A TEMPLE OF TEXTS by William H. Gass

Buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/leafbyleaf
Hardcover, 432 pages
Published 2006 by Knopf
ISBN: 0307262863
/ 156180.a_temple_of_texts
Greg Gerke interview with William H. Gass:
/ william-h-gass-intervi...
Umbero Eco on the Library As a Model for Culture:
• Umberto Eco: The Libra...
#leafbyleaf #bookreview #williamgass #atempleoftexts

[@ToThinkOfBooks]

"A book can be a significant event in your reading." Nothing ever sounded more true to me!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

That's one of those quotes to ink firmly in your commonplace book.

[@ToThinkOfBooks]

@@LeafbyLeaf This sounds like a great collection and something that I'll have to pick up at some point. Definitely a quote for my commonplace book!

[@seans.2711]

Middle C is wonderful - I love how that book is essentially about a man trying to write a single good sentence... It's a great lesson on the power (and necessity) of revision in writing! I use a portion of that text to (hopefully) convince my students about the value of sentence-level revision. You've convinced me to check out more Gass!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

And you've nailed exactly Gass's plight: the crafting of a sentence. The architectonics of a sentence, as he has called it.

[@ShantanuSingh01]

He was an interesting person to see around campus in the mid 90s

[@mattjmjmjm4731]

I read his list of 50 books that influenced him and gives interesting reasons for picking them. This seems like an interesting book, I love reading about people's reading passions and why we read. I'm reading Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann(Gass is also a fan of his works) right now and for me it's one of those books that reminds me of why I read literature in the first place, so far a pure delight by a literary master.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I'm very much the same--I love, love, love hearing from anyone about why they read, especially when they are speaking from passion more than profession or academics. I'm reading Greg Gerke's essay collection (it comes out April 7 from Zerogram Books). Gerke is an overt disciple of Gass. The essays are refreshingly personal and unashamedly passionate about art as a way of life.

[@keomgranger695]

Yes!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I know!

[@BooksYouHaventRead]

Highly recommend In the Heart of the Heart of the Country as an entry text for Gass!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Agreed. It was my Gass entry, as I mentioned in the video.

[@xgryphenx]

The poet Paul Celan (with whom I share a birthday) is one of the greats of 20th century poetry, incredibly experimental and modern but with heart that oozes-it is a rarity among poetry in that if the mood is right it can bring me to actual tears in a short 15-20 line poem, even in a poem I have read countless times. I recommend especially his selected poems translated by Michael Hamburger (to say these translations carry the emotional weight of the German original I think bespeaks their merit)-the newer and complete Joris translations are painstakingly annotated and explained (with 250+ pages of endnotes per volume), but the translation itself, as Joris admits, is more about problematizing Celan's project in its complexity as it is in the original, so they come off a little more cooly intellectual, and they land less like bombs in their unravelling. Oh and his name is pronounced SAY-LÓN, just for future reference ;)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I wondered whether to go with a Romanian pronunciation or French. Now I know. Thanks! I have had him on my radar for quite a while, but you've made a strong case. I recently read about the tumultuous relationship between Celan and Bachmann which also piqued my interest.

[@xgryphenx]

@@LeafbyLeaf A fair toss-up-he lived his life post-WWII almost entirely in France, but wrote, despite being a Romanian national, solely in German from 1950 on.

[@paulwittenberger1801]

Of sinking things, thinking sings.

[@ColombianThunder]

Here after reading The Medium of Fiction. It just completely hooked me, and I didn't understand a good deal of it but something about it was so captivating to me. Can't wait to keep re-reading it and his other texts.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

That is exactly how I felt when I first read Harold Bloom. I didn't follow a bunch of his arguments, but I was captivated. So I kept going back. Again. And again.

[@hmfddawg]

Great content, as always Chris! I love Gass' essays. I have 5 volumes and have been reading through all of them. Time to tackle The Tunnel.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much, Bryan! His work is a treasure for posterity.

[@clarkp22]

Really wonderful review. This book was my introduction to Gass and one of the best reading experiences of my life, and you more than did it justice.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much, Phil!

