![]() Both were essential in making me a writer and a fan of fiction, convincing me that there will never be an art form as sprawling, encompassing, and thematically rich as the novel. ![]() I consider it on par with Gravity's Rainbow, but I love the two books for vastly different reasons. And I think a lot of its themes concerning addiction and entertainment are indeed timeless and now more up-to-date than in the 90s. There are beautiful scenes of compassion and ridiculous set pieces of surreal imagination intertwining, but belonging to a highly original world where both can live in harmony. Hardly any writer I know can draw so much of the seemingly mundane and banal like Wallace, and pull out so many truths about his characters (the James Incandenza father chapter, anything involving Mario Incandenza, who is an unforgettable character who I believe can discard the accusations of ableism). On occasions, it is way too ambitious for its own good (the sloppy Wardine chapters), but when it lands - it is both emotionally compelling and hysterically funny. It's a book that achieves a lot of its goals. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |