I'm unpleasantly drunk on 3 bottles of beer and roughly 200 ml of Lautrec VSOP cognac while reading the last 200 pages of pic related (yes, that edition), ask me anything.
>>8125103
has otto killed himself yet
>>8125103
is gay to like girls with dicks?
is your book already teared the fuck out?
>>8125103
Why would you soil such a fine experience with drugs?
>>8125103
i have that same edition. at 600 pages, can't wait to read JR right after.
also, how'd you feel about the bull scene? boy, what a climax eh?
>>8125114
The spine is kinda bent but other than that it's in good condition (not selling it though).
>>8125116
Because Wyatt drinks brandy too. Though really it's more because it's the weekend and I have money atm.
>>8125119
You already have JR? Lucky bastard. I saw a copy at B&N last year but took it for granted that it'd still be out this year and never bought one.
>>8125123
You mean with Janet or with Rev. Gwyon? I kinda expected the Rev. Gwyon one because I used to be /x/ and know about Mithras.
>>8125133
yeah, the dalkey (smugface) i'm not sure what you mean by gwyon and the bull, i assume you mean the golden bull, but i don't recall anything about it that stuck out at me, but i meant Janet, definitely. shit kinda fucked me up, desu, after how fairly restrained it's all been up til that moment. this book is definitely one to be read and read again.
>>8125158
Rev. Gwyon (Wyatt's dad) kills a bull as part of a mithraic (mithras though he and/or Gaddis conflates him with Mithras) ritual in the last chapter of part 2, I think it's the same one that Janet fucked because that was the only bull in the town.
>>8125182
(mithra though he and/or Gaddis conflates him with Mithras)*
I really am piss drunk right now. Also I'm Roberto Pinchas.
>>8125182
ah, okay. yeah i know who da gwyon goy was but wasn't recalling any specific incident with he and bull. you gonna read it again immediately?
>>8125187
Nah, I'm probably going to read Phenomenology of Spirit next. The Recognitions is a great book, but I don't read things twice until I've read through everything else that I currently own and haven't read. It's just a policy of mine.
>>8125198
yeah, i can relate. i gotta let all the shit jumble about in my noggin or i'll freak the hell out. i was kind of kidding, i couldn't imagine reading it immediately after. it's great, but it'd be like eating only fudge for a week.
>>8125207
It would be weird, yes. I get that sense just from recalling the early parts of the book now that I'm near the end.
>>8125219
do you see where faust comes in yet? all i can see so far of faust was the black poodle, maybe i need to read more faustian legends before i can get the references as deep as i'm sure they become.
>>8125222
Recktall Brown was Faust in general, and Wyatt summons him in that chapter where he realizes Otto is screwing Esther.Though Recktall Brown wasn't exactly the same as Faust.
>>8125230
recktall brown is faust? you mean mephisto? or are you implying that wyatt is mephisto?
>>8125238
Fuck, I really am drunk. I mean Wyatt is Faust and Recktall Brown is mephisto. Though there are divergences.
>>8125245
i had trouble figuring out anything deeper than just that though. i assumed the same as you, but i keep failing to see where it gets any deeper, i know the clementine recognitions are about faustus, but, well, anyhow.. i guess there aren't many others who liked the recognitions enough to come in and correct us and yell at us a little for being plebs. i keep waiting.
>>8125258
You'll be waiting a while, I suspect. From what I read, Gaddis originally intended the book as a straight parody of Faust and it was half the length until he heard about the Clementine Recognitions and nearly doubled its size. So you can't be too sure of what is or isn't a reference to Faust.
>>8125273
that bastard. have you read his interview? it's pretty fascinating, i declined to read it all the way through until i read JR, but it might be interesting to you as well. the guy was brilliant, as if that wasn't apparent. i suspect he just went ahead and wrote the interview himself when the new yorker asked.
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/fire-the-bastards-the-great-defender-of-william-gaddis
forgot to link it
Is it actually difficult or just long?
>>8125283
Not that one, no. Thanks for linking to it, I'll be sure to read it after I actually manage to get my hands on a fucking copy of JR.
But I have seen this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Czd7GwNy4
>>8125300
i'd say it's difficult. so far what i've read (not OP) there's a lot of allusions that escape me, and some long stretches of incomprehension, but it's fantastic enough that it doesn't even fucking matter. to hell with difficulty though, man. just dive into it.
>>8125300
A bit of both but mostly the latter. Really great book though so you should read it regardless.
>>8125308
yeah i've seen that, it really reflects his comment about expecting something more from the artist than you find in his work, it seems silly. also, his interviewer in the video has a horrible fucking laugh. that fucking laugh man.
>>8125317
Yeah, the interviewer's such a stereotypical britbong priss.
OP here, anyway, I'm off to write some of my own book (currently just a bit over halfway through it) while I've still got a bit of a buzz going. Thanks for keeping me from puking, all.
>>8125322
it almost seems like what he complains about, being interviewed by someone who clearly hasn't read his book.
>>8125332
>dear diary, today OP wasn't a complete faggot
should i spend the next couple weeks reading faust then recognitions y/n
>>8125353
Y.
Reading Faust first will can only enhance the experience.
>>8125353
i read a little of faust, got bored, then read some recognitions up to the poodle part, then had to go back to faust, finished it in a night, it's really not all that hard to get through. some other books came into perspective, i have to read master and margarita again pretty soon.
hey hey why let this die, hey who else thinks Otto is a cuck pleb who loved sluts and hos?
>>8125515
On that topic, was it Esther who died in that one part or that random woman who kept sending her daughter up for sleeping pills during the Christmas party? Also who was the guy who drove into the Depot Tavern and wrecked it? Was it anyone we knew or just some random drunk?
>>8125523
i have no fucking clue, i haven't read that far, i don't think. you mean the guy who was with otto with stanley's mom's leg?
>>8125570
No not that guy. That guy's definitely still alive at this point. His name was Ed Feasley.
>>8125103
DUDE
>>8125593
yeah, feasley, that faggot. i hope he dies. anyway, it sounds like a lot of the story actually gets wrapped up. i figured it'd be a big FU from gaddis, leaving strings waving, but good on him. I really need to stop shitposting and read the rest of this damn book. JR keeps looking at me.
>>8125103
>I'm unpleasantly drunk on 3 bottles of beer and roughly 200 ml of Lautrec VSOP cognac while reading the last 200 pages of pic related (yes, that edition), ask me anything.
Ask you anything? Okay.
You're almost done with the book, so why is it that it still hasn't dawned on you that you're the exact kind of cultural virtue signalling parody that Gaddis is lampooning in this work?
>>8125599
It kindof is a big FU in a way. But not in terms of most things being inconclusive. That's the faggy kind of postmodernism you'd expect from DFW.
>>8125610
hey hey, let's not be mean here. of course /lit/ is exactly what he hated, but what's that matter? you're no different. hell you can't even talk about a book in public if you don't want to be a victim of what he lampoons in his book. fuck that. literary discussion is fun, the key is not to take yourself so damn seriously.
>>8125617
i couldn't imagine going to DFW after reading this, i have picked up IJ before, and i was amazed at how shit it was. amazing, really, how shit it was.
i mean, so shit that it was insulting.
>>8125610
>cultural virtue signalling parody
Are you just referring to him stating the specific types of alcohol that he's consumed? If so, I agree, but nothing else about that post came across to me as posturing.
>>8125610
I'm really not though. I easily could've been if I was rich and/or connected enough to go to all those faggy sorts of "in"-crowd parties at the village, or if I had enough of an eductation to pretend to have opinions on art or literature outside of the 100 books or so I've read, but I've never had enough money or known enough people to do that. I know exactly who Gaddis was making fun of, I walk among them, and even if their exact socioeconomic class range has slightly shifted downwards, I'm not one of them and never have been.
>>8125618
>hey hey, let's not be mean here.
I hate because I love. It's the only way they learn. Of all the books he could've made such a gaudy self-aware thread for he chose one of the most ironic works imaginable for it.
He was compelled to make the thread anyway because it's a very long and difficult work and it happens to be in vogue on this board right now. He wanted to feel part of the "in crowd" by making this thread. Which is nonsense to begin with. I'm sure OP isn't a bad guy but I've found that the newer wave of Gaddis posters are still pretty young and they haven't managed to shake that ingrained posturing habit of theirs yet. Which is extra glaring when they make posts about this book in particular.
Take this post:
>>8125198
>Nah, I'm probably going to read Phenomenology of Spirit next. The Recognitions is a great book, but I don't read things twice
I mean come on...
>>8125656
Nothing wrong with tackling something with a difficult reputation just to see what it's like. Of course, once I actually opened up Hegel, I realized I would never comprehend it as anything other than unmitigated gibberish, but it was worth the attempt.
As for the popularity of Gaddis, maybe he realized that but only made the thread because he knew others would be able to discuss it. He certainly could have been posturing, but I don't think it's necessarily the case.
Never reading things twice is definitely a flawed policy though, I'll certainly concede that.
>>8125656
>I mean come on...
>>8125198
>until I've read through everything else that I currently own and haven't read.
Is that really so unreasonable?
Also I didn't make a Gaddis thread or a The Recognitions thread just for the sake of making one, but because I was drunk and happened to be reading it at the moment. Had I not been drunk, or not been reading it I would've never made this thread.
>>8125656
i suppose i can see your point, it's still been a fun thread for me anyway. i'm one of those post-new sincerity guys who are actually sincere, and it really pains me to read posturing for the sake of posturing, when i'm so damn sincere about everything, even to the point that criticisms hurt my feelings just a little. it's weird when some people mistake a voiced opinion for posturing, i'll say that (not that that's what you're doing, just something that frustrates me in general). but in the end i realize i'm not being sincere for someone else to interpret it as being sincere, rather because i'm a pleb and my posturing is really crummy.
>>8125696
>i suppose i can see your point, it's still been a fun thread for me anyway.
Again, I don't think you're a bad guy. And I'm not trying to make you look stupid here. Don't take what I'm saying to heart that much. It's just an observation and if you personally think that there is something to it just remember that and take it on. That's all. Judging from your last post if anything like that is indeed an issue still you seem to be on the very tail end of it so I'm sure you're going to move past it very soon. Don't stress that much about what I said, mate.
>>8125723
oh, i'm not OP, i'm the guy who's been talking with him the whole time.
>>8125723
Unlike that other guy, I am OP and I never really took any of it personally. I post stupid or exaggerated shit when I'm drunk sometimes. Reactions like this are to be expected.
Anyway, I only managed to write a page (bringing my total to 101/165 now, handwritten without spacing, so probably like 50k words), but this draft should be done within a month or two. Editing might take longer.
