tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post4075149074213115372..comments2023-11-05T05:01:58.563-05:00Comments on Ward Six: How much bummer is too much?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-68762235132998054252011-02-08T09:59:37.807-05:002011-02-08T09:59:37.807-05:00Stoner is one of the greatest novels I have ever r...Stoner is one of the greatest novels I have ever read. The despair is nearly unbearable. How does this one stack up against the all-time greatest bummer, Richard Yates' Easter Parade?jonhttp://lastbender.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-52754611507474239752011-02-07T18:04:37.929-05:002011-02-07T18:04:37.929-05:00I LOVE Stoner. Nice to find somebody else who rea...I LOVE Stoner. Nice to find somebody else who read it. That book has a quiet beauty, I think, a maddening beauty, whereas I think the pleasures of the Vann book are coarser and perhaps more manipulative. But I do think it's good.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-29191725841220306072011-02-07T16:21:45.211-05:002011-02-07T16:21:45.211-05:00There's a special pleasure in that unrelenting...There's a special pleasure in that unrelenting grimness, though, which sometimes serves as a consolation to the miserable reader who escapes into it. I felt this way reading David Vann, and also and especially while reading John Williams's beautiful novel Stoner (which, if you'd described it to me, I'd never have thought I'd have wanted to read it -- I picked it up because I thought it was about a drug addict. I'm glad it wasn't.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-45572352367788169762011-02-07T07:05:01.338-05:002011-02-07T07:05:01.338-05:00Myabe I should read "Legend Of A Suicide"...Myabe I should read "Legend Of A Suicide"...I agree, he's a solid writer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-53629858632374439862011-02-06T22:07:53.491-05:002011-02-06T22:07:53.491-05:00I have read it and liked it but not enough. I lov...I have read it and liked it but not enough. I loved the novella in Legend of a Suicide and that was relentlessly grim too. I felt like I couldn't emotionally attach to the material although the writing is good and as a bookseller it is easier to sell novels. Still I wish I had liked it more. I have since bought his memoir "A Mile Down" and that starts well. He is a good writer in general.Krissy Kneenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04196014057831018914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-40554931838531855732011-02-06T14:45:31.782-05:002011-02-06T14:45:31.782-05:00Dream logic? No, I would not say that. It's ...Dream logic? No, I would not say that. It's pretty standard psychological realism. Ishiguro's Unconsoled, that's dream logic...this is just slightly odd.<br /><br />Mel, your non-litworld status is deeply welcome here. Honestly I'm not sure how I got here myself.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-71555538357674796022011-02-06T13:37:34.951-05:002011-02-06T13:37:34.951-05:00One of the reasons I stopped reading fiction (most...One of the reasons I stopped reading fiction (mostly) was the unrelenting grimness of what was recommended to me. I may be shallow, but struggling day-to-day with my own depression and mental health issues leaves me seeking books that are uplifting, or at least leave me with a promise of hope and chance for a better future, for me and the protagonists.<br /><br />This is of course coming from someone who has nothing to do with the literary or academic world at all, so take it for what it's worth.Melody Fohrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2046663689477874544.post-25037442069926766082011-02-06T13:15:21.257-05:002011-02-06T13:15:21.257-05:00I just read a similar opinion in the NYT Book Revi...I just read a similar opinion in the NYT Book Review: brilliant, fast-paced, and grim. The reviewer said it took a while to realize the book had "dream logic" instead of realism.<br /><br />Thanks for the insight--and the warning. I think it's something I'll avoid for now. I don't need happy endings, but I do need hope.Anne R. Allenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420000168356370825noreply@blogger.com