Recognitions In The Mail

#booktube In which I discuss two books by, William Gaddis: The Recognitions, and J R.

[Libros.y.Laberintos]

Hi there. I'm reading the recognitions in Spanish. I haven't finished yet, but I decided to give it a try. It's a long journey, you can't read it in a few days.... But that's part of the attraction of it. The first part is to much about religion (Waytt was raised by aunt May, you know....): I like it more when Waytt go to Paris... (sorry if that's a spoiler). There's a lot of pain in this book, but somehow we learn about this other life that it is not ours.

[BroJBone]

Definitely read The Recognitions ASAP. It was pretty much my top read of 2019. I easily rank it alongside Ulysses and Gravity’s Rainbow in terms of historical significance. JR is awesome too. Gaddis is probably the biggest sleeper hit in literary history.

[marcelmiguelc]

I swear that I read the title as "recognitions in the mall" and I thought "oh my god I am so happy for him that he's even being recognized in the streets now"

[ToddBVick]

William Gaddis was actually a Postmodernist writer (along with Barth, Barthleme, DeLillo, Pynchon, et al), not to be confused with the Modernist writers (like Pound, Woolf, Lawrence, Eliot, Joyce, et. al). So Gaddis' work is quite different from Joyce. Many in the literati community have praised Gaddis' books. David Foster Wallace and Jonathan Franzen have both declared themselves fans of Gaddis' works. Gaddis is certainly an author, for those who love literature/books/novels, who should be on a bibliophile's reading list.

[questioneverything]

This book is amazingly hilarious:
Homoiousian, or Homoousian, that was the question. It had been settled one
thousand years before when, at Nicæa, the fate of the Christian church hung on a diphthong: Homoousian, meaning of one substance. The brothers in far away Estremadura had missed the Nicæan Creed, busy out of doors as they were, or up to their eyes in cold water, and they had never heard of Arius. They chose Homoiousian, of like substance, as a happier word than its tubular alternative (no one gave them a chance at Heteroousian), and were forthwith put into quiet dungeons which proved such havens of self-indulgence, unfurnished with any means of vexing the natural processes, that they died of very shame, unable even to summon such pornographic phantasms as had kept Saint Anthony rattling in the desert (for to tell the truth none of these excellent fellows knew for certain what a woman looked like, and each could, without divinely inspired effort, banish that image enhanced by centuries of currency among them, in which She watched All with inflamed eyes fixed in the substantial antennae on Her chest).

[aubuggy]

my two cents.. I'd start with JR; it is a little easier to get into and is a truly funny book. Both books are, I think, 20th century classics but "The Recognitions" like Dellio's "Ratner's Star" both have that reputation as a writer's writer's book, and are a little bit harder to get ahold of at first. I can curl up with JR and just annoy the heck out of the family with my giggling in the corner... both terrific books.

[rubeng]

Just dip your toe in man. See if you wanna dive into one, if not try the other. If neither jive, then don't dive.
I dropped the Recognitions, but I will return to it in 5 years or whenever the interest kicks in again, since I know from reading a quarter of the Recognitions that Gaddis is skilled at what he does, even if there are some parts within it that slog, yet others are awesome. Chapter 1 was my favorite tbh.

[keckiebooks]

Also you mentioned Baltimore...what are your favorite book stores in this area?

[EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

Marc Nash and I are reading The Recognitions in March '21...feel free to get in on it with us!
I just read JR and, Matt, you are going to love it ❤️❤️❤️