JZ, it's one of my very favorite novels as well.
Bunnies frighten me.
Anya ,'Help'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Anne W. - Jul 10, 2012 2:13:22 pm PDT #19288 of 28342
The lost sheep grow teeth, forsake their lambs, and lie with the lions.
Dana - Jul 10, 2012 2:24:23 pm PDT #19289 of 28342
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
I read it, and it completely went over my head.
Polter-Cow - Jul 10, 2012 2:33:08 pm PDT #19290 of 28342
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Did you read it on a Wednesday? It's a common mistake.
JZ - Jul 10, 2012 2:34:44 pm PDT #19291 of 28342
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
I think it's one of the all-time classic examples of "If you like this kind of thing, this is just the kind of thing you'll like."
Dana - Jul 10, 2012 2:38:07 pm PDT #19292 of 28342
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.
But I tried! I remembered how much you loved it.
erikaj - Jul 10, 2012 2:42:32 pm PDT #19293 of 28342
Always Anti-fascist!
Raymond Chandler can be just as sexist as Hemingway...I'm not sure why I like him better...Maybe because Philip Marlowe doesn't take himself very seriously. Also, I never had to take a test on "The Long Goodbye" or "The Lady in The Lake"(Which is just as well...I read someplace that, Chandler, in alcohol's grip pretty much full-time by then, forgot to reveal who killed the Lady in the first place.)
JZ - Jul 10, 2012 2:43:28 pm PDT #19294 of 28342
See? I gave everybody here an opportunity to tell me what a bad person I am and nobody did, because I fuckin' rule.
I totally don't fault anyone for trying and not liking it. It's literary cilantro -- either you utterly groove on it, or it's soap, and there's not much in between.
And now I'm wondering what else is literary cilantro. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, probably. Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, possibly. Some Virginia Woolf. All the stuff with an incredibly distinct flavor to it, that's going to be right from the first paragraph either entrancing or gag-worthy, and once that first reaction hits there isn't much that's going to make the reader change hir mind.
Typo Boy - Jul 10, 2012 2:55:42 pm PDT #19295 of 28342
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Erika, I think the not taking it too seriously is a big part. And another things is that it is one thing to have the prejudices of your day. Another for them to be fundamental to your world view. If Chandler had learned not be a sexist he could have written essentially the same books - with significant tweaks, but completely recognizable. If Hemingway had stopped being a sexist, he would have had to change his books fundamentally. His view of what a woman was and what a man was were fundamental to his writing and world view. My 2 cents.
EpicTangent - Jul 10, 2012 3:04:17 pm PDT #19296 of 28342
Why isn't everyone pelting me with JOY, dammit? - Zenkitty
And now I'm wondering what else is literary cilantro.
Unless it's just me - Thomas Pyncheon. I read The Crying of Lot 49 after we name-checked it here. I read the whole thing, but it was mostly Not Enough Huh? In the World for me.
Amy - Jul 10, 2012 3:22:20 pm PDT #19297 of 28342
Because books.
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
That's a good example, although it wasn't quite cilantro for me -- there was definitely a lot of excellent writing and story in there, but after a while the extraneous stuff made me feel like he was jerking off in front of me, and laughing about it. I never did finish it.
Brilliant title, though.