Re: I am Franny!!! / We love Bill

Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Tue, 21 Jul 1998 11:04:11 +1000 

>    Well, I've never read any Burroughs, so I can't comment here, but I
> don't have a problem with writers who have used (or allegedly used)
various
> substances in the making of their work.

I actually made the point the wrong way - I didn't mean the writers
necessarily being on drugs, but at the very least the characters or the
appropriation of that sort of junkie-ramble.
 
>    I think Salinger is an excellent craftsman, too, but I think many
other
> highly respected writers are certainly his equal or superior in terms of
> craftsmanship.  There is something to be said for "boundless things" or
> what appears to be boundless. 

That's exactly what I meant about `Catcher'. It's so well constructed that
it *feels* like it's boundless while ultimately being fairly satisfying.
That's actually a very difficult thing to do, a lesser writer would have
just left you with a story which is all middle, no beginning and end, but
Salinger doesn't.

> I find the challenge of more "unstructured"
> pieces equally satisfying (in some cases more) than a highly structured
> piece.  The idea of having a series of threads to unravel and string
> together on your own can be as rewarding as having a neat structure stare
> you in the face.

So do I, but I think that's a slightly different thing. I love ambiguity,
it's one of my favourite things in literature. I love the idea of half the
story having to take place in the readers head; for it to be necessary for
them to construct what details they aren't given for themselves. However,
this isn't necessarily a feature of `unstructured' work. Sometimes it can
be the most sparse, succinct work which contains the most of these loose
threads and ambiguities.
  
> >Just for you I may give Bukowski another go (:
> 
>    Knock yourself with Bukowski--I won't be picking him again (see other
> note of mine today).

Anyone who's as big a mysogynist as him I'd have a lot of trouble working
through anyway.

Camille 
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE
www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
THE INVERTED FOREST
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