I mean, can you believe?

[Jan Devenish]

I love Vollmann and although he is unnecessarily wordy and hard-going at
times, his prose is stunning. While lacking the humor of Pynchon, he has a
deep knowledge of the world and the people in it (Mostly the
down-trodden).  He writes with a journalists realism, but with a deeply
poetic, evoking Hemingway and Melville. Like walking through beautiful
treacle, you need to take it slow, but it is enormously rewarding.
'The Atlas' and 'The Rainbow Stories' I cannot endorse strongly enough. I
am yet to tackle the 'Seven Dreams' series, but will do when I work up the
arm strength to lift them.



On 21 August 2015 at 17:50, Tommy Pinecone <endaflynn345 at gmail.com> wrote:

> " NYT raved about Franzen's new book. Is anyone shocked? Would love to see
> the NYT rave about authors who aren't white male literary darlings."- Jodi
> Picoult.
>
> When being a white male, or a dead European white male, is a derogatory
> term, you know everything is going down the drain.
>
> That article is indicative of everything wrong with contemporary
> literature. The resentment, female righteousness, mainstream racism and
> sexism against white men.
>
> Franzen shouldn't have to ask why the youth are cynical and resigned,
> everything is reduced to nonsense nowadays; I would elaborate but there is
> no need, I hope. But it is always interesting, this lack of perception and
> discovery of profundity in nonsense. I always wonder how these people would
> be in a conversation because they often seem to have never had a worthwhile
> thought or insight into anything.
>
> Speaking of which, has anyone read Vollmann? I'd like to find a living
> writer beyond Pynchon that I can tolerate.
> On 21 Aug 2015 15:21, "Mark Kohut" <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/21/jonathan-franzen-considered-adopting-iraqi-orphan-young-people
>>
>> Yeah, writers are not necessarily the humanly best
>> folk..but???....considering adopting to learn how young people are
>> cynical and lack anger????  The mind boggles.....
>>
>> TO ADOPT A HUMAN BEING for these purposes?
>>
>> I have always thought the attacks on him---except for lack of
>> greatness in his works---were worse and more wrong-headed than what
>> they attacked in him. He seemed ....decently 'authentic" but if
>> this is honesty, I prefer lies full of humanity.
>>
>> Could this article be accurate?
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>>
>
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