Name a more iconic duo. I'll wait

All of his books are pretty much the same but I really like what he does. Interesting about when you read The Loser; I find Bernhard to be very refreshing if life is difficult. He's relentlessly pessimistic and misanthropic but it's life-affirming. It's strange, his narrator is constantly lying but I always feel like the work is completely truthful and authentic.

Oh, and I meant to ask - why's gushing about Gould a faux pas? I really enjoy both recordings of his variations, the 1955 and the 1981. I don't know very much at all about classical music, though, I just like how it sounds.

oh it was all bullshit? i really did think most of it was true just from a fictional viewpoint. ha. well admittedly i never backed up my reading with any research during that time, but that certainly lends credence to the idea that he speaks with a true voice, a convincing voice. people have likened it to a ranting style but i don't see it, i recall just a bit, not much. i really need to top off my memory with a rereading of the loser before going on to his other work when his turn comes.

it's just the go to for intellectually inclined musical fare, i think it was playing in hannibal lecter's cell in silence of the lambs. it's just a bit of a meme at this point.
youtu.be/qB76jxBq_gQ
aside from all that, nothing wrong with loving the memes. one of my favorite performances by the guy.

Well starting with Wittgenstein's Nephew Bernhard started doing a semi-autobiographical deal, some of it is true some of it isn't. He does have a convincing voice but it's not exactly what I mean; I'm not sure how to articulate it. I guess I find Bernhard to tell the truth through his narrator's constant lying and hypocrisy. How he approaches the idea of truth I find interesting, I guess. It's more like a monologue than a rant I think. Gargoyles has a rant but his stuff after that is more like a monologue. I'd compare it to listening to a neurotic, pessimistic professor talk at you for a while, who maybe has had one or two glasses of wine. It's always a very intelligent voice.

It's usually ambiguous in Bernhard's work in general and several of the narrators admit that they're exaggerating or misrepresenting, e.g. in "Concrete" when the narrator, after a devastating rant against his sister's meddling in his life, admits that it is usually him who asks her to visit him. Or in "Extinction" when Murau writes about his "art of exaggeration", which basically mirrors what Bernhard is doing all the time.
On the other hand, all the negativity and bitterness is, in a way, real and sheds a light on how humans will twist reality in their minds and memories.

Bernhard's autobiographical works are also embellished in places and turned into some kind of artistic statement.

Started reading Frost today actually. Not sure if I like it yet

The 1981 recording is better though.

Prefer the smoothness of the 81 to the 55's brio ca. 80 percent of the time. See J. Cott's short Conversations with Glenn Gould to get a measure of Gould's wonderful autism (u. Chicago press). ..Haven't read Bernhard but shall give it a go.

I found Frost difficult. It's written in Bernhard's earlier, more aphoristic style, influenced by Pascal and Novalis and therefore often obscure. I feel more at home with the more cohesive monologues starting with "The Lime Works".

damn that's a shame, it's a major league meme then. he is a total fucking weirdo. Gould I mean. His so-called humming along with the piano. I know Bernhard was drawn to him because of his eccentricities and also because Gould played Bach so well and went against the idea of Austria as the greatest nation musically.

Yeah the 55 recording is very mechanical I think in comparison to the 81. Ill definitely check that out, Gould's immense autism is great. A real savant.
I've read all of his novels except Frost, Old Masters, and Extinction. I know Frost is the most different from his other novels. I've read Gargoyles and I believe the first half to be similar to Frost. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great; Bernhard really shines with his monologues. As said, The Lime Works and beyond is much better.

I caught that in one of the Lambs movies (the second?) Also, one of the Brandenburgs was used during the course of the movie, and either the opening ot closing credits feature the Goldburg intro. Anachronistic feel given the Renaissance Family history theme and the Italian setting.
But [we're] all stupid so I suppose none of this matters.

I am thinking of reading Bernhard after hearing Sebald was deeply influenced by him.

Do it, but don't expect a similar experience. Sebald is elegiac, Bernhard spits venom.

nonsense, that doesn't matter at all. hey. there's a dawning conversation here now. no need to fret over the local plebfare! i know little of the classical masters myself, i do know something you may not be yet hip to, however, something very satisfying.
youtu.be/dbbtmskCRUY
check out this tasty genius.
anyway, i had tried to read krasznahorkai expecting some inkling of bernhard's style (don't ask me why) and that was a miserable disappointment. bernhard from my memory definitely hits the right tone all too well. i look forward even more to his work, knowing there are others who felt the same or similarly to his work, that i may soon discuss with them in plebeian fashion, ha. i do wish the man would release a collection in volumes containing several or all of his works. i can't always justify spending so much for a few books that will be finished in a day or two each.

Rachmaninov is great, Frank O'Hara was a huge fan.
What didn't you like about Krasznahorkai? I really enjoy him and find him and Bernhard somewhat comparable, at least stylistically with their very long sentences. Krasznahorkai doesn't use repetition as much or really at all, though. He's also nowhere near as funny as Bernhard.
I do feel you about the whole cost thing, but I will sometimes read a few pages selected randomly from one Bernhard novel or another and deeply enjoy it, and I plan on rereading many of his novels anyway, so I think it's worth it.

