Dell'ontologia della letteratura - durante una gita a Coney Island


In fact, the setting of the main story is not the beach resort near New York, but a village called Ocean City in some area of Maryland. However, I found something symbolic and metaphorical in this place, which can be well represented by thinking of the somewhat rundown boardwalk of New Yorkers.


Anyway, this collection of stories by Barth (which I found only in the original language) represents a milestone of meta-literature. It is a set of writings in which the author-narrator question that creates a fictional world is addressed in many ways by the great writer, the tutelary deity of all American authors who have dealt with this literary dimension.


Barth challenges the reader in a dizzying race on the meaning of writing, on the very existence of what is narrated, in an experimentalism from the 1960s that is sometimes almost tentative (like the Moebius strip made into a short story of a few lines) and (for some) useless, but that I always find fascinating and interesting.


In any case, the story that gives its name to the collection is a perfect jewel of postmodern and experimental narration: parts of the story and passages of literary technique alternate (constantly reminding us that everything is a fiction created by the author), the temporal planes intersect and mix, real and dreamed situations intertwine and the story seems to turn on itself like in a Moebius strip (exactly). The result is a splendid feeling of the urgent ontological fragility of literary creation (and also of the writer himself): everything seems to hang in the hands of the writer or, perhaps, the story has its own autonomous existence beyond what its creator determines?


However, all this does not prevent Barth from creating vivid and real characters and situations, towards which the reader can enter into empathy (Ambrose remains a really memorable character). In this context, the fragmentation of the temporal plane and the logical gaps become strangely poetic, disconcerting, existential, leaving a savory melancholy... the same melancholy that can remain inside us after an illogical, disjointed, but emotionally engaging dream.

More like "Lost in the WTF-house"! This is a place where you can truly get your nerd on if you come hither. Mr. Barth, may he rest in peace, is at his cups of jollymake. He is portmanteauing his ass off and messing with mythologies both high and low. It might seem a bit confusing at first, but it works if you read it twice and don't get too bogged down in the quags. He really can sling it! His writing is full of creativity and playfulness, taking you on a wild ride through his unique imagination. You'll find yourself laughing, scratching your head, and ultimately being amazed by his talent. So, come on in and explore the world of Mr. Barth's writing. You won't be disappointed!

Lost In The Funhouse; Fiction For Print, Tape, Live Voice is John Barth's interesting response to a challenge Marshall McLuhan presented in the sixties. McLuhan predicted the end of the printed text as art and the decline of the Gutenberg family. This might sound familiar to us today. As it's Barth's first short fiction collection, it's anomalous. But regardless of our response to the Funhouse, we should pick up one of his long works where his muse truly shines.

How seriously should we take the book's subtitle, "for Print, Tape, Live Voice"? According to the "Author's Note", these pieces are meant for various performance modalities. Some take the print medium for granted and gain or lose nothing in oral recitation. Others would lose part of their point in any form but print. Some are for print or recorded authorial voice only, while others make no sense unless heard in live or recorded voices. There are also those intended for specific types of recordings or a combination of print and different voices. You get to decide how to experience them.

But should you? Well, of course! After all, we're here to have a good time. Now, let's all say together, "On with the Story!" Indeed. The collection includes interesting stories like the "Frame-Tale" which offers a unique way to write fiction. The "Ambrose His Mark, Water-Message, Lost in the Funhouse (The Ambrose stories)" are also worth looking at, especially when you consider placing LETTERS on your reading calendar as the character Ambrose will be recycled there.

The story "Lost in the Funhouse" has an interesting dialogue between JB and DFW that shows a shift from postmodern to post-postmodern or at least an attempt at it. DFW even wrote his "Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way" in the margins of this story, which is a great reason to read it. And we shouldn't take DFW too seriously when he says unkind things about Barth. We all say mean things about our fathers sometimes.

