Getting into Thomas Bernhard's fiction

[@foolyanr.1]

Everyone who talks about Bernhard earnes a like!

[@petermurphy3690]

Fantastic overview!! I have read some Bernhard -- and I especially valued Old Masters. But I find it hard to read more than two or so in a row, and then needed a break. This has really inspired me to go back and knock out a few more. He really is a special author and sui generis. If you really love literature, be sure to read at least a few of his works. If it doesn't grab you , I get it. Move on. But do taste it.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you. I really enjoyed Old Masters, too, a video on that will be coming up in a month or two. I was guilty of binge-reading Bernhard's fictions when I first got into him, back in the 1990s, and they did begin to feel more similar than, reading them again, they are. Definitely improved by, as you say, taking regular breaks.

[@anotherbibliophilereads]

A great overview of Thomas Bernhard. I read a lot of his novels in the 90s, but I need to go back and reread them now that I’m older.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you. I have reread them several times since the late 90s, when I first encountered them. The shine never wears off; I focused on Gathering Evidence for my thesis, it's perhaps my favorite, but even the novellas, like Walking, there's always a grain of greatness in them.

[@teresamarie1212]

Great Channel ...thanks!!!

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you! All praise gratefully accepted.

[@frankchika4459]

Your discussion of Bernhard is illuminating. I have heard about Bernhard a few times, especially in relation to Sebald, and I have read one or two essays on him, but I have not really read any book by him. I will go ahead now and read something from him. Ps: I have subscribed too. PS: I see a book on your shelf (with the white and green cover with an illustration of a snake) and it looks like Achebe's Arrow of God. I can't be too sure though, but it piques my interest as a Nigerian.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you for your comment! I recommend Concrete or Wittgenstein's Nephew as good starting points for getting into Bernhard. Re the book, is it the one behind my right ear, laying flat? If so, it's not Achebe but a book titled, "The Body in Pain," by Elaine Scarry about the relationship between language, physical pain, and the world. (If it's not that book, then correct me, please.)

[@sandytseng8158]

Thanks for introducing these Thomas Bernhard's fictions and sharing your precious comments. Thank you so much.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you too!

[@GreyEyedAthena]

Great video, thanks for the insight

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you for taking time to leave a comment, glad you enjoyed it..

[@nikita2018]

Thx

[@MrUndersolo]

Remarkable writer with a remarkable life. New sub, of course...

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you, kindly. I'm here working through his The Rest is Slander for my next Bernhard video as your comment arrives.

[@emesssea]

I've read The Loser, Frost, Concrete, and I believe Gargoyles (its on my bookshelf at least). The first time I read The Loser and Frost they both went completely over my head, it took me a second read through to both understand and appreciate the writing. I've had plans on doing the same for the other two books (as well as reading the rest of his major works). I'm currently reading his novella, Walking. Its a much easier read, even though it doesnt have any chapter breaks and few paragraph breaks as is his way. I'd suggest this or maybe any of his other novellas as a good entry point for anyone interested in reading Bernhard, and from there they can decide if they want to move on to his novels.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thanks for commenting. I enjoyed The Loser, but Woodcutters was what really got me interested. Like you say, Walking ("Czechoslovakian rejects!") or shorter works like Wittgenstein's Nephew, a particular favorite of mine, are good points of entry.

[@Kujiranoai]

Gathering Evidence is one of my favorite works by possibly my favorite writer. Can you let us see your thesis when you’ve done it?!

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

The thesis was submitted in 2022 and has a chapter on Gathering Evidence's Breath: A Decision. It's here, but you will need to sign up (free) before you can access it: ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/cgi-bin/gs32/gsweb.cgi/ccd=rLKeSS/record?r1=1&h1=1

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

I really enjoyed how you describe what makes Bernhard a unique writer and the themes he explored within unconventional novels. It’s good to know that Concrete is a great starting point as that is what my library has a copy of. I look forward to more of your videos in the future, Jason. Cheers, Jack

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thanks. I did have more on the tradition Bernhard belongs to, with a digression tying him into an Austrian tradition of "Sprachskepsis" which begins around 1900 with von Hofmannsthal's Lord Chandos Letter, which uses the same trope of the writer who can no longer write which Bernhard picks up. But it was too long, and I want to do a short video on The Letter anyway. Love your shirt collection, btw.

