I happen to agree with you about Faulkner. I think like Hemingway, when
he's on (AS I LAY DYING, THE SOUND AND THE FURY, "Barn Burning"), he's
really on. My father introduced me to him (he's from Arkansas originally,
and we've joked back and forth about the pronunciation of "Yoknapatawpha"
for years).
Have you ever read the "crime fiction" shorts Faulkner wrote such as
"Knight's Gambit" and "Smoke"? REALLY good stuff. They were collected in
paperback a few years back.
And like I said, the reference to Baker's work was intended as a joke. I
looked up "derivative" in the dictionary, and saw his picture next to it.
Brian
On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 5:51 AM, jacquesdebierue
<jacquesdebierue@yahoo.com>wrote:
> --- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com <rara-avis-l%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "Brian Thornton"
>
> <bthorntonwriter@...> wrote:
>
> > Oh, and Mario, if you like stuff that's slow moving and only gives you
> > information in small doses, have you read Nicholson Baker's THE
> MEZZANINE?
> > It's a novel about an office worker's ride up an escalator.
> >
> > One ride.
> >
> > Hundreds of pages.
> >
> > I kid. Seriously, reading that thing was like watching paint dry.
> >
>
> I was referring basically to the Faulkner style (I think he invented
> it), not to excruciating slowness per se. It depends on content, of
> course, on the story (if there is one). I prefer novels with a story.
> In that respect, Sallis is a traditional storyteller. As to Baker, my
> experience with a different novel (The Fermata) was not satisfactory.
> To be frank, I found it silly. Maybe it's great for ardent admirers of
> the writer.
>
> Best,
>
> mrt
>
>
>
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