tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3769714277850142841.post5024121613405981073..comments2024-03-25T22:38:46.822+08:00Comments on in lieu of a field guide: Carte blancheRisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3769714277850142841.post-63780859624696533492014-08-05T21:18:22.948+08:002014-08-05T21:18:22.948+08:00I suppose Montano, a sort of "variation of va...I suppose <i>Montano</i>, a sort of "variation of variation on a theme", is <i>Bartleby & Co.</i> that has gone too lengthy for its own good. Nevertheless, there is fascination in the structure and in the whole construction. Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3769714277850142841.post-4399139362846591562014-08-05T15:46:48.702+08:002014-08-05T15:46:48.702+08:00I liked "Bartleby & Co.", the only b...I liked "Bartleby & Co.", the only book by Vila-Matas that I've read. I remember that it helped that the book did not drag on further. It was fascinating and all but an additional few more pages of playing around variations of the same theme (writer's block) would have triggered some sort of reader fatigue too. I recently read Calvino's "Invisible Cities" and IAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3769714277850142841.post-86404804930877639392014-07-30T20:43:20.835+08:002014-07-30T20:43:20.835+08:00I think V-M could forgo the last 2 sections of the...I think V-M could forgo the last 2 sections of the book without doing damage to the whole, or maybe edit the sections and shave off 100 or so pages and the same point would still be made. So there's that possibility of reader fatigue as a deliberate strategy. Even the Bartleby book is a bit tiring by the end. There are numerous mentions of Aira and Sebald wc makes for interesting reading for Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3769714277850142841.post-85396861111869873042014-07-29T11:25:37.498+08:002014-07-29T11:25:37.498+08:00I thought this partic. Vila-Matas had moments of g...I thought this partic. Vila-Matas had moments of greatness but was more uneven than usual, so I can relate to what you tell Scott above. However, now I wonder if maybe that wasn't a small part of V-M's plan: for the reader to become literature sick, too (as you also mention above). I'd totally forgotten about that Aira conversation, though, so it was nice to be reminded of it Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3769714277850142841.post-50491984036776781622014-07-29T06:38:21.551+08:002014-07-29T06:38:21.551+08:00That's true, Scott. By the end of the book, th...That's true, Scott. By the end of the book, the narrator was tired and <i>I</i> was tired reading about his exploits. I keep asking the narrator in my mind, do you have anything more to pull off? To the point that I had to speed read the rest of the book, whereas the early parts are quite compelling, the latter parts are dragging. And yet the narrator is still lucid, still spouting his Risehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446964640160585194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3769714277850142841.post-18857411124544844362014-07-29T02:23:16.138+08:002014-07-29T02:23:16.138+08:00I love Vila-Matas' concept here of additive cr...I love Vila-Matas' concept here of additive criticism, of piling on criticism of what he's written before such that (like writing about books on blogs) one comes to an increasing large accretion of texts, a mountain of them. Initially in reading your post, I couldn't imagine how he'd end the book, but simply becoming tired seems a wonderful way to do it. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.com