MEGA-NOVELS AND THE SCIENCE OF PAYING ATTENTION by David Letzler

Buy me a coffee: ko-fi.com/leaf...
Hardcover, 318 pages
Published 2017 by University of Nebraska Press
ISBN 0803299621
www.nebraskapr...
#leafbyleaf #bigbooks #davidletzler

[@Fiction_Beast]

reading big books (long novels) is like climbing a mountain. It's a lot of hardhship but rewarded with the views (insights). For me reading Proust will stay with me for the rest of my life. If you spend so much time with anything, it becomes part of you, you!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Great analogy! It’s like I said in my Great Concavity interview: it’s like a relationship, so the more time you spend (and the more attentive you are), the deeper the bond, the deeper the history.

[@SevenFootPelican]

I've always related reading books of any kind to mountain climbing. I had an obsession with mountain climbing before I started loving books - and I can see the relation. Some books are big, but smooth and relatively easy to get to the top (like Mount Everest), other books are a bit shorter, but perhaps more rough to get through (either complex ideas, language, or outdated wording, etc. similar to a mountain like K2). Some can be big large books that are also difficult to get through, etc. Very great analogy to use for reading.

[@Fiction_Beast]

@@SevenFootPelican My analogy was based on my own experience of reading and hiking. The highest i have been is Mount Fuji (5 hours of more or less gentle hike), so I dont think reading is anywhere near as gruelling as mountain climbing. Climbing Everest takes years of prep and £££££ and there is a good chance you might not even make it. Reading on a sofa for hours? my analogy was more based on the satisfaction at the end. the view, the insight. if i chose two things that give me peace and pleasure at the same time is mountains and books.

[@richardwestwood8212]

​@@Fiction_Beast you are one of the best book reviewers, not only on KZbin but everywhere

[@jamesduncan5603]

From the first chapter of Omensetter's Luck, "I want it to be a long story. It is a long story. Put everything in it. I always put everything in. Is it good and long? Good stories are long. Well, they ought to be, anyway." I think being an insane reader means being drawn to the futile attempt to put everything in a story. Even if many mega-novels end up being failures on some level, the impulse to document complexity always resonates strongly with me.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Very, very well put! Also, Stanley from The Recognitions on his composition: : “It’s as though this one thing must contain it all, all in one piece of work…”

[@jameslatin2939]

Also makes me think of Branch from DeLillo's Libra, sitting in small room to write the secret history of the CIA, being sent a seemingly endless stream of documents, many of which he feels are completely irrelevant to his purpose but which he reads anyways out of a sense of compulsion

[@EveryoneWhoReadsitMustConverse]

Very interesting exploration of BIG book love and why. I'm gonna have to look deeper into this. Thanks Chris!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

👊 you’ll love grappling with it, Noah!

[@frankiegumdrops8532]

Thanks, Chris. Love to see 100+ likes without a single dislike. It’s a quality community you’ve assembled here.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

People have been very generous lately! I’m thrilled to be a part of this community!

[@sukoelzorrocurioso5625]

Reading Don Quijote will leave me marked for life in a good way. It was a long book worth the effort. I loved everything about it. Now I am reading William James' writings from the Library of America (1313 page tome).

[@MegaElpunto]

That little mention about Chiclets was funny to me because I just read the chapter in GR that introduced "old Bloody Chiclitz" haha. Great review, I am now definitely interested in Letzler's book, cheers!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😂

[@Le_Samourai]

I wonder how Letzler would categorize the great mammoth novels from before WWI, which he seems to have neglected a little. War and Peace, In Search of Lost Time, Les Miserables, David Copperfield, Clarissa. Or eastern works like Journey to the West and The Tale of Genji

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I would be interested in that, too, but by his criteria for this book they are excluded deliberately.

[@Le_Samourai]

@@LeafbyLeaf why did he exclude them?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I’m practical terms: academic writing demands a tight scope to keep the thesis focused. But in addition he wanted to focus specifically on the typical postmodern mega novels that people tout as such.

