From a Dead Beat to an Old Greaser

Thu Dec 12 17:51:38 UTC 2019

It's now called Westsider.

On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 11:10 AM Charles Albert <cfalbert at gmail.com> wrote:

> Assuming it is still there, if you've never been to the Gryphon on
> Broadway and 80th, to play "Stump the Stockboy".....
>
>
> love,
>
> cfa
>
> On Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 10:52 AM Laura Kelber <laurakelber at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I agree with all of this, Rich. There are minefields of gratuitous
>> violence
>> and cruelty (it sells!) and dreary political rectitude (the critics
>> behoove
>> themselves to praise it) that scare me away from a lot of current
>> literature.
>>
>> I've also been looking back, making my way through some of the old (too
>> few!) books I rescued from my late mother's bookshelves. There's nothing
>> like plunging into an unknown, blurbless old novel. Some are mediocre, but
>> there are also pleasures, if not treasures: Prodigal Daughters, by Nancy
>> Hale; The Fall of Paris, by Ilya Ehrenberg.
>>
>> No better place to scrounge for old books in NYC than the dusty basement
>> of
>> Argosy Book Store.
>>
>> Though The Book of Numbers by Cohen sounds intriguing.
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 12, 2019, 10:10 AM rich <richard.romeo at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Hi Kai
>> >
>> > possibly. I used to read more for sure and like music there's so much
>> out
>> > there. I think one factor to consider is the loss of physical stores to
>> > wade in and browse. even here in NYC.
>> > I found much out of the way stuff that way. impossible to do that
>> online.
>> > Another factor is the plain fact of growing older, changing concerns and
>> > the like. so solely a personal judgement, a self-reflection if you will.
>> > and finally, I would say, and I'm sure I'm going to get disagreement on
>> > this, is in today's heightened and anxious time, with the dangerous
>> > buffoonery politically front and center, I find alot of what I come
>> across
>> > in various artistic endeavors
>> > so weighted with politics that the aesthetic, the art itself is reduced
>> in
>> > some way. kinda takes the mystery out of things.
>> >
>> > I've tried reading Joshua Cohen (Witz) and I dig what he does but I'm
>> just
>> > not that well-versed in the subject matter. it felt like work. i'm too
>> old
>> > for that (I know that sounds like a cop out)
>> >
>> > I did enjoy Imperium. I've yet to read The Dead. think those are the
>> only
>> > english translations available
>> >
>> > I should also point out when I say 'personal pedestal' I dont really
>> mean
>> > hero worship (I find alot to argue with in Pynchon). I mean someone i
>> look
>> > forward expectantly to new work. it's most definitely not anyone in the
>> > group of Pynchon's so-called literary children.
>> >
>> > and I'm not sure I'm looking for some like Pynchon.
>> >
>> > I just seem to being looking back more than forward. maybe it's just
>> > inevitable.
>> >
>> > thx for listening
>> >
>> > rich
>> >
>> > On Thu, Dec 12, 2019 at 6:52 AM Kai Frederik Lorentzen <
>> > lorentzen at hotmail.de>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > >
>> > > But isn't that sadness more about you own declining energy as a
>> reader?
>> > >
>> > > There ARE brilliant new books & authors ...
>> > >
>> > > Like, to name an American example, Joshua Cohen ("Four New Messages",
>> > > "Book of Numbers", "Moving Kings"), who writes, in my humble opinion,
>> > > better than Philip Roth, an author he often has been compared to.
>> > >
>> > > Cohen, just by the way, helped Edward Snowden by teaching him how to
>> > > write, as Snowden reveals in the acknowledgements of "Permanent
>> Record".
>> > > When I read this I had to think of Pynchon who would perhaps, and not
>> > only
>> > > because of his writing skills, also have been a good candidate for
>> that
>> > job.
>> > >
>> > > Since you mention your "personal pedestal": If I should name just one
>> > > novel from the 21st century which was written in the German tongue &
>> > > reminded me, in terms of artistic audacity, of "Gravity's Rainbow", it
