| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
swetepete
Joined: 01 Nov 2006
Location: a limp little burg
|
 Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:22 am Post subject: |
 |
|
Well, I figure I'm as leftist as I think I am, but maybe not as leftist as others might think I am, let's put it that way...
Anyway, thanks for the recommendations. I'll be picking up some McMurty next time I'm in a decent bookshop. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
Julius wrote:
| Quote: |
| Yeah I read that. It didn't leave a lasting impression though somehow, for all its lyrical eloquence. Actually its kinda surprising the books that do. I mean the ones you find yourself thinking about years later. Best American novelists i ever read were kerouac |
Somehow this doesn't surprise me if you find On the Road the pinnacle of American literary heritage. But then I wouldn't expect a Leftist to appreciate a good Western. |
To be honest I never read westerns much. Have dipped into Louis l'amour briefly but it was pulp to me.
Best I ever read of American writing was Kerouac, Nabokov, Thoreau, and Henry James. Kinda liked Richard Wright too.
Worst probably William Gibson or Sylvia Plath. Most overrated: Hemingway. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
swetepete
Joined: 01 Nov 2006
Location: a limp little burg
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:45 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Gibson the worst? Really? What's your beef with Big Bill? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
| swetepete wrote: |
| Gibson the worst? Really? What's your beef with Big Bill? |
I had a friend reject Pattern Recognition, because it had too many metaphors. WTF?? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 6:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
swetepete wrote:
Gibson the worst? Really? What's your beef with Big Bill?
I had a friend reject Pattern Recognition, because it had too many metaphors. WTF?? |
Didn't enjoy neuromancer, probably my first and last attempt at sci-fi.
Reason I love lolita is that its so grotesquely hilarious. You have the patheticness of the lead character humbert portrayed in mock cavalier roles. The writing is actually beautiful but its so brutally undermined by the cruelty of the subject.
On the road is basically a document for all the folks who spent their ealry 20's or younger backpacking all over the world. The unforgettable characters and impressions of places, adventures etc of being young and penniless etc.
Walden is a deep and philosophical meditation of one man living in nature. Its almost too rich to take in..but you have the transcendental element there which is so American. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
Julius wrote:
On the road is basically a document for all the folks who spent their ealry 20's or younger backpacking all over the world.
Yep. I read it at age 20. But Kerouac experienced this crap considerably later and still thought it was cool somehow. Anyone over 40 who does must not have sowed many oats in their 20s.
The Beat Generation finally beat up on themselves.
McMurtry is unlike any other Western writer in my view. He speaks of the big picture, not just the cowpoke jokes. Both literally and figuratively, his writing can be panoramic as the prairie. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
