Books
I just finished reading Intruder in the Dust by William Faulkner. Great book with one of the most complex African American characters -- Lucas Beauchamp -- that I've ever seen. If you've always wanted to read some Faulkner, this might be the one to start with. 246 pages, interesting plot (including night scenes in graveyards), accessible stream-of-conscious style. Plus, it's interesting to see the connections between IitD and To Kill a Mocking Bird.
I also started reading a new anthology from Bottom Dog Press entitled Bar Stories. I'm not very far into it, but the first story is by Lee K. Abbot, and it's really good.
I also started reading a new anthology from Bottom Dog Press entitled Bar Stories. I'm not very far into it, but the first story is by Lee K. Abbot, and it's really good.
posted by Jeff Vande Zande at 8:46 AM
17 Comments:
I'm reading "As I Lay Dying" right now.
I like Faulkner, but I prefer Hemingway. I mean, you have to take sides in the Hemingway v. Faulkner war. LOL.
I read Light in August and Sound and the Fury. I was pretty young, so I don't know how much I took from either . . . but I remember knowing that I was reading something big.
I like Hemingway, too.
I'm not taking sides in the fight over F and H. It's kind of like apples to oranges to me.
I only prefer Hemingway because he was the first big author I ever read. Well, save E.B. White.
The first Hemingway book I read was "A Farewell To Arms", then "The Sun Also Rises", then I was hooked. I own every book he ever wrote, including his book of poems.
Did you know he wrote poems? I didn't until I perused the Poetry section at B&N.
I don't think you have to take sides in the Faulkner and Hemingway wars. I like pizza and I like calzone. The world is a place where you can like a bunch of stuff simultaneously.
By the way, I think the best start-up novel if you haven't read Faulkner is Sanctuary. It's full of college students getting loaded and impotent gangsters running moonshine across state lines in beat-up model T's. It's a treat. Like what 30s movies should have been and never were.
'Eh, I actually don't like pizza or calzones. LOL. Bad analogy for me. Just never liked the stuff - don't know why. I was a weird kid.
But if I had a choice between book A, written by Hemingway, and book B, written by Faulkner, and I had never read either before, I'd choose A. Something about his style I prefer.
BTW, John, Jeff showed me a poem of yours and it was fantastic. I'm thinking about buying your book. Is it available on Amazon or through you or what?
Hi, Proletariat,
I understand what you say about style. Faulkner's flowingness has always grabbed me. In fact the flow is what I like about Faulkner and Kerouac and Thomas Wolfe and Whitman, etc.
But the funny thing is when I went to write a novel, I could only write it like Hemingway would have written it. No flow. Short sentences, everything crisp and non fuzzy.
My book? Amazon has Lightning and Ashes. If you buy a oopy, I'll say a prayer for you.
Better yet, I'll write a blog about you!!! :)
Yes, John's book is on amazon. It's called Lightning and Ashes.
Powerful book.
The poems are about concentration camps in WWII, correct? If so, then that's the book I want. I'll get it off Amazon.
For the record, John and the press that published John's book, make very little money if you use amazon. Better to order it directly from John. True, John?
Yeah, that's true.
If you order it from me, I'll autograph it also. If you want to do this, send me a note at my email: jzguzlowski (at) gmail.com.
Amazon or John, whatever helps the author more. Let me know.
Proletariat, Thanks. It means a lot to me to know you want to read about my parents and the things that happened to them.
Amazon is asking 10.80 for the book. Send me that, and I'll sign it and ship it to you.
My address is
288 Linden Dr.
Danville, VA 24541
No problem. I'll pick up a Money Order [?] today or tomorrow and send it off Monday.
Proletariat,
A check would be fine. No need to get a money order.
We'll work something out, John. I don't have a checking account - I don't trust them. I don't deal with banks - period. I deal with the stock market and cash - period.
We'll work something out.
Now that I'm not so tired, I can explain a little more.
I don't use banks because I've had nothing but bad luck with them. For example, I had $400 in my checking account one time and it just disappeared. The bank claims it was withdrawn, but I didn't withdrawal a damn thing. So, since then, I use cash, the stock market, and a pre-paid credit card. If I don't have anything loaded on my pre-paid card, and if it's a decent time in the afternoon, I'll sell one of my stocks and it transfers the money into my Pay Pal account almost immediately (because I'm on credit).
So, if you have a Pay Pal account, we can do that. If not, then we can do the money order, which I think will be best.
Anyway, I'll contact you via e-mail or something, John. I don't want to keep going back and forth on Jeff's blog.
Sure, send me an email at jzguzlowski(at)gmail.com.
I do paypal!
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