really wasn't enjoying it,
and it probably has something to do with Tore's observations below.  I
really got to dislike the interactions/characterizations of what I'll
call Gaddis's "Whole Sick Crew," his group of New York City
intellectuals.  Pynchon's Whole Sick Crew aren't exactly
sympathetically rendered, but they are endearing to some degree
anyway.  Not so Gaddis's Crew.

I know that many people think The Recognitions is a masterpiece, and I
may have given it short shrift.  I liked the depiction of the main
character's father, the very dark and very eclectically
inspired/obsessed minister.  I may give this book a second try...

David Morris

On 5/19/07, Tore Rye Andersen <torerye at hotmail.com> wrote:
> bob mccart:
>
> >who's read that gaddis and what ypu think of this stuff.
>
> I've read all of that Gaddis, some of it even a couple of times, but I can't
> exactly say that I derived any pleasure from it. Enter at your own peril,
> would seem to be sound advice here.
> Gaddis writes smart novels, but sometimes I think they seem smarter than
> they really are.  Pynchon is an author one feels could write the
> encyclopedia; and Gaddis is the author who reads it (a lot of the 'research'
> that went into The Recognitions consisted of Gaddis reading Encyclopedia
> Britannica).
> Also, Gaddis comes across as an author who doesn't really like people. If
> his misantrophy was confined to his personal life, I wouldn't have any
> problem with it, but it shines amply forth in his novels as well, so reading
> Gaddis is, IMHO, something of a bleak and harrowing experience. If Gaddis
> has a choice between showing us a character's stupidity or his kindness,
> he'll show us the stupidity, each and every time.
> Still, interesting stuff. I'd recommend The Recognitions and JR (the latter
> is probably his most successful and original work).
>
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