Unpopular Literary Opinions

[kafka]

chonies said:

In my observation, Ayn Rand fans tend to be very intelligent, although not worldly. Also, there's a trend among the people I have noticed that they have also either dropped out of college or are involved with fine arts, and are usually having difficulty pursuing this career goal. Of course, I do not mean to cast aspersions or view askance at anyone who didn't college or high school or is an actor or anything. I think there's a strong current of dissatisfaction in the psyches of Randians, perhaps from career or education frustration, and like many cult followers, are struck deep in here (dramatically points to heart) about something that seems vaguely anti-authoritarian.

I think that may apply to 1/2 of the followers, but the other half are the ones I've met: the emotionally disassociated, traumatised people who think Rand's philosophy legitimises their inability to care for people. For this group, Rand justifies their selfishness (or occasionally, self-absorption) as some sort of higher, more actualised pysche, as opposed to merely being people who are scarred, wounded, and so deeply neurotic that they can't give of themselves. And are too scared to try to fix it either, by therapy or any other means. For people paralysed in fear and full of bitterness about their experience, Rand gives them the perfect license to continue in their wounded shell, without bothering to remedy things. And why should they? After all, aren't they the ones who see the higher light and aren't shackled by the chains of society's mediocrity? <snort>

So whenever they fail to connect to another person (because of those wounds they won't see, let alone fix), then they just resort to Randian platitudes to make themself feel as though it's not their fault, and that the other person is merely a conditioned, shallow, inferior member of society who parrots (supposedly) things out of neurotic need. Pot, kettle, black...

Kafka, regarding Ulysses and the inability to complete it: in high school I read Portrait and for some reason years later drunkenly intoned that I had read Ulysses. Everyone looked astonished, as this was a gathering of literary types and I had a reputation for reading everything except "literature." Someone cautiously asked "are you...sure?" And I got belligerent and insisted I had. Now I understand why everyone was so surprised.

Heh. I'd have been surprised too. Not to mention skeptical as hell. I've met many, many people who have started Ulysses. I've never met one who has ever finished it except for that chap who was getting his PhD in Joyce. (And he really doesn't count because, my God, writing your thesis on Joyce...!!!)

My poor sister is determined now because.... well, because it's become a point of obsession for her, and a point of pride. She refuses to let Ulysses break her. But she's obsessive-compulsive, obstinate and stubborn that way. From highschool to college, she's read everything intense or difficult, whether it was Kant and Nietzsche, Goethe or Ibsen, Dostoevsky or Malraux. But Ulysses? Damn, it's really killing her. She is determined to get to the end, even if it's only on an audio tape but it's driving her nutty.

I see her once every week or so and today, she was positively whimpering about the damn thing. She actually had a small rant in the middle of Nordstrom's. She was saying she might as well be listening to Chinese because she didn't understand a complete sentence in 15 minutes of recitation. To quote her: "I understood the "and" and the "the," but everything else was complete gibberish."

As she explained it, with Ulysses, it's no longer a question of trying to understand the symbolism of events, or even the thematic structure of things in general. It's apparently gotten to the point that she doesn't even understand what the hell they're talking about because it's a stream of consciousness, deranged, verbal vomiting.

But masochist that she is, she insists on finishing it, even if it's only via an audio book. And, as she was very proud to tell me, she's finally gotten to Tape 18 of Volume I. She only has another.... oh, 18 or 20 (!!) tapes to go in Volume II.....

As I said, I will have grandchildren before she ever finishes it. Bloody James Joyce. Ack.

As for Faulkner.... Yech. But since this is a tome, I'll shut up for now. Next time (if you can bear it), the story of "Light in August," and how the term "fecund" has become a big family joke. And why Joseph Conrad and Truman Capote are really traumatising to read. ;D

[chonies]

What can I say? I wasn't lying on purpose--if anything, I meant to comment on Portrait but was vodka-tonic'd into the blurriness of it all (I had thumbed through Ulysses while shelving it at my bookstore, but that's it). I was just afraid later that everyone thought I was liar, rather than my real identity, which is an awkward conversationalist with a tendency to blurt inappropriately.

Topic? I think Beverly Cleary is far superior to Judy Blume, with the possible exception of Starring Sally J. Freeman as Herself. (It's late and it's the only thing I could come up with at the moment).

Kafka! If you have a Faulkner-type joke, I would love to hear it. Being in Mississippi (although, blessedly, not of it), Faulkner and Welty are the knee-jerk replies to the slightest whiff of an inferiority complex, and it often backfires. Also, I worked in a Mississippiana collection at a library and the devotion to Welty and Faulkner started to get tiresome. Le sigh.

[kafka]

chonies said:

What can I say? I wasn't lying on purpose--if anything, I meant to comment on Portrait but was vodka-tonic'd into the blurriness of it all (I had thumbed through Ulysses while shelving it at my bookstore, but that's it). I was just afraid later that everyone thought I was liar, rather than my real identity, which is an awkward conversationalist with a tendency to blurt inappropriately.

