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/lit/ - Literature

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5714638 No.5714638 [Reply] [Original]

>The Tennis Styles:

>In “Fictional Futures,” Wallace wrote at length about the styles of fiction that had occupied the labors of his generation and the institutionalization via MFA programs of what made for “good” or “successful” fiction.

>John “No Relation” Wayne’s tennis abilities are reminiscent of the technically proficient writers who succeed in their own mechanical way, and his stark efficiency may even reflect Wallace’s objection to the cult of minimalism, or “Bad Carver” as he put it, in his generation’s writing.

>Mike Pemulis has a deadly and accurate lob, but has not developed his game beyond that one trick.

>Lamont Chu’s obsession with being a famous tennis player is preventing him from playing his best game.

>Troelstch is obsessed with giving commentary on other people’s matches.

>Schacht has resigned himself to not playing pro and wants to be a dentist.

>Substitute “writing” for “tennis game” and you have a list of common anxieties and behaviors in any American creative writing program.

>As for Hal, his tennis style is essentially no style. Being smart, seeing vulnerabilities and drawing his opponents into errors. Like Orin, he plays passively. Hal also worries that, after a rapid ascent, he has plateaued in his game. He must feel similar to, say, a young writer who published a celebrated novel he wrote as an undergraduate, and is stuck wondering if he will ever develop beyond his current level.

Holy shit /lit/, this just blew my mind.

Anyone know of any other mindblowing theories and analyses of their favorite fiction?

>> No.5714654

>>5714638
Or maybe people just share similar behaviours and anxieties in all forms of art, athletics being one of them.

>> No.5714670

I've always loved the idea that Kafka is great precisely because he fails, and that his novels can only be great in being unfinished.
Also, I'm surprised you bothered to save my drawing.

>> No.5714699

>>5714654

this. I also think the whole tennis bit is meant to be analogous to the druggies at Ennet House. All of them are looking for something outside themselves, whether athletic perfection or substances that will make them feel good about life but nothing works

>> No.5714712

>>5714670

>his novels can only be great in being unfinished

i like the sentiment but this just isn't true.

the doorkeeper parable at the end of the trial made the entire book. it was everything.

>> No.5714724

>>5714670
It's quite good, so I stashed it in my general 4chan images folder. Thanks for giving us a "tan" or "waifu," or whatever it's called when you represent a board in a female figure.

>> No.5714734

>>5714712
I'd agree that the doorkeeper parable is the best/most significant part of the book, but it wasn't the end so it doesn't contradict my point?

>> No.5714754

>>5714724
"waifu" is engurish for "wife". It's... something else.