The "Menelaiad" is perhaps the crowning achievement of this collection. Barth sent his students to find frame-tales and stories within stories. He discovered that no one had written a story within a story more than four or five levels deep. So, he decided to go as deep as seven. The result is quite complex and looks something like this: "'''Love!''' Or, better: "'''Speak!''' Menelaus cried to Helen on the bridal bed,' I reminded Helen in her Trojan bedroom," I confessed to Eidothea on the beach,' I declared to Proteus in the cave-mouth," I vouchsafed to Helen on the ship,' I told Peisistratus at least in my Spartan hall," I say to whoever and where- I am. And Helen answered: [vide supra. This might drive you a little mad, especially if you were in the audience at Boston College when Barth read the entire thing with visual aids. But that was also the night he met his future bride and book dedicatee, Shelly. Barth's work truly shows passionate virtuosity.

John Barth is like putting one's brain through a meat grinder. He seemed more complex to me than Pynchon and Wallace. At least they threw lifebuoys in the form of baseless humor or crazy plots. Here, no one can help you escape. A night journey on the sea doesn't promise that you will sail out.

Everywhere they write about "black" Barthian humor, but I didn't notice it. Although several episodes are amusing. Perhaps I will see the black humor in Barth's novels, not here, not in the stories of "Lost in the Funhouse."

It was amusing that Barth imitated Borges, whom I had just read and who I really liked. At that moment, I wanted to shout at Barth: "Oh, go away with your post-post-meta-meta-modernist meat grinder. I'd better go and read more Borges with his metaphysics."

Meta-fiction.

Every time I read such literature, I start to think that I'm not as smart as I thought. This is a test. A puzzle. An equation. Or not? Maybe it's just badly written? Nausea, but not like Sartre? A haven for masochists and self-eaters?

Or, after all, is it genius? Or bad? Or both bad and genius, because in books, as in us, everything is mixed up?

This is exactly the case when you almost hate the writer but still keep reading.

Who understood everything from the first time and it was easy for them - you are lying.

Somewhere in the reviews, I read that Barth is a recipe according to which it is impossible to prepare an edible dish. Yes, it is interestingly written, but where is my steak, I want to eat?! However, some paragraphs are super cool. And all the stories are different, written in different (perverted) ways. Barth is a master and can write however he wants. He just chose to write in a way that twists your brain like washed laundry and turns on a long rinse cycle.

Barth is aware of his sadistic experiments:

"Reader! You, stubborn, good for nothing, a scumbag trembling from the printed word, you, you, I am addressing you, who else, from the very heart of this monstrous prose. So, you read me this far? Even this far? For what unknown joy to me? What the hell, you ask, didn't you go to the movies, didn't you turn on the TV, didn't you start looking at the wall, didn't you go to play tennis with a friend, didn't you start pounding nails for some special person you thought of as soon as I mentioned pounding nails? Isn't there anything in the world that can satisfy you, fill your stomach, cause disgust? And aren't you ashamed?"

Here it is.

Aren't you ashamed?

Jak się zrobilo meta to mnie to przestalo interesowac. This simple statement holds a certain truth for many of us. When we achieve a particular goal or reach a certain milestone, the initial excitement and interest can sometimes fade away. It's as if the journey towards that meta was more captivating than the destination itself.

Perhaps it's human nature to constantly seek new challenges and experiences. Once we've accomplished something, our attention quickly turns to the next thing on our list. The process of working towards a goal can be filled with anticipation, hard work, and a sense of purpose. But when that goal is finally achieved, there can be a sense of emptiness or a lack of direction.

However, it's important to remember that the journey is just as important as the destination. The skills we learn, the relationships we build, and the personal growth we experience along the way are all valuable. Instead of simply moving on to the next thing, we should take the time to reflect on our achievements and appreciate the effort we put in. This way, we can carry the lessons we've learned forward and continue to grow and evolve.

I read this over a span of several weeks, really.

When I saw that the title page had "Fiction for print, live tape, and voice," I was intrigued and had to go find out what that meant. There are instructions by the author of which stories should be read out loud and which ones should have come recorded onto tape, of course none of them are. So the first thing I did was read the out loud ones out loud, which was a blast.

