What does /lit think about John Barth? I've heard some good things about him, but also that he's "overly-intellectual" or "soulless." Are his books really just attempts to be clever or is there more to them?
>>7809933
"lost in the funhouse" was a cool meta-short-story of his.
>>7809933
I've never read anything by him, but I think he was a big influence on DFW's thoughts on postmodernism, if that means anything to you.
I think that description fits Lost in The Funhouse well, where each story is a kind of conceptual game, but his novels are pretty loose and free form.
He's described his own writing methods as 'channeling The Muse' or letting his spine do the writing, so I certainly don't think it's his intention with his novels to write anything too clever or specifically structured.
For what it's worth I've read four of his novels (his first three, plus Chimera) and none of them came across overly-intellectual or "soulless" to me. His prose IS a bit dry and a bit janky at times though.
Underrated author. This board doesn't seem to know much about him at all.
I think I own all of his books. There might be a few missing here and there. I really like his first three a lot, they form a sort of nihilism trilogy. I've only read that and Lost in the Funhouse which was crazy.
He's got some really good interviews on book worm you should check out.
Lost in the Funhouse is cool, in the same way that concept cars are cool. It tries a bunch of crazy weird things that generally resemble something relatable and come together to form something impressive but--and this kinda a stretch for the analogy--the stories feel like they are missing humanity. Like I'm reading a collection of puzzles both intellectual and emotional (it's not without feeling, absolutely not) but somehow not quite concerned with me.
Perhaps it's because they revel in their complexity, happily leaving the lazy or uncommitted reader with nothing. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's done with no charm. Maybe a comparison would help:
The titular story is a great example of "character vs author," and genuinely fun to read. But, compared to the most popular character/author conflict here, Calvino's If on A Winter's Night A Traveler, Funhouse feels cruel, both to its characters and the reader. Where Calvino can effortlessly comfort us in his stories, regardless of their complexity, Barthe's stories felt mean in their postmodernism.
I hope this made sense.
Dunno. You should just read it; I'm pretty stupid