[@ramblingraconteur1616]

@@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan I can definitely see the connection there to The Letter from Hofmannstahl. I read that last winter immediately after reading Honore de Balzac’s The Unknown Masterpiece and enjoyed how they contrasted that theme. Ibsen’s When We Did Awaken could fit there too.

[@dirtycelinefrenchman]

Amazing intro to his work. Just what I needed. Only read The Loser and Extinction so far but wind up getting to them all sooner or later. Would be cool if you made similar vids for other “difficult” Austrian writers like Jelinek and Canetti. Cheers!

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Many thanks for your comment. You're right, I could do an overview of some of these Austrian writers, you're right, perhaps starting with Canetti because the library has a good selection. May have to be in a while as I am doing 12 Bernhard videos this year.

[@davidhall8656]

Thanks for your thoughtful video. I've only read Concrete, and I enjoyed it. I was turned on to it by an intro to Gaddis's Agape Agape, which was influenced by Gaddis's late in life fancy for Bernhard. I also have the Loser, plan to read it next. At least across these two, musicians seem to be a theme for Bernhard. Best.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you! Yes, Bernhard had dreams of a musical career as a singer, but his lung disease put paid to any hope of pursuing that. In the other novels artists working in different media appear (a painter in his debut, Frost, for example), while the roughest ride for artists generally is Woodcutters, where various creative types get eviscerated over the course of an evening. That's one of his very best. I hadn't heard of a Gaddis work being influenced by Bernhard (haven't read his stuff), but I will order that and have a look. Thanks for drawing my attention to it.

[@nancyberry3655]

I started with Woodcutters...lucky me. Loved it, but can only recommend it to a few friends. Obviously I need new friends.

[@blerpblerpson890]

I subscribed cuz no bookstores have Bernhard and I'm drunk

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

A commendably honest comment. Thank you!

[@ianp9086]

Great to see someone promoting Thomas Bernhard! I think I have read 18 of his books which might be everything in English. I started with Cutting Timber back in the 1980s and my favourite 3 would be Correction, Extinction and the memoir Gathering Evidence. The ‘so called’ comment reminds me that somewhere was the extraordinary line ‘the so called Second World War’. Watching your video makes me realize I must reread him - so thank you for that!

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

So÷called Second World War! That's pure gold. I tried to do my bit with this video to dispel the fear factor surrounding this so-called difficult writer and it keeps racking up views, so I seem to have done something right. Our top 3 overlap re Gathering Evidence, but Old Masters and Woodcutters I found most satisfying, though in truth I enjoyed them all, he never produced a dud. Many thanks for commenting.

[@nessuno6110]

If you read them in English, you haven't read them. Learn German and study the difference between the German and the Austrian psyche. Musil"s "Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften" is a good tool for that. TB (like most of the best writers) can't be translated. How do you translate "Und dasselbe is nicht das gleiche"? Check Don Quijote's assessment of translations in the Barcelona printer's shop. Anyone who claims to be a TB "expert" without speaking perfect German is either a fool or a liar, probably both.

[@nessuno6110]

@@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan Are you familiar with his theatre plays? The filmed versions of "Die Jagdgesellschaft" and "Die Macht der Gewohnheit" are sublime.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

@@nessuno6110 No, I'm not. Thank you for pointing them out. Funny you should post again as there's a comment you made yesterday which I read just an hour ago, but which seems to have since disappeared.

[@nessuno6110]

@@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan I can still see my yesterday's message, refresh KZbin and you will see it again. Are you familiar with Bernhard Minetti, the actor?

