cruis'n esoterica’s Reviews > The Recognitions > Status Update

starting to think this Otto character is g*y...

end of ch. 3: a pretty significant difficulty spike as wyatt's life stagnates. the dialogue is unparalleled and i love the radio-static chattering moments when time passes. esther's perspective, which i (we?) heavily sympathize with, makes wyatt come off as an even more unintelligible drunk than his dad; he's so disturbed that i assume we have skipped over some essential moments we'll be returning to later on.

"I think it's the artist is the only person, urghh Esther, it's the artist who's the only person who is really given the capability of being happy, Esther, maybe not all the time, Esther, but sometimes. Don't you ughhhhhh think so, Esther? Don't you think so?"

"uhhhh ohh i don't think so Wyatt!! i don't know Wyatt!"

"It's the artist, Esther! They're the only urghh people who can do it!"

"aw jeez Wyatt i--"

hard to put down. i stopped using the amazingly comprehensive Web 1.0 reader's guide pretty early on; so far, the references are clearer and more intriguing than Foucault's Pendulum and the prose is easier and more mellifluous than Mason & Dixon. the hyperbombastic Gass foreword (i am more predisposed to say this having just finished two of the big WHG joints) all but confirms him as a guilt-ridden Gaddis plagiarist.