When will you fucks finally accept Gass as the savior of American fiction? When will you fucks finally realize that Gass's prose is on the level of Joyce, surpassing it in certain respects? When will you fucks learn to bow down to the greatest living American writer, perhaps the greatest living writer period? When will you fucks learn that The Tunnel is the greatest novel of at least the last 50 years?
>“Wild eyes were another sign. It is something I have seldom seen — the expression of an ecstatic state — though much is foolishly written of them, as if they grew like Jerusalem artichokes along the road. The eyes are black, right enough, whatever their normal color is; they are black because their perception is condensed to a coal, because the touch and taste and perfume of the lover, the outcry of a dirty word, a welcome river, have been reduced in the heat of passion to a black ash, and this unburnt residue of oxidation, this calyx, replaces the pupil so it no longer receives but sends, and every hair is on end, though perhaps only outspread on a pillow, and the nostrils are flared, mouth agape, cheeks sucked so the whole face seems as squeezed as a juiced fruit; I know, for once Lou went into that wildness while we were absorbing one another, trying to kiss, not merely forcefully, not the skull of our skeleton, but the skull and all the bones on which the essential self is hung, kiss so the shape of the soul is stirred too, that's what is called the ultimate French, the furtherest fuck, when a cock makes a concept cry out and climax; I know, for more than once, though not often, I shuddered into that other region, when a mouth drew me through its generosity into the realm of unravel, and every sensation lay extended as a lake, every tie was loosed, and the glue of things dissolved. I knew I wore the wild look then. The greatest gift you can give another human being is to let them warm you till, in passing beyond pleasure, your defenses fall, your ego surrenders, its structure melts, its towers topple, lies, fancies, vanities, blow away in no wind, and you return, not to the clay you came from — the unfired vessel — but to the original moment of inspiration, when you were the unabbreviated breath of God.”
Welcome to Gass land, my friends. Settle down, have a nice cup of perfect prose, and let's get to Gassin.
I'm a huge Gass supporter but i'd have to say Pynchon at his height is better than Gass in his prime. I still rank Gass firmly above Delillo and Mccarthy.
the gass that comes out of my ass is more significant than the one in the OP
>>8048504
Are there multiple Gassposters now?
>>8048552
I think Gass has a relatively good following on /lit/
>>8048557
I think it's just one guy unless he has successfully memed Gass
Another thread of this motherfucker.
Please report this post.
>>8048504
Jesus fucking christ picked the fuck up.
Gass should be read aloud right?
Gaddis > Gass
>>8048504
i see your fat old white american dude, and raise you another. i consider this aesthetic perfection
>Indeed, as any number of "definitions" of realism assert, and as the totemic ancestor of the novel, Don Quixote, emblematically demonstrates, that processing operation variously called narrative mimesis or realistic representation has as its historic function the systematic undermining and demystification, the secular "decoding," of those preexisting inherited traditional or sacred narrativ!! paradigms which are its initial givens. In this sense, the novel plays a significant role in what can be called a properly bourgeois cultural revolution—that immense process of transformation whereby populations whose life habits were formed by other, now archaic, modes of production are effectively reprogrammed for life and work in the new world of market capitalism. The "objective" function of the novel is thereby also implied: to its subjective and critical, analytic, corrosive mission must now be added the task of producing as though for the first time that very life world, that very "referent"—the newly quantifiable space of extension and market equivalence, the new rhythms of measurable time, the new secular and "disenchanted" object world of the commodity system, with its post-traditional daily life and its bewilderingly empirical, "meaningless," and contingent Umwelt—of which this new narrative discourse will then claim to be the "realistic" reflection.
Where should I start with Gass?
>>8048606
Omsetters Luck
>>8048504
You can see why he took three decades to write that book. And it's not like he spent those years working out kinks in the plot - it was all spent polishing, polishing, polishing. You have to respect his dedicated perfectionism as an artist.
In greatest living American author threads you see Pynchon, McCarthy, Delillo, Gass mentioned. But Barth never gets any love. How about some fucking love for John Barth.
