What a wonderful mind and lovely, dry sense of humour. Being a little intimidated I have put off reading his books but I don't think I can do that any longer
You definitely should. As the man himself said-critics infer a lot of references and connections that the author didn’t intend. We’re all just flawed human beings trying to make sense of the world, which to my mind is the core idea of much of Gaddis’ work. It’s not an intelligence test, it’s an experience from which we all draw different ideas and meaning.
I’ve just invested In Gaddis’s books....now I will have to give them the time and serious attention they deserve. As an aside it’s quite interesting to hear him diagnose what later, Byung Chul Han called “The Burnout Society”.....Gaddis also hits on a variety of other points that have also more recently and subsequently been made by writers, thinkers and philosophers (Like Mark Fisher on the Mental Health crisis for example!)....this demonstrates not only his prescience but brilliance, and there can be no doubt that he was way ahead of his time......
He wasn’t ahead of his time, it’s the same stuff repeating/continuing, we just fail to smarten up and take account. The myth of progress, the allure of escapism, the manifold ways to manipulate attention and create distraction. As he says, writers were writing about these same concerns for 80 years before him.
one of the great assets of CZcams is preserving and presenting the talks of great authors and other artists.
this guy deserves more...recognition
Julian Schnabel is working on it.😂
Ayyoooooo
@@Johnconno true?
What a wonderful mind and lovely, dry sense of humour. Being a little intimidated I have put off reading his books but I don't think I can do that any longer
You definitely should. As the man himself said-critics infer a lot of references and connections that the author didn’t intend. We’re all just flawed human beings trying to make sense of the world, which to my mind is the core idea of much of Gaddis’ work. It’s not an intelligence test, it’s an experience from which we all draw different ideas and meaning.
He was right. In person, he’s just the shambling wreck that follows his work around. Spot on.
I’ve just invested In Gaddis’s books....now I will have to give them the time and serious attention they deserve. As an aside it’s quite interesting to hear him diagnose what later, Byung Chul Han called “The Burnout Society”.....Gaddis also hits on a variety of other points that have also more recently and subsequently been made by writers, thinkers and philosophers (Like Mark Fisher on the Mental Health crisis for example!)....this demonstrates not only his prescience but brilliance, and there can be no doubt that he was way ahead of his time......
He wasn’t ahead of his time, it’s the same stuff repeating/continuing, we just fail to smarten up and take account. The myth of progress, the allure of escapism, the manifold ways to manipulate attention and create distraction. As he says, writers were writing about these same concerns for 80 years before him.
“Nothing is more demoralizing than to fail at something you knew wasn’t worth doing in the first place.”
Gerald Ford’s football/Vietnam analogy and Gaddis’s quip about being MVP on a losing team - very funny, very sad
Good comments.
Whatever Gaddis supported himself from it could not have been his writing.
He used to pretend to be midwestern writer William H Gass while he snuck around womenswear in Bloomingdale’s.
I mean he once sneaked. Frequently.
@@ryanand154 source?