NP - Plist opinion on W Gass

[Keith Davis]

OL was a really difficult book at first. The first section is very dense
and hard to decipher. The second section becomes more of a narrative and
helps explain the first part. If you can get through the first section, the
second pays off well.

On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 9:30 AM, Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>
wrote:

> OL and Barth's Chimera are the books recently that "tricked" me into
> liking them. I started off not enjoying either, but began to see the
> emerging structure and was very impressed by the end of each.
> On Oct 21, 2014 9:23 AM, "Becky Lindroos" <bekker2 at icloud.com> wrote:
>
>> I’ve been meaning to get to Omensetter’s Luck for years!  There are soooo
>> many books out there and only one of me.
>>
>> Bekah
>>
>> On Oct 21, 2014, at 6:08 AM, Mark Sacha <msacha1121 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Gass' style seems to alternate between musical and cringe-inducing. It
>> can be sort of overly formal - he has a huge penchant for alliteration, for
>> instance - but at its best, it's very good at fleshing out the so-called
>> world within the word. Worth reading, I think, but it's hard to take in
>> bulk - part of the reason why The Tunnel seemed to be such a slog. He's
>> published more criticism than he has fiction, and for my money he's more
>> effective in the former.
>> >
>> > Haven't read Omensetter's Luck, though... will get around to it someday.
>> >
>> > On Tue, Oct 21, 2014 at 8:41 AM, Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> > I feel the same way about OMENSETTER's LUCK....The early book of short
>> stories is a bit " easier" to sorta get but I can't remember them at all; I
>> remember feeling so " in" when I got his special printing of WILLIE
>> MASTER's LONESOME WIFE thru Tri-Quarterly  Mag back in the day. ( didn't
>> know what to make of it when young ). I thought his FICTION AND THE FIGURES
>> OF LIFE taught me good stuff, and I'm sure it did but, later, it seemed
>> too.....removed from the life in fiction......but I've never
>> revisited.....Love the idea of BLUE but never got to....and was too lazily
>> undisciplined to keep reading THE TUNNEL as I was not re some other
>> writers.......( but undisciplined is the more, so to speak)
>> >
>> > I have heard he is a rewarding teacher, influencing many writers. one,
>> Garth Hallberg, has a big book coming [CITY ON FIRE] that is in the
>> GASS--PYNCHON tradition, ( so I've heard) so to almost meaninglessly say,
>> >
>> > Sent from my iPad
>> >
>> > On Oct 21, 2014, at 6:55 AM, Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >> I consider myself a fan of Gass, but I have only read Omensetter's
>> Luck. It was one if the hardest, densest short novels I've come across. I
>> also enjoyed him on Bookworm with Michael Silverblatt. So I like him, but
>> don't have as much experience with his writing as I do Gaddis' and TP's.
>> >>
>> >> On Oct 21, 2014 4:06 AM, "matthew cissell" <mccissell at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >> Howdy listers,
>> >>
>> >>    It's clear that we have some William Gaddis fans on the list, but
>> how do folks feel about William Gass? I don't seem to recall having seen
>> his name mentioned here (of course I don't read every mail either).
>> Anybody? Two cents of feedback?
>> >>
>> >> Have a happy Tuesday cuz the Happy Mondays are gone.
>> >>
>> >> ciao
>> >> Otis
>> >
>>
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>>
>


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