>>8048605
dang who is that semen demon?
>>8048605
Reading Jameson's prose is fucking torture.
>>8048625
>le eggheaded postmodern quirky intellectual man
>>8048625
Most people think he is dead tbqh, have you seen recent pictures of him?
I really enjoyed in the heart of the heart of the country, how do I proceed?
If it helps, this is how I rank the stories:
1.Pederson kid
2.Order of Insects
3.In the heart of the heart of the country
4.Mrs Mean
5.Icicles
>>8048674
You can read Omensetter's Luck if you want, but it's not going to really prepare you for The Tunnel. The Tunnel is a whole separate beast of its own.
>>8048677
that's what I keep hearing, I think I'll read Omensetter's luck first.
On a somewhat different topic, can anyone recommend good provincial literature? Books with their content entrenched in the countryside? I'm thinking more stuff like the Pederson Kid, Faulkner's novels, Butcher's Crossing, and Blood Meridian
>>8048683
Willa Cather - My Ántonia.
>>8048688
seconded.
>>8048633
sorry you feel that way
i think his style is impeccable
>>8048605
What is that splurge of shit
I like Gass and Pynchon, but my favorite is Gaddis. Not that this comparison needs to be made.
>>8048810
It's just a steaming pile of clunky jargon and obscurantism. Why you posted that mess in this thread is anyone's guess.
>>8048827
I-I think it's okay
>>8048545
I thoroughly disagree, but I can see why feel that way.
>>8048552
Well, there was one--just one--for a while--me--but, after gassposting got cool, more people started doing it.
>>8048600
All comes down to your tastes, anon.
>>8048674
There are a couple paths to take: you could read some of his essay collections, all of which are great; you could, as another anon suggested, move on to what was Wallace's favorite work by Gass--Omensetter's Luck; or--and this one is probably not a good idea--you could go straight into The Tunnel, and risk never never finding your way out.
I would fucking read him if I could find this niggers books at my book store desu
>>8050042
Just get them off of Amazon.
>>8048683
Grass, Tin Drum
>>8048674
Damn, I'm really surprised you put Icicles last. I'd probably say Pederson Kid is best, though
>>8050749
Duh. Pederson Kid is one of the best short stories ever written.
What's the difference between Gass and Gaddis, content-wise? Their names both start with Ga and end with S so I consider them to be brothers
>>8048504
I read The Tunnel recently and this is one of the few passages I noted down as memorable. Good choice OP.
>>8050801
As far as I can tell, Gaddis' content has a lot more social commentary, and is very satirical of a variety of things, while Gass' content deals a lot more with philosophical concepts, like the nature of language and the relationship between word and idea. Both, however, are sour, and have more spit than anyone since Celine; both, in addition, have tried to convey similar emotions, like love and loneliness, though Gass is significantly less positive; and both, lastly, address what art is, and how it relates to the artist.
>>8050850
It seems like you are implying that the rest of The Tunnel isn't it good. I hope that's not the case.
>>8050850
Is it a sex scene?
>>8048605
This is just a mess.
>>8048504
Meh, English is so bland.
>>8048674
know where i can access these online?
>>8051312
You can't, really. Here's a download for The Tunnel, though, which I had promised to upload a couple days ago:
https://mega.nz/#!oYAQkY5Q
>>8051388
Whoops. Correct link:
https://mega.nz/#!oYAQkY5Q!vorApqul6phKzl3N7DN3VnoS0pDpfymyEQjlbdzBMlE
>>8051395
>https://mega.nz/#!oYAQkY5Q!vorApqul6phKzl3N7DN3VnoS0pDpfymyEQjlbdzBMlE
thanks bruddah
>>8051405
No problem. I just want more people to feel the same way I did when I read it.
>>8048504
sucks
>>8048600
Even Gaddis evangelist Steven Moore admits that Gass is "the finest prose stylist in America".
>>8052185
Well, yeah--in terms of prose, no American comes close to Gass, but, in terms of everything else, Gaddis is best.
