/lit/ - Literature

Will someone translate this for me?

Glad you're enjoying Oblivion Sunhawk. I disagree with you¹ about The Soul is Not a Smithy being a weak story. I have a friend who hates this book, and I place it somewhere in the middle to bottom of my preference in Wallace. I still think Brief Interviews With Hideous Men is the best introduction, all of the major ideas that Wallace worked around in his mature period are present there. I think the rest work as kind of variations or focuses on the individual elements he used.²

¹ N.B. Although at this point I think we could both agree we're pretty different readers.

² (a major theme of Oblivion being more or less keeping the Other relevant, or in mind; or deregulating the level of importance assigned to self.)

>>1216857
The worst part is when you get a little older and somehow wind your way back to it and see everything you refuse to see now. And all this trolling and mockery and antagonism and belittling and discursive name-calling produced very little other than preventing other people from trying to enjoy something. The thing that separates Wallace from many other writers is the consistency of his voice. From 'E Unibus Pluram' right into 'Good Old Neon' it's variations on the same thing. He kept putting on different skins. Or maybe more appropriately "forced" the reader to put them on. If any of this sounds like being made to dance for someone else I can assure you it was nothing he didn't already go through in his own head.

Try to imagine having the abilities he did. Think about how he thought about people like you already shutting him down because of how you perceived him. I respect that he was able to stop that line of thought long enough and consistently enough to get his work done. When people attacked his work he defended it. The thing that stops detraction claiming "empty style" is the consistent way he wasn't afraid to lift up his hood and talk about what was going on underneath. "Here's the Wittgensteinian pictures, this is my response to that, this is why I think it works. Here's why I used this word, this is why I'm paying attention to this." Like a magician who shows everyone how to do the tricks after the show and encourages everyone else to work on their own performance.