(Untitled)

[cacophonesque]

o1. Absalom, Absalom!, William Faulkner
o2. The America Play and Other Works, Suzan-Lori Parks
o3. The Arabian Nights, trans. Husain Haddawy
o4. The Bacchae of Euripides, Wole Soyinka
o5. Cloud Nine, Caryl Churchill
o6. Complete Plays, Sarah Kane
o7. The End of It, Mitchell Goodman
o8. The House of Incest, Anais Nin
o9. House of Leaves, Mark Z.

Comments

[cacophonesque]

Top Five Experimental:

The Bacchae 2.1, Charles Mee
Antigone, Mac Wellman
Four Saints in Three Acts, Gertrude Stein
Act Without Words I, Samuel Beckett
The Good Person of Szechwan, Bertold Brecht

To be honest, I haven't read much in the way of French literature, period. And, as you can tell, most of my experimental literature is coming in the form of plays. The thing is, I'm not sure that I've read any particular area of literature "in depth." My reading tends to be more scattered and unfocused--other areas of my life as well--I'd describe myself as more of a generalist than a specialist. People in my neighborhood leave free books on their stoops, and I pick them up and eventually read them. Sometimes I discover something great, sometimes I'm left ambivalent. Or sometimes friends offer to give me books, and I take them and see what I discover. When I worked at a library, I'd take the discards, and when I worked at a tiny bookstore, I'd take the damaged ones. In the past few years, that's been the bulk of my reading--an unpredictable, varied adventure. I attempt to compensate for what I lack in focus with a willingness to engage with and examine just about any text.

no

[murdermystery]

this answer isn't horrible, if a bit limited/pedestrian, and you are actually able to articulate why you like things is good, but when i look for applicants i am looking for obsession. passively accepting and reading anything doesn't strike me as somebody who's really got a burning desire for literature? it just seems like a "oh yeah I like to read" kind of thing, which is not, as far as I can tell, what we're about. so no, sorry. if you ever become obsessed with something and start actively obsessing over finding books come back and try again, i'm sure we'll still be here.

Re: no

[cacophonesque]

My obsession happens to be trying to expose myself to as many different ideas, forms, topics, genres, periods, and locales as I can. I want to know everything--and I always have. I was the kid who wanted to read every book in the library, or the book store, even the ones that probably weren't particularly good... I like ideas and words and stories--and even when I don't particularly like a book, I walk away with new perspectives on what I want out of books and what lackings can destroy the strength of a piece.

The reality is that I haven't always had the time or resources to actually read the entire library. Accepting and reading anything is a survival tactic that a book-lover uses when they have no other means of obtaining reading material. When your friends are wiring you money for groceries and you can't pay your rent, you collect what you can.

My problem isn't that I obsess over nothing, but rather that I obsess over too many things. Just about everything seems interesting, and sometimes that overwhelming urge to try to discover, appreciate, and understand everything leads to a mental paralysis. To me, the idea of specializing in a particular topic/period/genre/form is the idea of cutting myself off from experiencing the diversity of works that are out there.

[3g0]

I have to say, I love this answer.

Re: no

[schwarzes_herz]

I love this answer, too. I also have this problem. I worry about being one of those perpetual students and never having a career, because I want to study about 100 different things.

Re: no

[cacophonesque]

It's part of why it took me so long to finish my undergraduate degree. I kept changing my mind about what I wanted to study, what path I wanted to take. It's also largely why I haven't gone on to graduate study, because every day I have a new idea of where I'd like to narrow my focus.

Re: no

[schwarzes_herz]

Yes, exactly. Seven years for my undergrad, two spent agonizing over program catalogs and school websites.

Re: no

[cacophonesque]

Nine for me (although that involves breaks where I was working, as well as transferring). I still love reading through course bulletins, though. They seem like a menu of possibilities--the actual selection of classes involved quite a bit of agonizing, but listing all of the things that I wanted to take was quite enjoyable.

Re: no

[schwarzes_herz]

Yeah, my seven included one trimester off, some time moving around the East coast and three school transfers (and a change of major for each). Oh well. One of my best friends told me I should stop trying to choose and just "do everything," because "[I'll] never be happy doing one thing, anyway." She did mean it as a compliment, that I'm too intelligent and curious to be satisfied with one field or job, but it made me a bit sad. I'd like to have a career someday, you know? Sigh.

libraries are your friend

[murdermystery]

this argue is so far off from my entire worldview that i remain "no,"-- sorry.