What does /lit/ think of Franzen? Is he the bastion of New Sincerity?
>>8042379
Never fuckin' heard of him.
Or of you. Now scram
is it worth it to buy The Corrections? how close is it to making the top 100 meme chart?
>>8042406
I loved the corrections. It was a social realist novel (honestly, reminded me of Austen and Eliot more anyone else) with enough postmodern fireworks to make it interesting and challenging. Better than IJ in my opinion
is franzen worth it or is he just mom-core?
>>8042379
He's a bastion of grinding mediocrity, if anything.
>>8042429
he's more than mom core, but not amazing. About Stoner tier I guess.
>>8042436
Kek. Better novelist than DFW--not smarter, not more ingenious, but can actually tell a coherent story with 3D characters and sentimentality.
>>8042444
What do you think of their nonfiction?
>>8042444
This is like the worst possible comparison I can think of, because they pale so significantly. Gass said that Shakespeare may have been smarter, but Jonson knew more. In this relationship Franzen is certainly the Jonson, though you can make a compelling argument for DFW being the Jonson, as he was also buried vertically.
>>8042444
If you don't see those things in Infinite Jest or The Pale King, you're a bad reader.
>>8043148
I think Wallace is best when he's writing nonfiction. His essays are superb and he's great at fact-giving. What he can't do is convey any sort of sentimentality. When I read infinite jest I didn't feel any sort of pathos w/r/t the AA etc. I mean there are very few parts on infinite jest devoted to characters emotion. Everything is done via cliche--which I think was as close as Wallace could get to connecting emotionally with others. And the pale King was very underwhelming. Best part was the quality of the opening section's prose--some of the best I've read stylistically
>>8042379
He seems to piss off feminists so he might be worth a read
The only experience I have with him is a single short story he wrote for the New Yorker. However, it was so pretentious that it turned me off his work forever. And from what little I know of his other work, he seems to set his books around the conflict between "us trendy, cultured east coast liberals" vs. "those dumb hicks from the midwest". Kind of ironic, considering DFW was both a slick New Yorker and a country bumpkin all at once.
Franzen is the Jeb Bush of literature
Sad, dejected, has to pretend to take himself seriously to make up for the fact that nobody else does. He's the would-be bastion of new sincerely, which is to say he isn't because his books don't hold up under any kind of sincere scrutiny. I think Oprah putting him on her list really ruined him. It turned him from a mediocre high-brow author to a quality middle-brow author. And that shot him straight out of the canon, so to speak. Now he has to pretend he's as good as the middle-aged housewives who read him say he is. Poor guy.
>>8042406
Very far from it, i did not enjoy it that much. Had some funny scenes, but the prose is non-existent for the most part.
>>8042424
What pomo elements did it have?
For the most part it felt like i was reading a somewhat diluted delillo, some scenes were straight up taken from white noise
>>8043522
Off the top of my head, the dialogue on the cruise ship was reminiscent of DeLillo, as well as a lot of the set pieces. Instances of temporal slowdown were Wallacian ie Alfred falling off said ship. And Alfred's dreams of talking turds seemed very Pynchonesque
>>8043773
Ok i see, the falling off the ship was the only part where i enjoyed the prose.
>>8042379
Damn, Deef had nice guns.
>>8043504
can you post a video of Franzen being self-important
>>8043385
I disagree very much about ij, but you seem to at least have read the books so I respect your opinion.
>>8042406
It's forgettable. You can pass on it without losing anything of value.
>>8042379
Franzen is what is called a "midcult", or middlebrow, author.
As examples of Midcult fiction, Macdonald named Steinbeck, J. P. Marquand, Pearl Buck, Irwin Shaw, Herman Wouk, and John Hersey; forty years later the obvious examples would be John Irving, Jonathan Franzen, Pat Conroy, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, David Wroblewski, and Lev Grossman.
http://dgmyers.blogspot.com/2009/09/highbrow-and-lowbrow.html
>>8043432
>DFW
>slick
Yeah maybe with sweat.
>>8042379
He should have avoided using a novel as a critique of activist culture. Do not pick fights with Michiko Kakutani. He's making the same mistakes Philip Roth made. But at least he didn't try to hide his MPB with a bandana.
>>8044020
Steinbeck is utter garbage, and so is Franzen.
>>8044235
Clearly hasn't read any Steinbeck
>>8044261
Middlebrow pleb alert.
>>8044265
Nice way to introduce yourself.
>>8044036
I agree w/your point on attacking MK. I'm wondering how that compares to Wallace taking shots at H Bloom in IJ.
Your comparison to Roth is interesting as well, but I think Roth had already established himself as a young writer, allowing himself more space to make mistakes. And arguably his later works ie the Zuckerman novels are his best
>>8044036
There is nothing wrong with attacking gooks.
>>8043966
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MYiu3fuJjM
very typical of him.
not exactly a tower of self-importance but trying really to keep up an air of total seriousness that he does not deserve. and you can hear how his voice cracks just so, he really hates himself for having to do it. i do believe that.
Franzen was on Jeopardy tonight. He was in the lead going into final jeopardy, ended up in second.
Why did DFW where that gay ass bandana? I just can't take his works seriously when I see him wearing such ridiculous accessories.
>>8048402
>Why did DFW where that gay ass bandana?
Man always had a fondness for things needing to be tied in knots
>>8042379
He commited suicide? Why?
>Born: August 17, 1959 (age 56), Western Springs, Illinois, United States
>Partner: Kathryn Chetkovich
what a cuck, can't even have a spouse instead of a 'partner'
>>8048607
electro convulsive therapy failed
>>8048402
don't you remember anything 2003 and prior?
>>8042379
he was on jeopardy today
>>8048387
i caught that too! he was such an awkward faggot. couldn't stop moving and being a general autist.
>>8048643
Was it a celebrity episode?
>>8048643
he was one of the people solving questions?
>>8048682
Yep, this week is "power players week."
Everyone is a celebrity playing for a charity.
Franzens charity was an organization that helps birds, if I remember correctly. He got $10,000 for it for second place.
>>8048416
haha nice one
