ohhh haha I get it, they're all hipsters. holy shit does the world really never change? they go to the art party for a picture that no one looks at and all they do is just gab about how smart and artsy fartsy they all are. some bitch is wearing a formal dress paired with a mickey mouse watch. a quarter of them are gay. the rest of them are painters or writers (gasp! like you guys) or pseuds.
I like this book. gaddis is right. hipsters are hilarious.
Aight.
what should you read before reading this?
i read somewhere that it's one of the hardest novels to 'get' if that means something.
Nah. Just read it.
>A strikingly original novel, it gains a number of its effects from the dense web of literary allusions it employs, drawing upon the religious texts of American Calvinism and European Catholicism and to a wide range of literary and philosophical writings in the western tradition from Aristotle to Goethe and TS Eliot. Ostensibly, the novel charts Wyatt’s career as he negotiates the snares of the fallen modern world, but on a further level we see how he is identified with a whole series of literary figures, from Orpheus to Faust. While the novel is an immensely rewarding read at the level of realism, it gains in depth and resonance when the reader can see the allusions at work and the parallels being drawn.
i feel like I need to be a lit/philosophy/history major to read these kind of books
faust
>yfw 90% of the retards on Veeky Forums memeing this book havent read faust and think they understand it
top kek
>OP had to read a book before learning not to take hipsters too seriously.
OP here. I'm certified retarded my friend. I read for entertainment. barely graduated highschool. I'm 300 pages in and so far haven't found any of it hard. although ever since I came to /lit I've just been reading the books you guys say are hard. I've noticed that either they aren't that hard or I'm not as dumb as I think I am. just read it my dude. it's a book. it won't hurt you. if you don't get a part, re read it. if your really stumped Google it. I think people say it's hard because it's long and he throws around a lot of religious names and painters names. you don't need to know who those people are though. you just need to know they were famous people lol and you will get the point.
nah I knew that beforehand. but gaddis is straight up calling them out in this book and he's spot on my negro.
obrigado, friend
is faust really necessary? what about it is important? just the references? could I just use that recognitions website to look up the references, or would that not be enough?
Why would the world change?
>believing in bullshit "evolution" of personality
It's evolution of the species, that's it. The only thing's that changed is we have iPhones.
I like you, OP. Godspeed.
bro you don't even need that website. everyone is just talking there /lit bullshit. take it from me. the person thats reading the book you will be fine.
>I'm certified retarded my friend. I read for entertainment. barely graduated highschool.
this is like the second time you've posted this speech today.
you are a retard and you like to read. we get it.
lol you got me
i think reddit is better suited for your personality if im being totally honest
my god. your right. this is my last post here on Veeky Forums. thank you and goodbye.
>le hipster boogeyman
You can read it and get it like the retard says. There will be a lot that you will miss. Discussion over how difficult it is usually is in regards to content that is able to go unnoticed but totally changes everything once you get it. For example the castration scene that occurs, almost no one understands on the first read through because it is highly coded through symbols that refer to latin root words, character traits and ambiguous wording. But like that user said, you don't have to read anything beforehand. Yes it's a Faust adaptation, no you won't get enough of it other than very surface level "he made a deal with the devil" if you don't spend the time in going through both The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus by Marlowe and Goethe's Faust.
what is wrong with this totally autistic user
>i feel like I need to be a lit/philosophy/history major to read these kind of books
That is why you fail.
It's a faust retelling. Faust is essential. Ignore pseuds
was le morte de Arthur essential to understand the once and future king? no. it's a retelling. enjoy the new version of that book.
Making this comparison just shows how stupid you are.
Maybe literature isn't for you..find a new hobby
lool
can a true patrician please come in and settle this shit
just read the fucking book you guys are such pussies lol
I started it and found it extraordinarly less difficulty than JR, as in, I couldn't get lost. Might even be easier than Gravitys Rainbow, then again, I haven't finished this one but I found GR's lack of accessibility to be overstated when I finished it. Unlike GR, the hardest part thus far was the vocabulary and not the sentence structure, and the vocabulary wasn't without context clues so I wasn't loss. And unlike JR, the actual structure of the writing was fairly straightforward, even though JR has the least difficult vocabulary of any of the "hard" novels I've read, but is probably the hardest thing I've gotten 200 pages into (haven't started the Wake)
once I'm done the recognitions I'm going straight to J R. it sounds hilarious.
>if you don't get a part, re read it. if your really stumped Google it.
basically how to read in a nutshell
someone must be reading this at the same pace I am because these threads keep being made at the spot I am in the novel
I am. how do you like it so far. I could recommend it to anyone just for that party scene around page 200. that shit was hilarious. it was so real. sadly I've been to a party like that. I hate toronto.
It's not the retard's fault you have no life and spend all your time browsing Veeky Forums threads feeling every poster has an obligation to be original just for you. Faggot
It's a good book and you will appreciate it even if you only have surface knowledge of Faust, Eliot, Greek mythology, art history, etc. However you'll probably pick up on things you would otherwise miss if you're not well-schooled on the Western Canon. I wouldn't treat it as a gatekeeping requirement, though, as this is true of almost all referential Western literature. After all, loads of people here claim to love Blood Meridian although I can guarantee a majority of them haven't read Paradise Lost
Gaddis said he just opened these books and picked references on the go. The Recognitions is accesible, don't worry. The interesting parts about the are very 'human' and should require no prerequisite reading.
source?
if he didn't say that it doesn't even matter. that's certainly how it seems in the book. the characters are pseuds and hipsters. they just throw around those references to sound smart.
bump