[@eric13th18]

I'm of two minds about the whole "read the classics" thing. On the one hand, I think it's a little pretentious to act like people can't truly understand literature if they don't read the classics. On the other hand, they're classics for a reason and if one wants to be studied in literature, one should have some grounding in the classics. But there are so many works and many that aren't well-known that should be read - we can't get through all literature in our lifetime and so if someone doesn't enjoy the classics, I'm not sure it's okay to assume they're not qualified as it were to speak of literature. I don't know if I got that across very well, that's just my thoughts.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You nailed it when you said: "if one wants to be studied in literature." That's the determinant in my mind. One certainly does NOT have to be well read in the classics to understand and enjoy reading/books/literature. BUT--when and if one wants to be cultivated in the history (the great conversation) of literature, then there is no getting away from working at the classics. Again, though, as you pointed out, this is often taken as an elitist/pretentious position. Not sure why it came to be that way (innate competitiveness or something?), but, as with anything there are degrees to our level of appreciation. If someone wants to be cultivated in something and another just wants to savor it at a different level, so be it!

[@meyersmegafictionalmusings7692]

Awesome Chris, I love Gass. I’ve only read the Tunnel and Middle C but I feel like a whole world has opened up. Looking forward to exploring more. You nailed my thoughts on him. Well done again!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks, my man! Glad you've had the Gassian experience!

[@aa-xo6lh]

I care less about the characters or plot and more about the music of words, the ways they play, sing and dance. I find I like a gentle, pearly prettiness over a blood thunder harshness. The best books have that and some profound insights, philosophical or otherwise. I love Gass' writing style. I love Nabokov's writing style. Who else's writing style will I love? Shorter works - essays, novels, letters, articles - are my preference but I wouldn't pass up on a beautifully written book of any length. I'm curious what you think about "good" writing. Do you think it's fair to dub minimalism the only "good" style of writing? Do you think ornate prose are pretty? Do you think we're quick to judge authors as pretentious and snobby? It seems to me we are. Why do we feel so affronted by "big" words? Why the presumption that it stems from a desire to sound supremely intelligent? Thanks for your wondrous videos.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You and I are in the same category, it sounds like. I favor aesthetics over content, over story--though when the style and the story are high-level, it’s a huge bonus. Sounds like you favor what are typically called “prose stylists”: Nabokov, Gass, Updike, James Salter, James Joyce, Cormac McCarthy, Edward Gibbon, Henry Miller, Samuel Johnson, Robert Burton, Thomas De Quincey, Proust, Thoreau, Emerson, Woolf, Ducornet. These are names that come to my mind right now, but there are many more. In general, humans are way too quick to judge--period--regardless of the object of our gaze. For me, good writing extends in all kinds of directions. There are great minimalists, and there are great maximalists. I try not to get too narrow; just the opposite, in fact--I want to learn to cultivate an appetite and appreciation for as wide a canvas as possible. You’ll find that I rarely engage with debate/argument in arguments about who was better between Hemingway and Faulkner, for example. I get much enjoyment out of both, even if I personally find Faulkner more stimulating. To come at your question a little more directly, though, there does seem to be an aversion to elitism that severely limits what some people could be experiencing. I think it’s because so-called elitist literature requires discipline, and at some point in our culture “discipline” became an abomination instead of a means to a more refined palette. Thanks so much for your kind words about my videos!

[@aa-xo6lh]

​@@LeafbyLeaf Totally agree. Minimalism has its place and there are, as you say, brilliant minimalists. Simplicity can be, and frequently is, beautiful, but there's also value in ornate writing. I dislike maximalists who think themselves part of an enlightened intelligentsia to disdain the "lowly" tastes of "philistine" minimalists. However, I also dislike the defensive mockery of minimalists who think it pretentious to adopt any style they themselves find fancy. Both groups are snobs even if it's socially acceptable for the second to police the first, but not vice versa. "The purpose of language is communication," they argue, "so simplicity is the only way to write effectively." This line of thinking is reductionist, I think, because while communication is important, language isn't just a means to an end, but an ends in itself. I read somewhere that the average reading age in the UK is 9. Writing for our target audience is important, but at what point, if any, do we say "readers should be expected to read more"? It's idealistic to expect virtu of everyone, and reading is certainly a privilege, but even with that considered, 9 is a black mark on our education system. What defines a "big word" is the average vocabulary of readers. If it were higher, many "big" words would cease to be "big". Writing I think is beautiful tends to be very image-oriented. It's not just the size of words, but how they're used, which I'm sure you'd agree with. Causal readers are more likely to vilipend "elitist literature" but I've seen bookworms do the same. It's a massive shame from my perspective because I value that struggle for understanding. Easy enjoyments are okay, but even more fulfilling are the hard-earned fruits of a slog. Sadly, it's easy to dismiss these slogs as self-indulgent tripe when, as a society, we're high on megadoses of instant gratification. Thanks for that list of authors. I jotted them down. Forgive me if it's cruel to ask, but in terms of style, of pure aesthetic value, what are your top 5 essays/books/short stories/novels of all time?