Silly, Chonies, I didn't think you were deliberately lying. Far from it. I just thought it was general amnesia brought on by anything James-related combined with alcohol. Besides, I have personally made a point of blocking out ANYTHING related to Joyce (as well as St. Augustine, Faulkner, Conrad, Saul Bellow and a few others).

Kafka! If you have a Faulkner-type joke, I would love to hear it. Being in Mississippi (although, blessedly, not of it), Faulkner and Welty are the knee-jerk replies to the slightest whiff of an inferiority complex, and I'm getting tired of it. Also, I worked in a Mississippiana collection at a library and it started to get tiresome. Le sigh.

My Faulkner thing isn't a joke, except inside the family, and we may be the only ones who think it's funny but here goes:

Back when I was about 15, we began reading "Light in August" for the Bac. I hated everything to do with it intensely, especially the endless bits about Lena the Cow, her womb, and her moist "fecund" hole, etc. I'd twitch in horror at the language but, at the end of the day, he suceeded in leaving a mark with the endless imagery about the moist, dark, dank, fetal-like, smelling hole. Or maybe it was just my teacher's comments on it.

Either way, it left a mark. Now, I grew up in a hugely Victorian-type family, complete with British nannies and governesses. Some of whom would wash my mouth out with soap if I said the slightest improper thing.

So, one day, I'm in the car with my parents and siblings, on the way out for dinner, and one of my older sisters asked me to smell her hair to see if it smelled of smoke. She'd really picked on me earlier, so just to be b***y, (and having been traumtised by all the Faulkner/Lena/earthy stuff), I responded: "You're fecund."

There were horrified gasps from my family and siblings, and then a dead silence. I looked up and went, "Whaaaat???"

My sister looked at me gravely and said, "You said that .. that ... word."

Then it clicked. They thought I'd called my sister the "C" word! They thought I'd said, "You're a C__."

In total terror and hysteria, I yelled out, "No! Really! It's FecUNDDDDDDDDD. FFFFFFFFFFFF-EEE-C! Ending with a D. A DDDDDDDDD" It's Lena and the earthy womb. I swear. OMG, Noooooooooo."

Well, they believed me, but I've always been hugely paranoid ever since then whenever I've said the word "fecund." And to this day, my sister always teases me about Lena's moist, fertile womb, and my X-rated word.

Bottom line: if you're going to be a snarky teenager, don't chose Faulkner.

[Laira]

I never got into Faulkner either. I love James Thurber's parody of Faulker, Bateman Come Home.

[dwanollah]

I dig Faulkner, but wholly admit his short stories are usually more palatable than his novels. He's gruelling... but that's kinda his point.

[piscessiren]

I only read Ayn Rand's Anthem, because it inspired Rush's 2112 record. And it was a short book! (I was a junior in high school & I thought Rush was so cool!)

Watched The Fountainhead. Longest movie ever, and I tried to take a nap while watching it. Convinced me to never read the book.

[Deleted]

I dislike Ayn Rand, too; her philosophy and her self absorbed characters readers are supposed to admire as being the ideal human beings.

I picked up "Ulysses" just once, when I was in the library, to see what the fuss was about, (I figured that if it made it to #1 on the list of the 100 best books of the twentieth century, I really should try it), but after flipping it open to a couple of pages and seeing the tiny, dense print and reading a few sample sentences in it I quickly put it down. So I won't be a person well versed in all good literature, I guess.

I tried Eudora Welty, but couldn't get through it. Also, ditto for Virginia Wolf. I'm sure there's lots of meaning and symbolism in her writing, I just couldn't get any of it.

One of my favorite writers is Edith Wharton, but I can't convince anyone to try her books. Unfortunately.

[goggle]

chonies said:

I also have extremely low tolerance for "graphic novels." I loved Maus and Persepolis but I can't really deal with the rest of genre. Am I unhip, or just a dullard ?

I don't get graphic novels (and this is from the person with 20+ volumes of manga on her bookshelf). I'm not a dullard but am sadly unhip, so you might be too.

[happymeal]

I guess I'll use my very post here to say that I did actually finish reading the entirety of Ulysses. I am just finishing up a course in which we read The Odyssey, A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man, and Ulysses. Insane? Yes! However, now that I'm at the end rather than the beginning, I find myself grateful to have read so much Joyce. I believe that is indeed an unpopular literary opinion.

ETA: I just reread my post and realized that it sounded like I was including The Odyssey in the books by Joyce. We read that in order to understand the mythical backdrop of Ulysses better.

[tinyshoes]

piscessiren said:

I only read Ayn Rand's Anthem, because it inspired Rush's 2112 record.

The only reason ever to like Ayn Rand. Yeah, I like Rush. Whut!