The Literary List
I've been reading off this list from The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List and did posts on the The Romance List and the Fantasy List. I now just polished off the Literary Fiction List so thought I'd post on those
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Heh. I deliberately read through this list hoping it might clear my palate and maybe inspire me to write again. I had a friend who teaches writing at a university who believes you're are who you read--and if you read too much fanfic your writing would turn to mush *g* Besides--I seriously did over-saturate myself. I am glad I tackled this list--reading it is in itself like a writing course even without a class or people to bounce opinions off--they're so rich in technique. As someone who has been almost exclusively a middlebrow genre reader since finishing school and the Required Reading List(tm), this was a rich experience.
I share your overall view of Oates and Gibbons.
The Gibbons book is so short that since its the only work of hers I read, I wouldn't know if its typical of her to judge her solely based on that. As I said, at least there, unlike with McCarthy, I can see a rationale for the style. But I *have* tried Oates several times--I just don't get her reputation. She strikes me as a mediocre writer.
But I had to sob at the idea that Mrs. Dalloway is something to suffer through (it's on my list of top-ten favorite "literary" novels)
Mrs Dalloway was my bete noir. It kept getting assigned to me in high school and college and I kept going to the Monarch Notes--just hated it from the first sentence. I have no liking for stream of consciousness. It's not just Woolfe but Faulkner and Joyce I despise. Well, mostly. I loved several stories from Joyce's Dubliners.
I'll say this for Mrs Dalloway, even if I hate the technique, especially after reading all these above, I can see her writing as first-rate and see her influence. When I was reading the truly awful (imo) Delillo I was amazed at how absolutely idiotic his metaphors and simile were--almost caricatures of bad writing. I had just read Mrs Dalloway a book or so before--and I thought of how powerful some of her imagery was--like the flowers being compared to newly laundered clothes--I could just see it. So yeah, I kinda get what others might see in Woolfe but...
I haven't read Empire Falls, though I love Russo's Straight Man (probably because it's set in a school similar to ones I've taught in).
I've read that Empire Falls isn't his strongest, but won the Pulitzer to make up for all the times he should have won. I did like aspects of his writing--I wouldn't rule out trying him again. Several little things in Empire Falls just brushed against me the wrong way--particularly how he depicted the protagonists ex-wife. Borderline misogyny in the way he made her such a complete bimbo.
I'm fascinated by your comments on Middlesex, because I had the same fears about turgid post-modernism that you did. I'll give it a try now.
I thought Middlesex was the complete opposite of Delillo and the post-modern style in technique and tone. Ironic because the blurbs for Underworld were so gushingly bombastic, but I thought this one was the page-turner and "great American novel" in terms of it's sweep and themes--not Delillo. Middlesex I thought very readable--page-turner even. And I thought the way it handled the theme of gender thought-provoking. That Eumenides has a sense of humor helps I think.
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You know, the educational system has a lot to answer for. /g/ So often we assign titles before kids are developmentally ready for them. Topic, theme, style in Mrs. D -- none of these is really suited to high schoolers and most people in their early years of college. It's not that the kids aren't smart enough to understand them; it's just that the books aren't likely to "speak" to them. We've ruined The Scarlet Letter and The Red Badge of Courage for generations of readers by assigning them too early (and then usually teaching them in tedious ways).
I once had a grad school professor who insisted that "no one can understand King Lear before they are 40." I was insulted -- I thought -- I've read KL, and I certainly understood it, thank you. It wasn't until I was 40 that I understood what the professor meant: The emotional core of KL requires some age/experience before we really feel it. I suspect Mrs. Dalloway is the same way.
even if I hate the technique, especially after reading all these above, I can see her writing as first-rate and see her influence
I have the same reaction to Joyce -- yes, I can see his brilliance, importance, and influence. But god, I hate everything after Dubliners. (And talk about misogyny!) Faulkner I'm middle-of-the-road about, except for As I Lay Dying, which I love just for the sheer quirky twistedness of it.
I realize now that I have tried to read The God of Small Things. Boadicea (partner) loves it and gave me a copy, but I couldn't get past the first few chapters. I don't think I even made it to the Christians.
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And by the time I tried Mrs Dalloway again, it was already ingrained as something I hate. (Although I have a friend who adored Woolf from her teens--but she's a complete lit geek and writer who is going for a doctorate in literature) I did read Woolf's essay "A Room of One's Own" as a teen and adored it. It makes me want to love her more.
I have the same reaction to Joyce -- yes, I can see his brilliance, importance, and influence. But god, I hate everything after Dubliners
I've been told--endlessly--Ulysses is the great novel in English. But we hates it, my precioussssssss.
I realize now that I have tried to read The God of Small Things. Boadicea (partner) loves it and gave me a copy, but I couldn't get past the first few chapters. I don't think I even made it to the Christians.
Aspects of the style irked me, but some of the prose is gorgeous--and it held some fascination for the picture of modern life in India. What really threw me though was this detailed scene of child molestation--it completely nauseated me and I couldn't recover from it as a reader.
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