Then I got into the character of Ambrose, who appears in a few stories. I love how Barth captures the essence of a child, with all the imagination and arms-length observations, but still shows him playing along with his own role.

My two favorite stories were Title and Autobiography. In Autobiography, the first time I read it, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach because of the subject matter and the really frank intensity he allows himself to write with.

However, there were also some aspects that were less successful for me. There was this somewhat tedious self-awareness where Barth himself would step back and examine the writing process within the prose. Once would have been interesting but it happens several times. Also, and this is more my fault than his, I just don't have enough mythology in my body to be as entertained with the last two stories as I think he was writing and imagining them. The quirky, funny nature of them comes through, but I felt like it was too removed from me.

Overall, it was an interesting reading experience that had its highs and lows.

It's an extremely strange and almost comical situation.

It's as if one is confined within a room, and there with them is Robin Williams, but in a rather altered state, perhaps under the influence of coke.

And the most peculiar thing is that he just persists in telling the same joke, not just once or twice, but OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

The repetition becomes almost maddening, yet there's a certain absurd charm to it as well.

You find yourself both frustrated by the unrelenting joke-telling and oddly entertained by the sheer eccentricity of the whole scenario.

It's a moment that is simultaneously hilarious and a bit of a test of one's patience, as if you're caught in some strange, never-ending loop of comedic torture.

Another re-read.

Though I despise the term postmodern, nothing else seems to be appropriate.

The short stories, which write about and occasionally take jabs at the writing process, are not only enjoyable within the text but also outside of it.

Here is one of the only still living greats who not only addresses the writing process but also manages to tell a captivating tale.

It's important to note that this work is not for everyone, and admittedly, it's not a one-sit read.

It requires careful consideration and multiple readings to fully appreciate the depth and complexity of the ideas presented.

However, for those who are willing to invest the time and effort, the rewards are well worth it.

The author's unique perspective on the writing process and the way in which the stories are constructed make for a truly engaging and thought-provoking read.

Whether you're a writer yourself or simply a lover of literature, this collection of short stories is sure to leave a lasting impression.

The literary equivalent of I see what you did there. Am I a sucker for being seduced by Barth's exercises in perfect story form?

Am I abhorrent for adoring "Ambrose His Mark" and "Petition" while snoring through "Menelaiad" and "Anonymiad"? There's 5-Star-Barth here, but where is the 5-Star-Barth Book?

Barth's works are a complex tapestry of literary experimentation. His stories often play with form and structure, challenging the reader's expectations. Some of his pieces, like "Ambrose His Mark" and "Petition," are truly captivating, drawing the reader in with their unique charm and narrative drive.

However, not all of his works are equally engaging. "Menelaiad" and "Anonymiad" may leave some readers feeling bored or confused. This raises the question: where is the definitive 5-Star-Barth Book?

Perhaps it is a combination of his best works, or maybe it is yet to be written. Only time will tell. In the meantime, readers can continue to explore Barth's literary universe and decide for themselves which of his works deserve the highest praise.

The text presents a complex exploration of various literary concepts and ideas. It delves into the relationship between writers, narrators, characters, and readers. The author reflects on how writers draw inspiration from others and life experiences, as seen in Borges's work. There is a discussion about the nature of plot, theme, and the role of imagination in literature. The idea that a character may not be who they seem and that the narrator may not be the author is also explored. The text touches on the importance of keeping the senses operating and the need for a story to be meaningful. It presents different viewpoints on the use of the first-person narrative and the idea that in fiction, the plausible often takes precedence over the merely true. There is also a mention of the climax of a story and the implied victor. Overall, the text offers a thought-provoking look at the world of literature and the many elements that go into creating a compelling story.

Something Similar

"Writers learn from their experience of other writers as well as from their experience of life in the world; it was the happy marriage of form and content in Borges's ficciones - the way he regularly turned his narrative means into part of his message - that suggested how I might try something similar; in my way and with my materials."


