Reading List Completists discussion

Discuss Part I here

So far very readable. I get worried when going into a big classic novel that it will be tough to get into. Still getting to know the characters. Might take a few more days to get fully invested.

Lots of description interspersed with anecdotes. But continues to be amusing and readable. (Monkeys are always funny!)

Glad you like it so far. I found the humor helps to take away some of the heavy-handedness that comes later

Surprised by the departure of Aunt May so soon.

Her influence does loom large throughout

Trying to figure out the role of The Town Carpenter - important or just a passing symbol. For me, his role and story seemed conspicuously mysterious in part I.

He does make another appearance if I remember correctly

In what I would call "Chapter II" we get a short introduction to Paris at the time Wyatt has moved their to paint. I am curious to see how much it was just setting the tone and atmosphere as opposed to actual story advancement. It seemed like a lot of large descriptive paragraphs interspersed with short bits of actual prose related to the storyline.

Lots of Esther and Wyatt not getting along . . . setting changed from Paris to New York

The plot does develop, however it does so slowly. Hang in there.

TheLongWait wrote: "The plot does develop, however it does so slowly. Hang in there."

Oh, actually I am not minding it . . . it is just interesting how much time the author is spending on this relationship.

I think it's part of the "core" of the book. You gotta admit that Gaddis is a master of prose though.

Recktall Brown . . . really?

Ha! Yes....the names do become hilarious

I just got a copy at my library. How far behind am I already?

I am at page 188 - but only reading about 10 pages a day

Another good name - Agnes Deigh

Question - perhaps I missed it earlier in the book, but it suddenly became a big deal at the end of the chapter I just finished: Is Otto black?

The referred to him as the Moor at the party.

That's what I inferred.

Nearly halfway thru Chap 1 and laughing already! I know, gotta catch up to the rest of the team!

Some interesting discussion about art forgery - spending some time with good ol' Recktall!

Nearly done but I have to admit I cheated by reading the Wikipedia article to get an idea where Gaddis is going with this. So far the Faustian discussion among Basil Valentine, Recktail Brown and the unnamed Wyatt is my favorite section. Hopefully, will finish Part I and start Part II tonight.

le_fino wrote: "Nearly done but I have to admit I cheated by reading the Wikipedia article to get an idea where Gaddis is going with this. So far the Faustian discussion among Basil Valentine, Recktail Brown and t..."

Yes - I did enjoy that section the most. Still . . . very weird! And, as you said . . . sometimes drags . . .

For a Faustian tale, I prefer Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann so far...or Goethe's of course!

I finished Part I, but I have to say that so far, it is heavy going like trudging through two feet of slow on an incline and trying to hold on to your snowboard lest it slip off and slide off the cliff. Very hard to follow the dialogs: they are interesting at the party scenes, but I felt like that one sober person in the room - hopelessly bored and kicking myself in the ass for having agreed beforehand to be the designated driver.

If I compare TR to the über-giant post-modern masterpieces that succeeded it: Underworld by DeLillo, Gravity's Rainbow or Mason&Dixon or Against the Day by Pynchon or Infinite Jest by DFW, I think The Recognitions comes off so far as the weakest of the lot.
Yes, he is as erudite as DFW, slightly less bizarre and labyrinthine as DFW, and as descriptive as DeLillo.
BUT, I am not attached to the characters or plot devices. Ok Otto is ok, but he is a loser. He continues seeing Esme right after Chad leaves buttoning his jeans?? Hal Incandenza or Gateley would never do that! Wyatt just seems so much more broken than even Slorthrop and far less fun to be around. I am far more curious about the fate of Thompson's baseball in UW than of the Faustian bargain struck presumably by Wyatt (despite his annoyingly not being named in the scene) and Recktail Brown (with Basil egging them on - pun intended). And speaking of that drawn out scene, I preferred those of Marathe and Steepley overlooking the desert in IJ. I fell in love with Dahlia Rideout in AtD (still am! Sorry Kit!) but I feel just pity and loathing for Esme.

Ok, rant over. On to Part 2.

If I may, I would add that Gaddis is less subtle than the trio of DFW-Pynchon-DeLillo. He must have used the word "recognitions" at least 15-20 times in Part 1. The term Infinite Jest only appears after, if memory serves 700 pages of text, Underworld is actually never mentioned and Pynchon's titles are almost never directly referred to in the text. So what does that tell us? That Gaddis theme is around recognition: of the fake from the authentic, of the father by the son and vice-versa, of the artist by the proser, of the addict by the artist...identity is at the core. Seen this way in retrospect, aspects of Part I seem a bit more interesting - but in a way like the difference between walking in cavernous streets between the skyscrapers on Wall Street feeling small and insignificant versus getting an arial shot of Manhattan from a helicopter. I hope Part 2's beauty rests in the moment and not merely in retrospect. Before you respond, "But it is the same with Infinite Jest! After almost 1000 pages, the design of DFW is laid clear, and damnit, same with Gravity's Rainbow!", let me say that those two books were for me more entertaining and engaging while wandering their labyrinthine texts and staring at the figures in the Funhouse as it were than just learning of Wyatt's fucked up childhood or his boring life in NYC.

Ok rant #2 over.

le_fino wrote: "Very hard to follow the dialogs: they are interesting at the party scenes, but I felt like that one sober person in the room - hopelessly bored and kicking myself in the ass for having agreed beforehand to be the designated driver.."

I like this comparison. Most dialogue scenes in this book so far I feel a bit uncomfortable for the speakers.

le_fino wrote: "He must have used the word "recognitions" at least 15-20 times in Part 1."

Oh yes! I have been "recognizing" that as well!