[@incand3nza]

Great stuff as usual, Chris! I finally finished Omensetter's last week, loved it. Challenging and disturbing in all the right ways. I have the big William Gass reader so I'll have to dive into some of his essays soon. And eventually The Tunnel of course. Just started Satantango, can't remember if you've done anything on Krasznahorkai, but man, you would love this book.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Awesome, Nick! I have not read or done anything on Krasznahorkai's Santantango...YET. I was thinking of reading the book and watching the highly lauded film and reviewing both. Thanks for the push!

[@j.danielchristie2622]

"I was talking on the phone with Michael Silverblatt" Bruh. You were doing what.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Yeah. It’s still surreal to me. We talked again for two hours last night. It may not be long before he makes an appearance on this channel! 😮

[@j.danielchristie2622]

@@LeafbyLeaf Man, that'd be sick!

[@ryanand154]

Karl Ov Knaussguard and Emmanuel Kant were walking in the woods.

[@ryanand154]

“Watch out for Heidegger’s sister.”

[@HGaho]

Great presentation. I've never read Gass before but I will make sure to do so soon. I also recently stumbled upon Flaubert's letters and I absolutely subscribe to what you've quoted about them. The passage about "coincidental ..." reminded me of some of Pierre Bayard's ideas, although he may present them on a more humorous mode, especially "plagiarism by anticipation". His most famous book, "Comment parler des livres qu'on n'a pas lu", despite its title, is a great essay on literature and the act of reading that you will surely be interested in.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Ha! I read that book back when its English translation came out and found it humorous and insightful. Totally forgot about it until now though.

[@evannece3856]

another great video. I read Middle C recently and really enjoyed it. probably my favorite of his fiction. looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts once the full review comes out. I also read Blinding two weeks ago thanks to your review and I'm so glad I did. keep up the great work. always a highlight of my day when I see you've made a new video.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Very kind of you to say, Evan! I'm thrilled you enjoyed Blinding--what a book, huh?!

[@evannece3856]

@@LeafbyLeaf yes Cartarescu is special. makes me wish I could read Romanian so I could read the other volumes. hopefully someday they will be available in English.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You and me both!

[@kintrap5376]

I recently picked up Gass’ Cartesian Sonata from Dalkey. Itll be my next read, and my first time reading him. Very excited!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You are in for a real treat!

[@bmxrideszach]

Can’t wait for the The Tunnel review.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Same here! :-P

[@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

This was just fantastic. Sounds like a book/language-lover's dream. I see a five into Gass in my future

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Oh, yes, indeed. If you love words and the way they're magically put together, Gass is your sage.

[@hazyhillsblue]

Having finished it, can confirm: 'Sot-Weed Factor' is very addicting and surprising much more enjoyable and accessible than 'Lost in the Funhouse'.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I love Barth! Funhouse was my entry into his work. Then I read his first two short novels and had so much fun! Sot-Weed is one I badly want to make a video on, but I need to reread it first.

[@ryanand154]

Gass creates a circular metephorical constant in which writing writes its own unwritten g and the. You have to swallow different texts.

[@BookShore]

Too many points to comment on but I am reading the Tunnel this year. I love how you affirm reading outside ones level is an enjoyable experience. The best lessons and reading experiences have been when I went well beyond my reach. Also I usually felt the written word sounds cheesy spoken aloud but I will try reading poetry out loud because I still feel I don't fully understand it.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

For me, when I began reading to myself out loud it changed everything. The sonic experience of the word brings in musical properties that helps the readers better discern well-crafted prose versus otherwise. The best writers read their stuff aloud, too, while they're writing. Of course, it doesn't apply to all writing, but it is especially crucial in poetry (which began as *verse* after all). All the best to you!