Interstitialiad [Go on! Say it!]
[Now Featuring Italicised Barth]

"For whom is the funhouse fun? Perhaps for lovers?"

For ME!!! For YOU!!! Perhaps for US!!! Literarily a COUPLE of LOVERS...of LITERATURE!!!

Insert Plot Here

"What's all this leading up to?"

"Is there a plot here?"

"What is the story's theme?"

"Each [sees] himself as the hero of the story, when the truth might turn out to be that he's the villain, or the coward."

More Imagination

"Less really is More, other things being equal."

"No reader would put up with so much with such (sic) prolixity."

"Nobody has enough imagination."

"There aren't enough different ways to say that."

Author, Narrator, Character, Reader

I'm not who you think I am. I'm not the author. I'm not John Barth. I didn't write this. I'm not writing this.

"Who's telling the story, and to whom?"

Surely it's not the author!!!

Well then, to whom is it being told?

"The reader! You, dogged, uninsultable, print-oriented bastard, it's you I'm addressing, who else, from inside this monstrous fiction."

I'm not talking. It's not me speaking to you.

I was once imagined by the author, and now you're imagining me. I exist only in the imagination, though in between I am written down. (Or typed up.)

"If I'm going to be a fictional character, I want to be in a rousing good yarn as they say, not some piece of avant-garde preciousness."

The Imagined Hero

"I'm not the man I used to be."

"My problem was, I had too much imagination to be a hero."

I am not an average American.

I am the nectar and ambrosia of legends past and yet to come.

"Oh God comma I abhor self-consciousness."

"He wonders: will he become a regular person?"

"Is there really such a person as Ambrose, or is he a figment of the author's imagination?"

"The more closely an author identifies with the narrator, literally or metaphorically, the less advisable it is, as a rule, to use the first-person narrative viewpoint."

"Nobody likes a pedant."

Needed Telling

"Can nothing be made meaningful?"

"Our story's finished before it starts."

Off with the narrator! On with the story!

"It's not a short story." I told him. "I tell it as it was."

"I don't know why it needed telling."

"It is important to keep the senses operating."

"Spring, pose, splash!"

"At this point, they were both despite themselves."

"Let the reader see the serious wordplay on second reading."

Fiction, In Fact

"The climax of the story must be its protagonist's discovery of a way to get through the funhouse."

"Aha," said Mother. "I shall never forget this moment."

"It is perfectly normal. We have all been through it. It will not last forever."

"No character in a work of fiction can make a speech this long without interruption or acknowledgement from the other characters."

"In the end, they'd be lovers; their dialogue lines would match up."

"The world was going on! This part ought to be dramatised."

"In fiction the merely true must always yield to the plausible."

"Such are the walls of custom."

"Here was one of Western Culture's truly great imaginations."

"The last word in fiction, in fact."

The Implied Victor

"Wait: the story's not finished!"

"The fact is, the narrator has narrated himself into a corner, a state of affairs more tsk-tsk than boo-hoo, and because his position is absurd he calls the world absurd."

"[He] was so sophistical a character as more likely to annoy than to engage."

"Self-defeat implies a victor, and who do you suppose it is?”

"One manifestation of schizophrenia as everybody knows is the movement from reality toward fantasy, a progress which not infrequently takes the form of distorted and fragmented representation, abstract formalism, an increasing preoccupation, even obsession, with pattern and design for their own sakes - especially patterns of a baroque, enormously detailed character - to the (virtual) exclusion of representative 'content'."

Speechless with Sympathy

He looked through "a lavender cascade of hysteria" that surrounded the window of the study in the old family summer residence.

"At this point pathological boredom leads to a final desire for death and nothingness - the Romantic syndrome."

"The idea pleased him."

Read This Sentence

"Will you deny you've read this sentence?" I went on. I go on: "This?"

Is it enough to end this story with a question mark? Or better still a full stop.



"If I fail to exclaim with wonder or otherwise respond, it will be that I'm speechless with sympathy." Or something similar...



