tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696335.post5213413378222268701..comments2020-06-13T03:22:05.789-04:00Comments on The New Skeptic: The MagusVernunfthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16652751092085432868noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696335.post-53172862283104854342007-11-10T22:12:00.000-05:002007-11-10T22:12:00.000-05:00The Magus was earlier, eh? Very interesting. I'l...<I>The Magus</I> was earlier, eh? Very interesting. I'll have to put it on the list for the Christmas break.<BR/><BR/>And yes, get going on those Sou'Ams. Borges' <I>A Universal History of Infamy</I> is my favourite of his, but <I>Labyrinths</I> is much easier to find, and a better representation of his field of work anyway.<BR/><BR/>I look forward to Rushdie reviews, down the line.Nick Milnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15677481833245634421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696335.post-52506354980697254962007-11-10T08:06:00.000-05:002007-11-10T08:06:00.000-05:00Actually, The Magus was written before The Collect...Actually, <I>The Magus</I> was written before <I>The Collector</I>, but the latter was published first because Fowles thought no publisher would touch the former until he already had a successful novel.<BR/><BR/>I haven't read all the works by the Latin American masters that you name, so I'll have to add those to my list. They will have to wait until I finish a number of Rushdie novels, though.Freiheithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10271984688434957091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696335.post-23475864468340451252007-11-10T02:18:00.000-05:002007-11-10T02:18:00.000-05:00And the Latin American masters are worth a look, t...And the Latin American masters are worth a look, too, if you like material that forces you to periodically ask just what, if anything, is actually going on. Jorge Luis Borges, Alejo Carpentier, Julio Cortazar and Gabriel Garcia-Marquez stand at the top of this heap, with <I>Labyrinths</I>, <I>The Kingdom of this World</I>, <I>Blow-Up and Other Stories</I> and <I>One Hundred Years of Solitude</I> being good places to start with each of them, respectively, though when it comes to Borges if you can find something of his that isn't worth dropping everything and reading at once I'll shoot you in the face and pretend it never happened.Nick Milnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15677481833245634421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696335.post-5308890738366726582007-11-10T02:13:00.000-05:002007-11-10T02:13:00.000-05:00I still don't know what to think about John Fowles...I still don't know what to think about John Fowles. The half of <I>The Magus</I> that I read (back before I lost the copy mid-read) was pretty good, <I>The French Lieutenant's Woman</I> was a boring pain in the ass, and <I>The Collector</I> was a solid delight. As this last one was actually his first novel, I'll choose to take this state of affairs as a sign of his irreversible decline in quality from the start of his career and more or less ignore the rest of his work. This will free up my time considerably.<BR/><BR/><I>Pale Fire</I> is great, though. I would like also to recommend Nabokov's <I>Bend Sinister</I>, which won me over with a line about glaciers, if I remember correctly.Nick Milnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15677481833245634421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696335.post-42853657249028249472007-11-09T14:28:00.000-05:002007-11-09T14:28:00.000-05:00Notice I used the word "attempt." I think you wou...Notice I used the word "attempt." I think you would enjoy the book, but what it indicates about those attempts is less than uplifting.Freiheithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10271984688434957091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696335.post-42013014443325677612007-11-09T12:54:00.000-05:002007-11-09T12:54:00.000-05:00"If that's confusing, that's because the plot of b..."If that's confusing, that's because the plot of both novels are attempts by humanity to impose meaning upon the chaos of the universe."<BR/><BR/>Well, wait, this sounds right up my alley. Where have you been all my life?Vernunfthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16652751092085432868noreply@blogger.com