[@derekruairc334]

Reading "Wittgenstein's Nephew" through my interest in Wittgenstein's work. Ty for the interesting presentation.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

You're welcome, though Correction is, of course, the Bernhard novel that focuses on Ludwig, who only gets a brief mention in WN.

[@derekruairc334]

@@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan Yes indeed. I have subscribed. The works of Robert Walser, W.G.Sebald and J.M Coetzee impress me. Ty again.

[@markantrobus8782]

🍀👁👁🌿

[@Kujiranoai]

I’ve read all Bernhard’s major works and most of his minor ones. I would really recommend “Gathering Evidence”, an autobiographical work. It’s at least as good as his best novels.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

I fully agree. It's probably my favorite Bernhard work, with the last two volumes being my favorite parts of it. I don't recall if I said much about it in this video, but if not I could devote another video to a review and an exploration of it.

[@painbow6528]

I haven't read any of his work but I did buy The Loser a while back. Given your thoughts, however, I will hold off on that and get a copy of Concrete first.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Or Wittgenstein's Nephew, he said. One of his so-called accessible works, he said.

[@jeff8835]

You helped me make the decision to invest in TB, have ordered all of his prose work, 8 on kindle and Gathering Evidence with My Prizes arriving today and much more soon. Approaching the novels chronologically. Would Peter Handke be a good author to follow up with?

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Great to hear that! I'm sure you won't regret it. I have only read one Handke novel, The Afternoon of a Writer, and it was very disappointing, so I would recommend you investigate him yourself before committing to any purchases.

[@jeff8835]

@@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan Appreciated!

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Home now, so I can type a proper comment. Out of interest, did you order the novella Walking and/or The Voice Imitator? I haven't touched on these yet, but Walking is particularly good and The Voice Imitator is in a completely different form, tiny stories that frequently clock in at under 500 words and resemble the kind of curious incidents newspapers report. It's excellent.

[@jeff8835]

@@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan Yes, Walking as a part of the Three Novellas volume and The Voice Imitator on kindle, also 3 Days which i'll be watching on YT, his Collected Poetry will soon be released, and a 5 story collection i pre-ordered. 5 Plays seem to be available also but i'll hold off on those for now. Starting with Frost, as On the Mountain could only be ordered physically and quite pricey!!

[@markantrobus8782]

🌿😎🌴

[@Verboten-xn4rx]

How does he compare to Houellebecq?

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Having only read Atomised and Platform, back when they were published, I would say they share a similar pessimism and are both controversialists, but there's little sex in Bernhard and he's no sadist, and it was the sadism in Houellebecq that ended my own interest in his writing. That said, I can well imagine someone liking both writers' work.

[@Verboten-xn4rx]

@@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan the sadism ended your interest? Like Darwin and the Marquis never happened. They say it's all a footnote.... . The last last 30 pages of Platform... Jeez. It's interesting what are these ( insane) breaks in the binary structure.? The French used to call it the acte gratuit (free act) Andre Gide The Vatican Cellars 1906.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

I seem to have incurred your wrath/contempt for my comment re sadism, but if a writer presents characters they clearly despise and then has them degrade themselves for the reader's pleasure, then that is, in my view, sadism of a petty sort. In contrast, Bernhard's dismissals of others are of a sweeping, general nature, and thus, though similar, more palatable, being rhetorical/hyperbolic. I will give Houellebecq his due, though, he was well ahead of his time in identifying and taking a side in the culture wars that now dominate.

[@Verboten-xn4rx]

yo@@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan Your just a middle class NPC who plays games. Any thing out side your woke grifter symbolic order is (sadism) rather than acknowledged social reality F.. your thesis. Luver.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Thank you for your forthright opinions.

[@markantrobus8782]

Fernando Pessoa.

[@TheChannelofaDisappointedMan]

Indeed. Another of my favorite writers.