Guest Mnytime Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Re: McCarthy, his early books are all based in Tennessee (where he grew up if I remember correctly). It was only with Blood Meridian and the Border Trilogy that he began focusing heavier on Texas/Mexico/Native Americana. Well here is the problem. These are the only books of his that I have read. Which of his earlier books would you recommend that I read that would best show his being a cousin of Faulkner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Christmas Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Erm... Blood Meridian and All the Pretty Horses! Lon also said what I didn't want to say, so as not to start any unnecessary Mason-Dixon strife. Why do you feel that Pynchon/Beckett relate so closely to Faulkner? Their unique use of language is one thing, but quite disconnected in structure. What else am I missing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mnytime Posted July 4, 2003 Report Share Posted July 4, 2003 Look I know very well that Texas is considered part of the South. When I was talking about "Western" I did not mean to say that Texas was not considered a Southern state. Joe Like I said it's been awhile since I read those books but from what I recall of them Faulkner being a cousin really doesn't come to mind for me. I will just have to fit them into my reading schedule to refresh myself. Honestly I don't think I have read "All the Pretty Horses" since it came out more than twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted July 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2003 Conn, a good friend of mine, another Faulkner enthusiast, swears by Styron's work and has tried and tried again to get me into his work because of our shared interests. I attempted This House On Fire a few times and for the life of me could not get with it. Any recommendations? Can't improve much on GOM's comments. I highly recommend "Confessions of Nat Turner" (riveting) and his book of essays which I've forgotten the name of. Sounds like GOM has read more of Styron than I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Christmas Posted July 5, 2003 Report Share Posted July 5, 2003 Right on, guys. THE LONG MARCH and one of the McCullers are going on the short list. This morning I got my Snopes on and began rereading THE HAMLET. Anyone else care to join me for a play-by-play every 50 pages or so? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mnytime Posted July 5, 2003 Report Share Posted July 5, 2003 I am still in my Russian phase, otherwise I would join you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted July 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2003 And I'm focusing on my chess studies. Sorry, Joe. Wish I could. Mny, what Russians you reading? I've read a lot of Russian literature though it has been a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mnytime Posted July 5, 2003 Report Share Posted July 5, 2003 (edited) I posted this in the Reading Thread: Last couple months I have been re-reading some of my favorite Russian Lit by Authors not named Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. The Master & Margarita-Mikhail Bulgakov Dead Souls-Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol Diary of a Madman-Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol Father's & Sons-Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev Home of the Gentry-Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev A Hero of Our Times-Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov Oblomov-Ivan Goncharov Cancer Ward-Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk- Kikolai Leskov The Life & Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin-Vladimir Voinovich Since that post: Pretender to the Throne: The Further Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin-Vladimir Voinovich The Heart of a Dog-Mikhail Bulgakov The Complete Prose Tales of Alexandr Sergeyevitch Pushkin One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich-Alexandre Isaevich Solzhenitsyn The Foundation Pit-Andrey Platonov At the moment I am reading for the first time: Moscow to the End of the Line-Venedikt Erofeev Edited July 5, 2003 by Mnytime Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connoisseur series500 Posted July 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2003 sorry for getting this off topic. I should check out the reading thread. Good stuff you're reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mnytime Posted July 5, 2003 Report Share Posted July 5, 2003 Borrowed these quotes from Jim's thread: "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway) "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?" - Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted July 6, 2003 Report Share Posted July 6, 2003 I do believe Welty has much to teach us. And, if you are a jazz listener and have neer read "Powerhouse"... well, you should!!! The thing to remember about Flannery O'Connor, who indeed could write a Faulknerian sentence or three, is how important her Catholicism is to her. Ditto Walker Percy, perhaps the last of the truly "great" (whatever that means) Southern