Comments on: John Biguenet, Rising Water; Horacio Castellanos Moya, Senselessness

By: Zoloft.

Zoloft. — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:15:08 +0000

Zoloft.

Zoloft. Zoloft side effects.

By: Drew North

Drew North — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:09:39 +0000

Thanks to you both for the feedback. I’ll seek the Moya out through the Denver Public Library. Saramago has a new novel being published in the U.S. in November, and I hope you will both take a look at it.
Also, regarding a post or two north of here, I am halfway through the Agualusa novel, and, for what it is worth, I would put it in or around the top ten novels I’ve read this year.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:51:32 +0000

Scott, thanks for the pointer.
I’ve read a few of Saramago’s novels and I’d agree with your comparison. Saramago is more run-on, fast-paced, and Bernhard is more musical in a sense, with repetitions and emphasized phrases.
Another long-sentence writer is Bohumil Hrabal. He fits somewhere between Saramago and Bernhard on this scale, I think.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:07:45 +0000

Kevin,
You should see the review over at Ready Steady Blog. That’s the best one I’ve seen on the Bernhard connections, and I’m sure the review’s author could help you out with other Bernhardians.
Drew,
I’ve read one of Saramago’s novels; based on that I think there’s a fairly lare gap between Saramago and Moya. Moya’s sentences (again, on the evidence of one novel) keep changing register and direction, whereas Saramago’s seem more monotonic.

By: Drew North

Drew North — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:02:04 +0000

I believe I read an excerpt of the Moya novel at the Words Without Borders website some time ago – the writer who came to mind at the time, rhythmically, was Saramago. Would anyone familiar with both care to make a comparison?

By: Kevin

Kevin — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:19:28 +0000

Thanks for the summary of the Moya reading. Sounds like he should put out an audio book! I just picked up Senselessness the other day based on reviews here and elsewhere. The description as “Bernhardian” is what hooked me.
Are there any other writers who do the Bernhardian thing well? The only one I can think of offhand is Tim Parks, particularly in Europa and some of his other novels. (Or at least they struck me as mimicking Bernhard somewhat — I don’t know if that’s a common opinion.)