Quiet Reinhart Goebel fan here. If (you) have access to a music service I suggest checking out some of the work he did with Musica Antiqua Koeln. Begin with Telemann's Water Music. None of it will let (you) down, even if just beginning. Guaranteed.

thanks for the tip

He was a meme, but there was substance behind it. Reading Gould's writing, or listening to his interviews is truly awkward, yet as soon as I stop looking at him gesturing like a madman, I can immediatly see the line of divide between Gould the person and Gould the musician.
I guess that since ha has talked about so many things but his music, most people forget that most of his performances were considered simply impossible to replicate (his technique and finger independence is absolutely perfect), whole also being probably the most interesting Bach pianist of the XX century, alongside Koroliov.
Honestly, the only bad thing that can be said about his Bach's recording is that they are recorded on a piano. If you can accept that, then there is nothing to criticize.
Do yourself a favor, and forget everything he has said everytime you listen to one of his recordings.

Well I'll definitely stick it out to the end and I'll continue reading Bernhard even if it turns out that I dislike Frost by the end. It is a difficult book to read, the paragraphs seem to have no internal structure, the same things are talked about in different ways every few pages, the talk about loneliness and death and all just seems edgy rather than sad and really not that funny either.

Yeah the 55 recording is the prominent one in the novel. Really like how the color scheme of the book matches that of the record sleeve.

It's a bit sad that the English title doesn't really evoke the same image as the German title.

>guys he tried really hard let's all be nice to each other
go back to rebbit you pseud fucking turd his efforts amounted to a big stinky shitpost right here on my board.

Just discovered Bernhard earlier this year and immediately fell in love with him. Since then, I've read The Loser, Woodcutters, Wittgenstein's Nephew, Correction, Gargoyles & Concrete. Woodcutters has been my favorite so far. Thinking about Extinction next. I plan to read all of his novels this year. Honestly, I'm surprised he isn't a meme here. Anyway, Bernhard is great and I'm excited to see a thread dedicated to him. Monitoring.

I read Woodcutters most recently, I really enjoyed it. Very funny. I think my favorite is Correction. I've been reading him chronologically. I've got Old Masters to read and then Extinction. You should check out Yes, it's considered a minor Bernhard but I find it really funny. It's also one of Bernhard's more sympathetic depictions of a woman character, which is interesting to see.

he's one of the authors that's borderline meme. every couple of months I see a Bernhard thread that usually ends with the same 5-10 anons circle jerking over his catalog. So while he's not totally meme level popular, those who read him tend to love him, especially on a board full of misanthropic edgesters like Veeky Forums

>Anyone else a Bernhard fan?

Not yet. I heard Sebald praising him in an interview.....so now I'm interested.

where should i start?

>I am the walrus coo coo chi choo

How would you Bernhard fans describe the experience of reading one of his novels? My impression is that he writes in a style close to a combination of Kafka and Krasznahorkai. Is this true? Other influences?

>where should i start?
Concrete

Correction was great, yeah. The "plot" of Correction is pretty bizarre. The scene in which his friend is stuffing a bird at night was outrageously funny. I didn't know much about Yes, but now I am excited. Maybe I'll check it out next. His depiction of Joana in Woodcutters is pretty sympathetic by Bernhard standards, at least. And Anna Hardtl in Concrete as well.

OK i've been talking about extinction in this thread so I'll try so show Bernhard through a some passages I marked when reading it this winter.

The first thing that jumps out to a bernhard reader, and often surprises someone expecting to read dark depressing ramblings, is how funny he is. His characters do ramble on though, oftentimes there wont be a paragraph break for pages as we are taken through every thought that enters a characters head. The Prince scene in Gargoyles jumps out...

As for his writing style, calls himself the greatest known artist in the field of exageration.
>"Exageration is the secret of great art.. the art of exageration is in fac tthe secret of all mental endeavor."

He can be a bit critical- he certainly didn't make any friends throughout his literary career. in extinction he accuses Mann and Musil of only being capable of dreary, bureaucratic literature. He is so critical of his homeland in most of his novels that Austria has all but disowned him.

He has a very pessimist, comic insight
>"...for we know that the funeral, above all in country districts, is the highest form of histrionics imaginable and that at funerals even the simplest people display a mastery far superior to anything found in theaters."

And yes, I'm sure you heard he is depressing.
>"The only advice I can offer to any thinking person is to kill himself before the millennium"

welp, i gotta read extinction, talkin mad shit on mann and musil? count me the fuck in.

I'd say Wittgenstein's Nephew. I think it's funnier overall and is the beginning of one of Bernhard's best traits in his older work; the semiautobiographical aspect.

frost is his toughest work, dont be discouraged by the diffuculty though, none of his later works have the same style... but it has some really good writing in it. some scenes really stick out to this day, and its been over 5 years since i've read it

stop having actual real lifeive human discussionsyell about the original poster being a faggot who bought a branD new copy of this buzzbook and a moutherfucking vinyl record in the year of our lord two hundred and seventy off of amazon. com

no. OP and i started a nice convo, people joined with solid input, and a good time was had.

Has anyone read On the Mountain?