novelists. Anyway, O'Connor is much closer in some respects to one of Faulkner's contemporaries, and one of the first "Jewish writers" of the modern American era, Nathaneal West. MISS LONELYHEARTS and DAY OF THE LOCUST have proved to be hugely influential works, and in some unexpected ways. The name "Homer Simpson" comes from DOTL, e.g. As for Pynchon being influenced by Faulkner -- well, when he uses the word "preterite" in CRYING OF LOT 49, I firmly believe a neon sign reading FAULKNER is supposed ot go off over your head. its up to the reader to sort out the layers of spoof, homage etc. in that diction. All of which is my way of kind of shooting the wheels off this whole American regionalism thing. All these writers share similar moral concerns, even Pynchon (maybe ESPECIALLY Pynchon), when you get right down to it, no mater how similar and disimilar their "styles" appear to be. Finally, a word for one of my favorite critical works on Faulkner -- the Coen Bros.' BARTON FINK...                                MAYHEW  If I close m'eyes I can almost smell the  live oak.   AUDREY  That's hamburger grease, Bill.   MAYHEW  Well, m'olfactory's turnin' womanish on me -  lyin' and deceitful . . . His eyes still closed, he waves a limp hand gently in the breeze.  . . . Still, I must say. I haven't felt  peace like this since the grand productive  days. Don't you find it so, Barton? Ain't  writin' peace?   BARTON  Well . . . actually, no Bill . . . Barton looks nervously at Audrey before continuing.  . . . No, I've always found that writing comes  from a great inner pain. Maybe it's a pain  that comes from a realization that one must  do something for one's fellow man - to help  somehow to ease his suffering. Maybe it's a  personal pain. At any rate, I don't believe  good work is possible without it.   MAYHEW  Mmm. Wal, me, I just enjoy maikn' things up.  Yessir. Escape...It's when I can't write, can't  escape m'self, that I want to tear m'head off  and run screamin' down the street with m'balls  in a fruitpickers pail. Mm . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny weir Posted July 12, 2003 Report Share Posted July 12, 2003 (edited) A few years back, my boss gave me a yellowed old Penguin paperback (from 1959 I think) of some early Faulkner called New Orleans Sketches. I'll send it - gratis - to the first Faulkner fan board member who PMs me. And what about Robert Penn Warren? I've read All The King's Men several times, and many years ago read quite a few novels in a concentrated period, and remember them fondly. I think some I haven't read have been RVGed in the Voices Of The South Series. (Up to page 80 of The Hamlet) Edited July 12, 2003 by kenny weir Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzmoose Posted July 12, 2003 Report Share Posted July 12, 2003 Anyway, O'Connor is much closer in some respects to one of Faulkner's contemporaries, and one of the first "Jewish writers" of the modern American era, Nathaneal West. MISS LONELYHEARTS and DAY OF THE LOCUST have proved to be hugely influential works, and in some unexpected ways. The name "Homer Simpson" comes from DOTL, e.g. Wow; I just read these a couple of years ago and didn't even notice "Homer Simpson"! Time for another read... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted July 12, 2003 Report Share Posted July 12, 2003 The Life & Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin-Vladimir Voinovich Pretender to the Throne: The Further Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin-Vladimir Voinovich You've mentioned some of my favorite non-Tolstoy/Dostoyevsky Russians in your post. I'm especially fond if Voinovitch. Have you read "The Fur Hat"? It's a riot! I also enjoyed "Moscow 2051". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted July 12, 2003 Report Share Posted July 12, 2003 Anyway, O'Connor is much closer in some respects to one of Faulkner's contemporaries, and one of the first "Jewish writers" of the modern American era, Nathaneal West. MISS LONELYHEARTS and DAY OF THE LOCUST have proved to be hugely influential works, and in some unexpected ways. The name "Homer Simpson" comes from DOTL, e.g. Wow; I just read these a couple of years ago and didn't even notice "Homer Simpson"! Time for another read... Yeah, it's actually hard nowadays to read "Day of the Locusts" without picturing the Homer Simpson from "The Simpsons". Kinda spoils it for me. Otherwise, a very good book. In a similar vein, I recommend the Pat Hobby stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrugs Posted July 13, 2003 Report Share Posted July 13, 2003 Has anyone visited Rowan Oak? I plan on doing so upon my return to New Orleans this fall. Looking forward to seeing Oxford. I have passed by Oxford on the way to Memphis but have never stopped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Christmas Posted August 14, 2003 Report Share Posted August 14, 2003 I intended to complete the Snopes Trilogy in a straight sweep. Not gonna happen as I'm too swept up in Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton's Moon Shot. On deck: Intruder in the Dust - Bill F. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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