Brain Pain discussion

William T. Vollmann published his novel, Europe Central, in 2005. The book was well received and won the National Book Award for 2005.


Wikipedia page for William T. Vollmann:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_...


Wikipedia page for Europe Central:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe_C...


Acceptance speech for National Book Award:

http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2005_f...


Paris Review interview, Fall 2000:

http://www.theparisreview.org/intervi...


Feel free to use this thread to ask questions and post links to resources for William T. Vollmann and Europe Central.

Also, if you’ve written a review of the book, please post a link to share with the group.

Another resource which one might want to use as a preview would be to listen to a couple of Shostakovich pieces, many of which can be enjoyed for free on youtube. E.g. Opus 40

Of additional interest may be The Saga of the Volsungs, or a summary of it. The basics are told in the wikipedia page, and apparently Andrew Lang wrote an abbreviated version of the tale in his Red Fairy Book, which is available in an online version titled The Story of Sigurd.

Zadignose wrote: "Another resource which one might want to use as a preview would be to listen to a couple of Shostakovich pieces, many of which can be enjoyed for free on youtube. E.g. Opus 40

Of additional intere..."

Good leads! Thanks Z....

Europe Central turned my fondness for Shostakovich into an obsession. Here's some of the most referenced works:

Song of the Counterplan Vollmann's Shostakovich despises that this becomes his most famous and beloved work. Not sure if he had a source for that opinion, or if it's one of his many flourishes. (Well, I like it)

Symphony No. 8, III: Allegro Non Troppo

Cello and Piano Sonata, Op. 40 The fact that Vollmann uses this as a love theme is the most Vollmann-y thing ever.

String Quartet No. 8

My best wishes to all those picking up this brick!
I'll be following the discussion with interest.

I gave myself a good head start on this one, and I probably should have recommended that others do so, but I didn't want to be presumptuous (I'm trying on a new personality... for the next six-and-a-half hours).

But anyway, I've really become a Vollmann fan, and think his books are excellent, and at the same time I recognize that they take a lot of time. I'm glad we've got seven weeks in our schedule. I'm probably one of the slower readers among all my Good Reads friends and associates, yet I find that with Vollmann I read even slower than usual.

Cracked Europe Central for the first time last night.

As JR would say, "holy moley that's a -- mister, how do you even carry that thing?"

Sosen wrote: "Europe Central turned my fondness for Shostakovich into an obsession. Here's some of the most referenced works:

Song of the Counterplan Vollmann's Shostakovich despises that this becomes his most ..."

The Cello and Piano Sonata Op 40 sounds like something John Cage would have been influenced by. I'm not basing this on any specific info I have - it's just a feeling....

Just announcing that I plan to try to keep up with you on this one, even though I'm *still* slogging my way through the *ooze* of Argall.

I'm going to really try to keep pace with the group on this one; I very much enjoyed reading Under the Volcano at the same pace as the group & look forward to "real time" discussions with you.

I am starting a little slow out of the gate because I don't yet have a copy of Europe Central, but that problem should be easily remedied.

Just sharing my first thoughts about the physical book, which arrived yesterday:

Whoa! It is heavy.
This is not a book that props open easily.
The (Table of) Contents reveals something I hadn't picked up from the audible edition--the chapters, except for the first, are paired.
A list of Russian names with their derivatives is up front.
Footnotes appear at the bottom of some pages.
At the back are fifty pages of sources (pp. 753-806).

It was easy to slide into the audiobook, undaunted. But still, I am glad to be able to actually see the text.

Now if I can just figure out how to pick up the book with one hand.

Vollmann's use of the first-person to engage the reader's sensibilities intrigues me. I went back to the first chapter to see how Vollmann plays with voice in these relatively few pages...and switches the narrator midway. At the beginning the narrator is a dutiful communications specialist in a windowless office in Romania. Presumably he has followed the war since 1938 ("Away flees Chamberlain...") up to a pivotal moment in 1945, through his access to the vibrating wires. Now he enthuses about Germany, now Russia, whomever is in power ("One has to be on the watch..."). I, the reader, feel his loyalty crisis. But then, in Part 4, it seems to me, the voice of the author edges in. ("The receiver clamps to a mouth and an ear.") The specialist comments in parentheses: " I thought they were mine." The text moves away from the purview of the specialist. I hear the author predicting the future. ("In spite of mass commitment, there were not enough components.") I hear the author asking questions about WWII. ("What set steel in motion?") The author refers to books that "...survived the war.") The author, not the Romanian specialist, is "...preparing to invade the meaning of Europe." I, the reader, feel Vollmann's momentum, his authority.

Probably spent too much time on this. I guess I was happy to get the print-book...but now back to the audible edition.

Linda wrote: "Vollmann's use of the first-person to engage the reader's sensibilities intrigues me. I went back to the first chapter to see how Vollmann plays with voice in these relatively few pages...and switc..."

Great observations! If you want to, you can post these comments over in the Week One discussion.