SOUNDTRACK:



Ann Peebles - I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwoKq...

There are several five-star stories within this collection. However, there were also several shorter ones that seemed overly clever.

For instance, there is a short story about a character who is writing a short story about a character who is in turn writing a short story. In each successive layer, the character realizes that he is not real but rather a character within a story. While these stories may function on a technical level, I did not find them interesting or enjoyable to read.

Then there were other stories, such as Menelaiad, which were truly brilliant yet also tiring to peruse. Overall, I would rate this collection 3 stars.

I would highly recommend the following stories from the collection, and consider the rest as optional:

The Night-Sea Journey
Ambrose, His Mark
Lost in the Funhouse
Petition
Anonymiad
Menelaiad

These particular stories stand out for their unique qualities and engaging narratives, while the others may be of more interest to those with a specific penchant for certain styles or themes.

Two truly remarkable stories and a whole bunch of incomprehensible nonsense. (Yes, I admit to breezing through the last three Greek mythology-based pieces. What is it with this Greek drivel?) But like many CDs I've bought, the two good ones were worth the price. This collection is - it says here - a major landmark of experimental fiction. Well, as landmarks go, it was a bit like Hadrian's Wall.

Tourist: Where's Hadrian's Wall?

Local inhabitant: It's right there.

Tourist: What, that? That's Hadrian's Wall?

Local: Yes. That's it. (Turns away to hide a smile.)

GREAT EXPERIMENTAL SHORT STORIES

I love the ones that work, and these are my must-read favorites.

The Library of Babylon : Jorge Luis Borges
The Aleph : Jorge Luis Borges

(He takes completely crazy ideas and applies a cold, scholarly logic to them.)

The Terminal Beach – J G Ballard

(A prose poem with most of the repertoire of sinister Ballard symbols included. I think he missed the empty swimming pool this time.)

The Babysitter – Robert Coover

(Astonishingly creepy and exciting; he takes a stock horror story situation – babysitter menaced by house intruder – and chops it all up into fragments of time; a simple method that is sometimes genius. Read it here)

Night-Sea Journey – John Barth
Lost in the Funhouse – John Barth

(the first a theological monologue by a spermatozoa, described by MJ Nicholls as “insufferable” but by P Bryant as “dazzling, witty and daringly post-Bonhoefferian”; the second a wonderful exercise in decay and rot – the jejune story plods along and is attacked from within by its own grammar, assumptions, clichés and syntax.)

The Squirrel Cage : Thomas Disch

(This is probably poor man's Beckett but I still love this story of a man in a cage)

\\"Franz Kafka\\" by Jorge Luis Borges : Alvin Greenberg

(This is a riff on Borges, of course, and is the most fun you can have with the Argentinian librarian without going up to him and tickling him)

The Great Hug : Donald Barthelme
The Balloon : Donald Barthelme

(Barthelme - he had this golden period where everything he did was hilarious and mad, so I could have chosen any of about 15. Outside the golden period he's obscurantist and as much fun as the crap stories in Lost in the Funhouse which is zero fun. If I was of a mind, I would get The Great Hug tattooed on my body, so that you could read the whole story (it's not that long) from heel to neck and round and down again. Then I could go on TV as Donald Barthelme's greatest fan, which would be untrue, because I'm not. But his good stuff is from another dimension, you know, the fifth)

Sex Story : Robert Gluck

(Can't talk about this much, and it's definitely not safe for work)

Ant Colony : Alissa Nutting

(See my review)

The Entertainment District : Tony Burgess

(This is a section from a tiny novel Ravenna Gets but it's a short piece on its own and – er – wow!)

Happy Endings : Margaret Atwood

(She's so cynical and mean and funny in this one)

Sea Oak : George Saunders

(Who can resist this opening line : “Min and Jade are feeding their babies while watching “How My Child Died Violently”. Amidst the post-everything mulch in The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories this one stood out like a tarantula on a slice of angel cake.)