The Poet of the Losers
See Jay A Gertzman's thought provoking article higlighting the similarities between David Goodis and Kafka in 'Crimespree Magazine' - David Goodis: The Kafka of East Oalk Lane http://crimespreemag.com/david-goodis...
David Goodis
"We unfold (not less deeply bound to humanity than to ourselves) through all the sufferings of this world. In this process there is no place for justice, but no place either for dread of suffering or for the interpretation of suffering as a merit.” (Kafka, Aphorism 98)
“There is more ‘redemption’ in Goodis’s novels than might otherwise appear,” wrote William Sherman, who also said, “He does not rule out chance and meaningful coincidence, the unconscious, the fact of our human divinity . . .” Prof. David Schmid comments that “Goodis “explore[s] the seemingly ‘natural’ symbiotic relationship between the city and the criminal gang, while at the same time returning to [his] most fundamental concern: the simultaneous desire for and fear of human connection.” Cullen Gallagher believes “there’s still that ambiguity of hope. . . . . The journey wasn’t over. Had he lived to write even one more book, would Goodis and his characters have found the home they had been searching for since Retreat from Oblivion [his first novel]?
Since the desire to see some kind of community and mutuality emerge from exploitation, brutality, and indifference is as deep as faith itself, and just as illusive, Goodis’ attraction to readers may be based, as are Kafka’s, on one of their deepest, most uncanny, spiritual wishes, even a dream of the Tree of life.
David Goodis
"We unfold (not less deeply bound to humanity than to ourselves) through all the sufferings of this world. In this process there is no place for justice, but no place either for dread of suffering or for the interpretation of suffering as a merit.” (Kafka, Aphorism 98)
“There is more ‘redemption’ in Goodis’s novels than might otherwise appear,” wrote William Sherman, who also said, “He does not rule out chance and meaningful coincidence, the unconscious, the fact of our human divinity . . .” Prof. David Schmid comments that “Goodis “explore[s] the seemingly ‘natural’ symbiotic relationship between the city and the criminal gang, while at the same time returning to [his] most fundamental concern: the simultaneous desire for and fear of human connection.” Cullen Gallagher believes “there’s still that ambiguity of hope. . . . . The journey wasn’t over. Had he lived to write even one more book, would Goodis and his characters have found the home they had been searching for since Retreat from Oblivion [his first novel]?
Since the desire to see some kind of community and mutuality emerge from exploitation, brutality, and indifference is as deep as faith itself, and just as illusive, Goodis’ attraction to readers may be based, as are Kafka’s, on one of their deepest, most uncanny, spiritual wishes, even a dream of the Tree of life.
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