[@BookShore]

@@LeafbyLeaf you're the current critic I trust the most so I'll definitely try it out!!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

🙏

[@joseramirez-hh2sw]

Watched the video 12 times already and counting. Great job. Honestly I find myself cheering thorough out the video as literature indeed is an unending source of endorphins. Of literature I have this to say : "Literature is my alcohol and alcohol is my cocaine" -To read and drink, me.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Haha--awesome! Your quote is sort of a twist on Baudelaire's poem "Be Drunk": poets.org/poem/be-drunk

[@joseramirez-hh2sw]

@@LeafbyLeaf thanks for the great recommendation

[@LeafbyLeaf]

👊

[@joseramirez-hh2sw]

@@LeafbyLeaf I loved it! 🤜

[@SteveReadswithSeamus]

Chris, fantastic review. Not that we need you to add MORE to our TBRs, but this is a fantastic one. In the Gass Reader, I learned of his love for Rilke and knew he would be a must read. Have some things to get through first, and that test. But... he will still be there, waiting for me, smiling.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I always think of you now when I think of Rilke, and, yes indeed--Gass needed his Rilke fixes! Oh, and you're welcome for the TBR obesity.

[@SteveReadswithSeamus]

@@LeafbyLeaf big smiles

[@thegrimmreader3649]

This was great, definitely want to read Gaddis! Thank you!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! Gaddis or Gass (or both)? (The surnames are famously confused!)

[@thegrimmreader3649]

@@LeafbyLeaf oh I meant Gass!!!! I´m reading Gaddis, he´s fantastic!!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😜

[@b1oho]

Thanks Chris : In the Land of the Cyclops: Essays by Karl Ove Knausgaard and Martin Aitken

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I got the Karl Ove essays on its release date a couple months back, but I don't have Aitken (I don't think).

[@b1oho]

@@LeafbyLeaf Chris, what kind of music are you interested in?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Mostly classical and jazz these days. But also progressive (from Dream Theater to Animals As Leaders).

[@dqan7372]

On my list now.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

👏👏👏

[@marioknoll469]

great content, unfortunetly mostly i cant find a german translation of all your recommendation, except rilke😉 but, my tbr is 235 books, no nead to add more, haha. in this month i will read against the day, in german 1600 pages, a kind of fight. happy eastern chris for you and your familiy!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

AtD is spectacular! I've been getting the itch to read it again lately, but I think I'm going to read GR again this year first. Many thanks for the well wishes!

[@AmandaJHMorton]

I've been wanting to read Neiman's Evil in Modern Thought since I heard about it a couple years ago.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

From what I’ve glimpsed via Gass, it sounds like a solid read.

[@iridule]

wahoo! one of the main pillars of my own temple. it's criminal to me that so many of what wallace calls the nabokovian black humorists are forgotten or not known or appreciated here in the UK. keep it up, LBL! so pleased i found your channel as many of your tastes so redolently align with mine. here's a question: have you read nabokov's "ada"? what did you think if so?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Right on! Glad to hear the mutual affection for Gass, Nabokov, et al. I love Nabokov, but my reading is currently limited to his collected short stories; Lolita; Pale Fire: Speak, Memory; and some of his lectures.

[@iridule]

@@LeafbyLeaf "ada" may be right up your alley then, chris. his longest, densest, most linguistically provocative and difficult book. the usuals who shun difficulty and denseness are turned off while others say it's the book that turned them over to nabokov. thanks for the reply, LBL.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Oh, it’s definitely on my radar! One day...

[@Echoesoflostlibraries]

Very excited to hear you picking up Auto-dafé as I have no doubt you'll be so impressed you'll make a video about it. Very thankful you've been putting out such quality content on such a consistent basis, keep up the good work!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much, Per!

[@mikehumowitz7968]

Fantastic video as always! I have one question: Is Temple of Texts included in the William Gass Reader? I was thinking of picking up one of them but was unsure if The Reader already contained all of his non-fiction and essays. Thank you :)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I don't have the Reader but I'm looking at its TOC on Amazon preview. It definitely does not contain all of his non-fiction and essays, but it does contain "Fifty Literary Pillars" and several others from the TEMPLE OF TEXTS collection.

