Why are you guys so afraid to read this

It was difficult to me. Having to reread sentences and looking up words all the time. Not to mention I don't even know what the main message of the book's even about. It's supposed to be about how irony is bad and we should be sincere, but I don't really get that from the book at all.

Why was TCoL49 difficult?

Even a very experienced reader could recognise that it's difficult. It demands a lot of knowledge to read and even then it's still hard to understand

Cuanto?

>Cuanto?
What did he mean by this?

no its not. you clearly have never read it lmao

Honestly, it's one of the best works I've ever read. JR is far more accomplished in structure and format, it's a veritable masterpiece; but, this is where Gaddis let loose his genius, ambition and will to overcome the struggle that artists face when trying to achieve their life's work. Read it, reread it, it'll take you (at most) a month of your time but you'll be rewarded for the rest of your life.

Nowhere to be found in the local library system.

Which is surprising, because it's a pretty good system.

why do people comment on books they have never read like this. someone might be put of by his retarded comment.

I dont read trust fund baby shit.

Fucking morons who say they can't find it...

bookdepository.com/The-Recognitions-William-Gaddis/9781564786913

I can probably read good poetry and get more in a single minute.

Maximalism is a meme.

lol wtf are you talking about ?

I'm not. I can't ever find it at a bookstore. Same with anything by Gass.

this book has loads of poetry in it. half the characters are poets lol

orpheus

>shopping exclusively at bookstores
>2016
just order it online

mite b cool

i don't want to spend $20+ on a book when I can buy it used for $8

Why do you refuse to order books online?

>He doesn't know you can buy used books online

is he my dad?

>the book that /lit thinks it's to stupid to read

how sad.

an edition different than the one pictured might be sent (not a huge deal but im particular and want what i want)

book might get damaged through shipping

i prefer to support bookstores other than Amazon and B&N

also i dont get that endorphin rush of driving to the bookstore, looking through shelves, finding a book i wanted and walking out with a newly purchased book in my hands. ordering books online has no ritual involved

>It's supposed to be about how irony is bad and we should be sincere

lol, that´s just something he expressed on interviews

Gonna read JR first.

It's better because it won the National Book Award.

If you pay attention to events and character dialogue, it's easy to figure out.

I am reading it though. I'm on chapter 6 now.

I have pic related and I doubt there's anything special or better about the Dalkey Archive version OP posted. The one in pic related has the Gass intro too, so you wouldn't be missing that either.

I'm on page 310. good shit

It honestly sounds like your mommy won't let you use her debit card anymore.

Otto would fit right in on Veeky Forums t b h.

What makes this book difficult? How difficult is it really, compared to other works?

it's not difficult. the people who think it's difficult haven't read it.

I'm not interested in pomo whatsoever to be h fâm. My favorite writers are men.

Multiple languages and lots of references to other texts. Though really, Gaddis does a lot of the work for you by establishing the context well enough so that you should be able to understand what's going on even if you don't get every single reference, so the difficulty is overstated. It's not Ulysses-hard or anything.

>My favorite writers are men.
-Yeah. So this guy is only wearing a pair of dungarees, tight-fitting, see? He's well-built, wearing a pair of tight-fitting dungarees. You got that?
-Yes.
-How do you say it?
-He was a well-built fellow wearing tight-fitting dungarees.
-O.K. So he goes into town and finds a girl in a bar. She wants to go to bed with him. But he can't take no chances on account of that cargo. The police, see? The girl visits him at his house, but he can't take no chances. So he tells her, take it easy . . . Jesse stopped and looked at Otto. -You're goin to get paid for this and I ain't goin to get nothin.
-I've never sold anything yet, Otto said.
-Yeah. Well you can sell this, see. This is what people like to read about. Where was I? O.K. So she wants to stay, but he wants everything he has in his mind for shark-fishing. Chilano Bay, that's the place for shark-fishing. So he dives for sharks. The white ones and the nigger sharks. Those are the black ones. They don't kill the white ones, but he'll do it, see? He's not scared. He'll dive for any shark. Period.
Otto waited.
-How's that? asked the author.
-Well it isn't quite a story yet . . .
-What do you mean it isn't a story. You think I don't know what a story is? This is what people like to read about, realism, real men doing something, not a lot of crap in fancy trimmings.
You get me?
-Yes I . . .
-You're goin to get paid for it and I ain't goin to get nothin.
Jesse returned to admiring his chest.

honestly only at the start do they talk a few different languages and it's only a few sentences. you wouldn't miss a beat if you couldn't Google the meaning.

this is the current page I'm on just to prove how not hard this book is to read.

Cool, well as someone almost done with Ulysses and not finding it too bad, sounds good to me

Search books by ISBN dude

How is this book vs J R? I was thinking about reading J R first because the story and technique interest me a lot. Don't know much about this one, other than usual Veeky Forums shitposting.

Yeah, the first 17.5 pages are probably the hardest overall. It gets a lot smoother after Rev. Gwyon gets back to the US.

I don't recognize it :^)

I recently bought The Recognitions, J R, Carpenter's Gothic and Agapē Agape.

Should I read them in chronological order or is there a better order?

read what ever you want you fucking chode. J R and the recognitions have the best reviews out of the lot

Chronological is always a safe bet.

Yeah, I saw your shitpost a few days ago. Doesn't change the fact that you look like a wanker when reading his book in public. Gaddis was a marginal writer at the height of his powers and still is. People will be reading Hemingway for at least 200 more years while Gaddis will be forgotten about.

lmao

moshi moshi bait desu

>Gaddis was a marginal writer
>praises Ernie memeingway for being more widely recognized by proles
>main complaint about Gaddis is that you'll look "pretentious" for reading him in public
lmao are all Memeingway fans this basic? Go stare at your pecs in the mirror for an hour.

Learn how to use the internet.

It's even available--for free!--legally, if that doesn't offend.

youtube.com/watch?v=qDii69YCh_Q

Spicy bait

None of you can refute the fact that your trust fund baby will be forgotten while Hemingway will continue to be read for pleasure and taught in university and high school for centuries on. Literally no one outside of America has ever heard of Gaddis while Ernest Hemingway is one of the first writers an ESL student will read. Hell, people LOVE reading Hemingway. Can anyone say they actually feel any passion from Gaddis limpwristed prose? Stay buttmad, faggots. All this pomo shit reeks of something not Veeky Forums. You know where you belong.

>muh populism
>>>/rlgbt/ t b h

>Literally no one outside of America has ever heard of Gaddis
That is completely wrong. Upon a visit to Germany with his good friend, William Gass, Gaddis was greeted by a buttload of people, and was treated like a superstar by everyone there.

You can't even argue against my point without using empty memes. The fact that Hemingway was able to use the avant-garde with a popular style is an amazing feat, more impressive than writing an obscure novel that appeals to a few mouthbreathing autists. GG better luck next time.

>germany
nobody care you bloody natsi.

Greeted by a buttload of people? kek. Prove it. I doubt it compared anything to this Mensch's reception.

>You can't even argue against my point
You don't have a point to argue against. Go back to chugging old semen, lad. You're embarrassing yourself.

Denial is not refuting, pederast.

kek I'm not American and Gaddis is my second favorite author.

yeah I'm Canadian and he is also one of my favorites. this and J R are such amazing books. even his other 3 books are great.