to read or not to read
the reason the nashville tennesseean must FIRE "b w" or at least
only 5 or 6 of 55 reviewers of the recognitions didn't read it
the
FIRE edward wagenknecht of the chicago tribune for his confession, There are 956 pages in this book, and I must confess that I didbut isnt it pleasant to be paid for work you havent done? I'm like the Vermont farmer listening to the New Deal spellbinder.time out while the chi trib elects thos e dewey again how folksy theyre getting in the windy city! do novelists have to spell out what theyre "talking about"?
FIRE the anonymous hack of the toronto globe & mail he didn't finish Frequently we sample a new book, reading a few paragraphs"able"! the provincial disciple acknowledges his masterat gold- bricking after 40 years experience faking cant he even write his own review? almost ½ of it is right out of wagenknecht Mr. Wagenknecht worked harder at the book than we did because"tho there are some carry-overs" (wagenknecht) does quoting a boner make it true? in sum, he quotes wagenknecht as an authority on how to steal money from a newspaper for work not done see the snideness of the incompetent: If we accept the bold statement on jacket and title page, Thein the recognitions (p936) the man in the green wool shirt meets his friend the stubby poet in a tailor shop, where theyre both having their flies fixed: And then they silenced, each bending forth, closer and closer, toie, the book to be reviewed is the recognitions itself "all i need is the jacket blurb to write the review"obviously a satiric exaggeration
FIRE the louisville courier-journal hack for taking every bit of his
|
louisville courier-journal (in its entirety) |
book jacket of the recognitions (excerpts) |
The author attempts to give a full- scale portrait of our world today as he sees it: a chaotic world filled with hypocrisy, forgery, deception and hate. |
THE RECOGNITIONS is a novel about forgery. In it William Gaddis has attempted a full-scale portrait of our chaotic contemporary world, in all its hypocrisy and lack of love |
Scores of characters move back and forth from New York to New England, to Madrid, and other places. |
background ranges from New York and New England to a monastery outside Madrid. Scores of char- acters move back and forth within the design, each one busy in pur- suing his own desired deception. |
all of them lost souls (!) |
These and other damned souls. |
wandering about seeking security that continually eludes them. |
(Mr. Pivner) is looking for security in the comforting columns of the daily press. |
It is similar in many respects to Joyce's "Ulysses." |
(backjacket quote, stuart gilbert): long though it is, even longer than "Ulysses," the interest, like that of Joyce's masterpiece and for very similar reasons, is brilliantly main- tained throughout. |
stealing a moderate amount from the jacket blurb is common practice in the profession & therefore, im told, i must consider it ethical.
but it is not quite kosher to steal part of the review from the blurb and
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klein 3/13/55 (in toto) |
rogers review, ap syndicate (for publication 3/10/55); or ap's "au- thor of the week" (for week of 3/7/55) blurb of the recognitions |
A major writer pops over the ho- rizon with this first novel that could well be a credit to a man with dozens in back of him. It is a big, hefty, sprawling (some 956 pages), involved in structure, re- alistic, and filled with an immense collection of odd bits of learning. The latter is sometimes appropri- ate, often not; one frequently needs to clear away the under- growth to get at the tale. This has to do with forgery, emotional, spiritual and actual, which weaves in and out of this immense canvas that stretches from New York to Spain and back again. |
(beginning of rogers review): Here is a major novel lards it with vast learning (from the blurb): The pattern of forgery, emo- tional and spiritual as well as actual, reappears again and again in the immense design of this novel, whose back- ground ranges from New York and New England to a mon- astery outside Madrid. |
The central character, Wyatt Gwyon, twisted and deformed by modern science, forges Old Masters; |
faces of one central character. Their son Wyatt, tested by modern science and distorted and twisted by it, becomes a forger of Old Masters. (blurb): The central figure, Wyatt, is a painter who forges Old Masters |
other people, other things, in a pattern that twists and turns, that is intensely dramatic and that re- pays the physical labor of turning 900 pages when 300 would have been sufficient. Mr. Gaddis worked six years on this book, but has not yet acquired the art of com- pression. When he does, his work will challenge that of any top creative artist of our time. |
