Waggish
I got the link to Waggish from The Literary Saloon (see the blogroll). It looks like an excellent site for those of us interested in less popular fiction. Sadly, Sunday’s entry is a woeful face-value reading of Thomas Bernhard. For example, to write that “the intrusion of childish ranting in his later work is disappointing” is astonishing. If a character rants and the reader disapproves, why should he or she be disappointed with the author? Shouldn’t one be a little more aware of what such disappointment might mean? I find the “ranting” much more problematic; one can even see it as tragic, as well as outrageous and hysterical. Later on, Waggish confirms that prejudice has replaced criticism by claiming “You get the impression that Bernhard agrees with this”. Jeez.
I have no patience for a reasoned response. You either love Thomas Bernhard, or you don’t. And as in all cases of love, one can’t understand those who don’t feel the same way. Still, I would direct Waggish to Gitta Honegger’s and JJ Long’s books, both of which I reviewed here a while back. The latter is particularly convincing in its hardcore study of Bernhard’s narrative techniques. “Childish ranting”, my arse.
Other Splinters posts of interest:
- The most important writer in the world
- Every month is like February
- Devising it all for company
- One Of A Kind
- Better late
