Thread 24788456

Which of William gaddis’ work is the most accessible?
I haven’t read any postmodern literature yet, so what am I in for?

Carpenters Gothic is his most accessible, but you should start with The Recognitions.

His style develops through the books and CG and Frolic don't deliver at quite the same level as The Recognitions and JR, but are still interesting as further developments of his use of ambiguity.

You don't need to have read any postmodern stuff he is a modernist.

>>24788463
Ah, ok. Thanks.

I was going off his Wikipedia page, where he is put among the postmodernists.

>>24788521
NTA. The modernist/postmodern divide is hard to pin down, I struggle with it a lot.
Judging by the first 50 or so pages, his style is closer to the likes of Melville and Mann than to the likes of Pynchon. Learned and erudite, lush, even baroque sentences, but still very legible. Pynchon's syncopated and elliptical, juggling styles as frequently as Joyce. Gaddis seems more steady, though maybe it changes later on.

>>24788600
I guess that modernism and postmodernism have more in common, than what separates them, especially in comparison with say romanticism or realism.
When I read the golden ass or Tristram shandy I got the feeling that there was always a kind of literature around that liked to experiment with the medium. The only qualitative difference being that it’s much more common since 1900.

>>24788632
>golden ass or Tristram shandy I got the feeling that there was always a kind of literature around that liked to experiment with the medium
You're thinking of Menippean satires.

>>24788648
Now that I looked it up, you’re right. I’ve actually never heard this term before.

>>24788678
I came across it while reading Melville's Confidence-Man (Norton Critical Edition) and over the years realised that many of my favourite books share the same traits, from Moby-Dick to GR. Too bad the term's rather obscure, probably because it's such a mouthful.

>>24788702
But does it apply to Gaddis?

>>24788788
Yes. Capenter's gothic and JR are indubitably menippean satires.

>>24788898
That’s perfect. I’m really looking forward to getting to them.

>>24788456 (OP)
Gaddis is the real thing, to hell with Pynchon and DeLillo.

>>24788456 (OP)
read the recognitions, it's a religious experience. at worst, it's worth starting, but not finishing; at best, it'll change your life / worldview.

>>24790719
can confirm, changed my fucking life.

>>24790719
Can confirm, changed my life and perception.