keeps it lean and strong with drama. a book to which he's given about six years (end of rogers review): with it, Gaddis assumes his place among our top creative writers. |
theres not a word in kleins review that would have required "the physical labor of turning 900 pages" or 300 or 1 the globe- democrat subscribes to ap proof that klein stole from rogers review is rogers "distorted and twisted" "by modern science" which klein uses as "twisted and deformed by modern science" this is a boner of rogers if it means "crippled" (see episode starting p41 in the recog- nitions) or if rogers meant it in an extremely general sense its still a highly eccentric comment which klein could hardly have written independently & the beginnings and ends of rogers & kleins reviews are almost identical
FIRE the thief klein, then
if klein had labored to turn the 900 pages
if you note the modifications klein made in rogers enthusiastic review
im biased for reviewers who favored the recognitions except some THE BOOKS PILE IN and some few stand up like stars in a Springthats the whole notice FIRE charles a wagner from his tabloid or retire him to the astronomy column what the devil does he mean by "peopled with reality"? and "driven with a sardonic dream"!
more important than these conmen
tho advance copies were went These remarks are the preamble to a cautious preliminary recon-who cares what it is! $$$$ why not take several months? parkes last para is remarkable, not really joking but sort of thrown out offhand & to be forgotten: On second thought maybe I am in the class with Wyatt, Basilshe took a couple of weeks not the several months needed, her mediocre review is a forgery from glendy daewdeit's review: This painstaking organization seems, even on first reading, to bethis & her preceding para are good unlike most of the skimreaders who being preprogrammed have to guess that a "long novel" which is a "first novel" must by definition be "undisciplined" & "sprawling" but the current cliches about "ambitious novels" & "erudite novels" lead her astray: one flat statement about the book can be made with confidence:a bad guess, the recognitions being one of the most entertaining books ever written shes bound to guess wrong more often than right since she didnt read it enough certainly her guess that otto, in the book, may be modeled after gaddis is amateurish & ridiculous More than one reading will be required for any fair estimate of suchfor "Tentatively," read "Incorrectly" shes faking now she plays it safe, doesnt fail to find a balanced phrase but theres no safety for the lazy & incompetent she guessed wrong again, theres no meaning- less rhetoric in gaddis' extremely careful writing To weigh the virtues of so massive a work with any finality wouldso by necessity her verdict is cautious, noncommittal which means she underrates the book what shows the rotten state of the review racket is shes not at all afraid to say openly she didnt work long enough to do her job drs & lawyers underwork too but they wouldnt dare admit it
the nation's cricket goes her one better
for the highbrow market BECAUSE I happen to be reviewing this 950-page novel I wish thatthis lecture on the conflict between desire & work isnt to the point. the job berger took on was to read the book enough to write a com- petent review his "dollar bill" & "ernest hemingway" boners (later) prove he didnt thats the point he had earned the right to say the following in print & only the following: "i didnt read the book enough to write a competent review of itmy guess is, it wouldnt be worth the trouble"
how much would he have paid for that?
or he could have
what berger chose was to fake up a recapitulation for the last para- This book has no vision because the writer can see no way out ofis the last sentence-and-a-quarter left over perhaps from some old review of finnegans wake? how crooked the last sentence is!
this time its the "constructive solution" cliche
a dirty one, perfected
but according to berger its easy!
any good novelist finds "the way
a writer can arrange for his characters to have relatively happy mo-
mcalister read the recognitions twice & it was on hayes' "night table
so, extra pay for extra time to review the books that need it
hows
the notetaking trick
for the 4th part of a dollar i offer complete 1 2 pounds 7 ounces (Back)
2
in reference to all quotations from it in this and other articles in
newspaper, The
3
anyway a competent review months after publication date is better than a |