[@MegaElpunto]

It wasn't until last year that I became aware of Rilke's art and now it seems all my favorite authors have been shaped one way or another by his work.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Isn't it great to discover that secret ingredient to which you're attracted? :)

[@billyewell6552]

Great review! Gass sounds really interesting. Do you think if this is my first time with him, A Temple of Texts would be a good intro? Or should I go with "In the Heart of the Heart of the Country" / The William Gass Reader (I'm reading The Recognitions now otherwise I'd jump into The Tunnel)?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

My intro to Gass what the short story "In the Hear of the Hear of the Country," and for his fiction I think it's a good place to start. I don't have the Reader but I know it has a sampling of all his work (and includes several essays from A TEMPLE OF TEXTS). Here are my suggestions: (1) for his novel, start with Omensetter's Luck; (2) for short fiction, start with "In the Heart of the Heart of the Country"; and (3) for his non-fiction, go with any of those opening essays that appear at the start of the TOC in the Reader. Hope this helps!

[@billyewell6552]

@@LeafbyLeaf Awesome, thanks so much!

[@Forino99]

still got his omensetters luck unread on my shelf!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

What a treat to which to look forward!

[@TheBirdmanFlys]

Where do you buy your books?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Any- and everywhere! Abebooks, Alibris, direct from publisher, Amazon, B&N, indie bookstores visited while travelling, eBay, a local bookstore called McKay's (in Winston-Salem, NC). No one place, really. I also trade in a lot of books I don't want to keep.

[@rickharsch8797]

Probably only Gass can write about writing and survive my poisonous disgust without a gas mask.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😂😜

[@vividlight]

One quick question for you: What odes Gass mean in his opening line "I'm here to tell you...in the babelous halls of the Academy..."? I am bit baffled by the word "babelous" since I can't find it even in the OED. Thanks.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I believe this is Gass's neologism that evokes the Tower of Babel as an adjective to describe the way we hear a cacophony and polyphony of babble in the modern university (Gass, in this passage, is hearing it from within his office in the Academy).

[@vividlight]

@@LeafbyLeaf Thanks. That makes senses. In the context, that word seems to mean noisy. Since English is not even second language, I really want to someone like you to guide me here. Thanks again, man!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Any time!

[@winstonsmith77]

I've got a manga reccomendation for you, it is ‘Attack on Titan’ by Hajime isayama.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I've never read manga before. Would you recommend this as a starting point?

[@pcronin32]

@@LeafbyLeaf if I might suggest some others: any manga by Jiro Taniguchi, Naoki Urasawa, or Satoshi Kon (especially Perfect Blue, which is actually an anime).

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Much appreciated!

[@winstonsmith77]

@@LeafbyLeaf I reccomend these manga:- 1. Death note (part 1 is top tier but part 2 is OK) 2. One piece (pretty long but good) 3. Monster (one of naoki urasawa's best works) 4. 20th century boys (another one of naoki urasawa's best works) 5. Attack on Titan( modern classic) 6. Berserk (, I haven't read this one as I'm too young for this one but I have heard that it is the best manga of all time) 7. Vagabond (has been on hiatus for real long so you can catch up to this one) 8. One punch man(it is a really funny action) 9. Goodnight Punpun(Sad) 10. Fullmetal Alchemist (Required reading) 11. Spy X Family (really really funny) Some tips:- 1. There are mainly 5 publishers of manga in the west. They are Viz media, Kodansha Comics,Dark Horse, Yen Press and Seven Seas. 2. There are four demographics (you can read anything from any demographic you want.) Shonen for boys, seinen for men, shoujo for girls, josei for women. 3. You can read most of the stuff licenced by Viz on the Shonen Jump app for $2 a month. To read the more mature content and the Shonen Jump content, you can use their website. 3. There might be some words that confuse you. Here a few of them and their meanings:- Baka:- idiot Nani:- what oneechan:- older brother. 4. some longer series like one piece can be bought in box set. 5. You might not like it at first, but try some more series. 6. Rule of three:- if you're not sure you should buy a series or not, buy the first three, then make your judgement on that.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Wow-thanks for this detailed and helpful information!

[@ivailopetrov2827]

Hey, I see that you like non-English literature. I will recommend you Madonna in a fur coat by Sabahattin Ali if you want to read something different :)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks so much for this! The only Turkish lit I've got on my shelves is The Time Regulation Institute by Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar.

[@ivailopetrov2827]

@@LeafbyLeaf It's also the only Turkish book I've read :( But I liked it a lot so I try to make people read it :D