>> > > would be "Die Stunde zwischen Frau und Gitarre" (The Hour Between
>> Woman
>> > and
>> > > Guitar; this may sound like the title of a Borges story, but the novel
>> > has
>> > > 1020 pages), which was published by the Austrian author Clemens J.
>> Setz
>> > in
>> > > 2015 (by now a paperback edition is available).  Setz - there's an
>> > explicit
>> > > reference to the dodo episode from "Gravity's Rainbow" in his former
>> > novel
>> > > "Indigo" (which got translated into English) - is a Pynchon reader
>> and he
>> > > studied, along with German literature, mathematics which becomes
>> manifest
>> > > in his metaphors. The style of Setz is sometimes called "synaesthetic"
>> > and,
>> > > indeed, reading this novel is a highly psychoactive experience.
>> > >
>> > > Setz was born in 1982, Cohen in 1980: Both brilliant writers, still
>> young
>> > > (in terms of literary art). And then my "literary hero" Christian
>> Kracht
>> > (*
>> > > 1966) will be "gracing us" with a new novel in 2020!
>> > >
>> > > + In a residential home for people with physical and mental
>> disabilities,
>> > > a young woman – Natalie Reinegger – is employed as a caregiver to
>> > Alexander
>> > > Dorm. The man is confined to a wheelchair, has an unpredictable temper
>> > and
>> > > is regarded as »difficult«. Nevertheless, he has a visitor every week.
>> > That
>> > > visitor, of all people, is Christoph Hollberg – the man whose life
>> Dorm
>> > > allegedly ruined years ago when he stalked him so relentlessly that he
>> > > drove Hollberg’s wife to suicide.
>> > >
>> > > The »arrangement« was based on mutual benefit, Natalie is being
>> assured,
>> > > and they liked one another very much. But soon the blatant aversion
>> that
>> > > Hollberg shows towards his supposed friend unsettles Natalie. She
>> tries
>> > to
>> > > uncover the enigmatic visitor’s secret and to understand the motives
>> for
>> > > his actions. She quickly realises that her new environment is shaped
>> by
>> > > nearly inscrutable relationships: the way the other carers behave
>> among
>> > > themselves is unfathomable, opaque are their relationships with the
>> > > patients. Natalie is slowly drawn into a subtle, double-edged power
>> play,
>> > > the rules of which she only begins to understand gradually.
>> > >
>> > > The novel spans over 1.000 pages – a book like »a lively micropolis«,
>> as
>> > > the author describes it – and is filled with peculiar niches and
>> asides,
>> > > full of outrageous and shocking moments, but also full of tenderness
>> and
>> > > moving scenes.
>> > >
>> > > *The Hour Between Woman and Guitar* is a rollercoaster ride into the
>> > > world of Clemens J. Setz. He reveals its inner order, its secrets and
>> > > principles: power and the lack thereof, the search for meaning and
>> loss
>> > of
>> > > orientation, submission and love in all forms and shapes: nurturing,
>> > > respectful, obsessed love, love as delusion and as a tool of
>> > manipulation.
>> > > And of revenge. So subtle and painful that the question of who is the
>> > > victim and who the perpetrator leads into a nameless abyss. +
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> https://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/the_hour_between_woman_and_guitar-clemens_j_setz_42495.html?d_view=english
>> > >
>> > > Am 11.12.19 um 15:32 schrieb rich:
>> > >
>> > > Soon the curtain of one's literary heroes gracing us with new work
>> will
>> > > close. The current obsessions of new and upcoming fiction writers I
>> have
>> > > found are not mine, worthy as they are. I wont be one of those grumps
>> > > bemoaning the ascendance of a new generation of writers. But it does
>> > sadden
>> > > me a bit that soon there won't be anyone left for me to put on my
>> > personal
>> > > pedestal. Part of me realizes this is just natural. But I will miss
>> the
>> > > excitement  I once had.
>> > > musing on a snowy winter's day
>> > >
>> > > rich
>> > > --
>> > > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> > > .
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> > --
>> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>