tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post5008477205852675379..comments2024-03-04T11:22:53.502-05:00Comments on Fifty Books Project 2023: Proust on difficult artFifty Books Projecthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08640286429668778869noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-67581454136757914282015-06-09T19:32:04.125-04:002015-06-09T19:32:04.125-04:00I will almost definitely do a review of The Famili...I will almost definitely do a review of <i>The Familiar</i>.<br /><br />I say this as a Danielewski fan (with the important caveat that I'm only about 1/4 of the way through): <i>The Familiar</i> might be the novel that is too Danielewski even for me. But...I'll report back fully when I'm done with it.<br /><br />Related: I just learned The Paris Review is publishing a novel by Chris Bachelder in parts, starting with the summer issue. I'm a huge fan of Bachelder and, even without reading any portion of his new novel, recommend it as a possible serialized novel candidate.Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14977189004050200033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-88878335219760250652015-06-09T18:12:05.694-04:002015-06-09T18:12:05.694-04:00Serial novels are old hat--isn't that how most...Serial novels are old hat--isn't that how most of Dickens' novels were published? There are recent examples, too, I think. In Cold Blood was published serially in The New Yorker if I remember correctly. In fact, I wonder if the advent of the radio and television serial helped kill the serial novel.<br /><br />I'd love to have a good serial novel to anticipate the next part of. My question is: Do I really want to invest a novel by Mark Danielewski?Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12500451355263180972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-45645254372035476262015-06-05T18:19:05.555-04:002015-06-05T18:19:05.555-04:00So, imagining all 7 Harry Potter books published i...So, imagining all 7 Harry Potter books published instead as a single book: that single book would not have to justify its length artistically because it works as seven individual books. <br /><br />Or, put differently, a long book does not need an extra justification for its length; that the book is engaging to readers is enough of a justification for anything else. <br /><br />For me, I have a tendency to want the artist to justify everything artistically. But I don't think that's fair to the artist. The fact that the art works is enough; it doesn't need to independently justify its characteristics.<br /><br />At least...that's what I think I mean...Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14977189004050200033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-63789782657450971522015-06-03T16:29:37.407-04:002015-06-03T16:29:37.407-04:00W&P kind of split the difference between "...W&P kind of split the difference between "one long novel" and "7 short ones". I loved all of it although the last 150pp of Tolstoy's military ideas could probably have been cut without losing anything.<br /><br />It's interesting that you don't think a long novel needs to justify its length. Obviously from an artistic perspective, art never has to justify itself, but what do you mean when you say that?Brent Waggonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05121696882391723790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-20252538239620413722015-06-03T10:24:20.875-04:002015-06-03T10:24:20.875-04:00Don Quixote is definitely on my to-do list.
W&...Don Quixote is definitely on my to-do list.<br /><br />W&P, I enjoyed but didn't love. I didn't feel that the added length necessarily made it better. Which is to say, insofar as a long novel needs to justify its length by having its length <i>add</i> something, I didn't think the length of W&P served any purpose.<br /><br />With that said, I don't actually believe a long novel needs to justify its length. Knowing that W&P was released in three volumes makes a lot of sense to me because I can see reading it in three parts, as though I were reading one novel, and then later reading a sequel, and then later reading another sequel. So long as the sequels are interesting standing alone, the author has done his job. (I can't help imagining an inevitable single edition of all 7 Harry Potter novels).<br /><br />But this makes me wonder what we expect from serial novels or really long novels. Does it need to read like one masterpiece, or can it read like 7 masterpieces that just happen to follow each other in succession?Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14977189004050200033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-59611762643092003452015-06-02T22:32:34.936-04:002015-06-02T22:32:34.936-04:00War and Peace, btw, was originally published as 3 ...War and Peace, btw, was originally published as 3 volumes; It's almost half the length of Proust, although a lot faster read because of all the, you know, War.Brent Waggonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05121696882391723790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-77122140968087159102015-06-02T22:31:09.247-04:002015-06-02T22:31:09.247-04:00I love, love, love long-long-long novels. They are...I love, love, love long-long-long novels. They aren't as expansive as Proust, of course, but Don Quixote and War and Peace are two of my favorite novels.<br /><br />So far, I'm loving Proust. I don't find him difficult at all, except in the sense the he's very verbose so if you're not in the right headspace, he can be a slog. He's nothing like Joyce, really--he's much more emotionally immediate and there's no real complex structure of literary puzzlebox quality to his stuff, at least so far. It's just very slow-paced and beautiful. A lot of it plays like a comedy, actually, which I like.<br /><br />I tend to feel like length is a function of how much the author has to say. I'm only in volume 2 of Proust, so obviously it could go downhill., but so far, it's long but doesn't feel bloated to me. On the other hand, reading one of Chuck Palahniuk's 150 page novellas makes me feel like it should have been flash-fiction.<br /><br />I would say Swann's Way is well worth reading. It has a satisfying ending if you decide not to continue on.<br /><br />I've never heard of that Danielewski project--sounds like something I might enjoy.Brent Waggonerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05121696882391723790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-48958735293603294402015-06-02T10:01:59.102-04:002015-06-02T10:01:59.102-04:00Unrelated: I was thinking about Proust because I j...Unrelated: I was thinking about Proust because I just started Danielewski's new project, a 27 volume serial novel with new volumes released every three months (looks like it may actually be every 6 months or so, based on when #1 came out and when #2 is coming out). Where, historically, I have been completely uninterested in In Search of Lost Time (due to its length), I've been wondering if I should pick it up. Part of Danielewski's project is this idea that, as audience members, we're ready for longer-form novels (he feels this way because of the success of shows like The Wire, Breaking Bad, Battlestar Galactica). I'm undecided about whether this is true, but it occurred to me that Proust has already done this.<br /><br />As someone reading it, what are your thoughts on long, long, long-form novels?Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14977189004050200033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-934096967055481899.post-18494411465752639012015-06-02T09:58:13.628-04:002015-06-02T09:58:13.628-04:00I still hate Joyce.I still hate Joyce.Randyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14977189004050200033noreply@blogger.com