In it for the long haul: Better get used to seeing these two books on my weekly reading lists, because they are both very long (668 and 1,062 pages respectively), and because I only read a few pages out of one or the other (rarely both) a day. These are other channels for me, that I flip to occasionally while plowing through whatever novel I've got going. The Anatomy is in the style of Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy and is quite dense and packed with quotations. My sister and brother-in-law gave it to me years ago, and now the time is right to finally read it. Silliman's mammoth book is actually 26 books of "language poetry" (one for each letter of the alphabet), and no, I can't begin to explain what language poetry is, except to say that it's detailed and quite fun to read. I read Silliman's prose poem Ketjak back in the early '80s, and really enjoyed it, so I was delighted to discover this. I've delved into his blog from time to time (and was pleased to discover he once did a reading/performance with Marilyn Crispell!), and now is the right time for me to delve into this...but a little goes a long way. I am enjoying savoring the detail of 2-3 pages at a time.
Reading List 2017-01-30:
*Parsons, Brad Thomas. Amaro (selections)
*Rolls, Albert. "“A Dual Man [and Oeuvre], Aimed Two Ways at Once”: The Two Directions of Pynchon’s Life and Thought," in Orbit (Vol. 4, Issue 1, 2016) (started/finished)
*Jackson, Holbrook. Anatomy of Bibliomania (in progress)
*Murakami, Haruki. 1Q84 (transl. Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel) (in progress)
*Showcase Presents: Legion of Super Heroes, Vol . 1 (in progress)
*Silliman, Ron. The Alphabet (in progress)
No comments:
Post a Comment