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Post by Deleted on Feb 18, 2009 13:10:26 GMT
Spacing out this a.m., I see on my bookshelves 2 authors I have tried to read at different times and cannot get past say 20 pages.
Although this has happened with other authors of whom I've either downright discarded or ultimately embraced,I cannot read Gunter Grass or Thomas Wolfe.
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Post by bixaorellana on Feb 19, 2009 1:36:16 GMT
I think the only Gunter Grass I ever read was The Tin Drum when it was first translated into English & seemed to be the book of the year. I don't remember disliking it, but I was so much younger then and I'm sure tons of subtle details having to do with German politics and history went right over my head. And don't get me started on Thomas Wolfe! I used to live in North Carolina, where they pride themselves on being great story tellers.  If going on & on & on in numbing detail, and frequently folksy detail at that, is good story telling, then yeah, they've aced it. To be honest, I'm very reluctant to even try novels by North Carolinians, as they all seem to be infected with this verbiage virus. Although Wolfe had one the great editors of all time, Maxwell Perkins, he defeated me with the sheer force of unnecessary blather. For god's sakes -- couldn't a character of his ever simply enjoy a cup of coffee? Did it always have to be hot, steaming, rich black coffee? I think the novel of his against which I unsuccessfully hurled myself was "You Can't Go Home Again". Checking some facts before I posted here, I came across this little nugget: www.nybooks.com/articles/7090, which certainly throws a new light on Wolfe's body of work. |
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If going on & on & on in numbing detail, and frequently folksy detail at that, is good story telling, then yeah, they've aced it. To be honest, I'm very reluctant to even try novels by North Carolinians, as they all seem to be infected with this verbiage virus.