[@makebelievestunt]

I LOVE CRUFT ... perhaps my next bumper sticker. Wonderful review of a must-read book. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Haha-I love that idea! You’re welcome!

[@SevenFootPelican]

I've spent the last week reading The Brothers Karamazov, nearly done with it. So this video came with perfect timing hahaha.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Very nice! One of my favorite books of all time. It doesn’t fit Letzler’s model for the discussion in this book, but it is indeed a mega-novel!

[@noseonscent1935]

I prefer either voracious reader or necessary reader to "insane". Great new segment. Keep it on my good sir. Great stuff.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Haha! “Insane” is only according to one of Letzler’s quips of course. Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@noseonscent1935]

@@LeafbyLeaf No I knew that just being cheeky. Cheers.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Ahh, I suspected so. Hard to pick up on stuff sometimes!

[@MaximTendu]

I demand an International Insane Reader's Day- possibly later on in the year as I'm still hungover from last Bloomsday

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hahaha! I support this!

[@sterlingreads547]

This was so interesting! I agree with re-reading. I just finished War and Peace. I know next year when I re-read it, I will get so much more. Especially since I’ll be reading a novel on Napoleon this summer.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Re-reading is a pleasure I experienced years and years into my reading life. War and Peace is on my “books I’m embarrassed I haven’t read yet” shelf, but having recently been completely swept by Tolstoy’s “Master and Man,” I feel it calling. The book I’ve reread the most with the most profit is Moby-Dick. All my best to you!

[@dqan7372]

Interesting! I'll have to hold off on the books for now, but I'm enjoying Norman N. Holland's film essay site.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

👊

[@ashulman2008]

Just finished the public burning. It was great. Pynchon worthy imagination

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I’ve dipped into it several times but not really read it yet. I can’t remember if it was that one or one of the Brunist novels that has a breath-taking prose opening.

[@lucaseravalli4924]

Very interesting review, Chris! From what you say it seems Letzler is considering the plot of a novel of the utmost importance. I tend to disagree with that - I think the plot is only one element of the book and not the most important. I would dare to say that literature is much more than narration. I am getting a little annoyed by this “tyranny of storytelling”, so I love mega-novels with their fragmentation and, at times, destruction of linear plots...

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You and I are on the same page for sure! I am wary of reducing the literary value out of books because then it just becomes, essentially, not much more than synopsis. But Letzler is a slippery fish in this one (perhaps on purpose), so I’m not sure exactly what he actual view is.

[@delmajima1221]

I wish Clive Barker got some more love, I'm pretty confident that Imajica qualifies as a mega novel more so than Wind up Bird (and I'm a big Murakami fan) I remember you saying you blazed your mind as a youth with pulp horror. Have you ever read Imajica? One of the best first pages I've ever read. Hes definitely a poet at heart. I'll quote it in a reply to this for anyone

[@delmajima1221]

From the first page of Imajica, by Clive Barker: "It was the pivotal teaching of Pluthero Quexos, the most celebrated dramatist of the Second Dominion, that in any fiction, no matter how ambitious its scope or profound its theme, there was only ever room for three players. Between warring kings, a peacemaker; between adoring spouses, a seducer or child. Between twins, the spirit of the womb. Between lovers, Death. Greater numbers might drift through the drama, of course- thousands in fact- but they could only ever be phantoms, agents, or, on rare occasions, reflections of the three real and self-willed beings who stood at the center. And even this essential trio would not remain intact; or so he taught. It would steadily diminish as the story unfolded, three becoming two, two becoming one, until the stage was left deserted. Needless to say, this dogma did not go unchallenged. The writers of fables and comedies were particularly vociferous in their scorn, reminding the worthy Quexos that they invariably ended their own tales with a marriage and a feast. He was unrepentant. He dubbed them cheats and told them they were swindling their audience out of what he called the last great procession, when, after the wedding songs had been sung and the dances danced, the characters took their melancholy way off into darkness, following each other into oblivion. It was a hard philosophy, but he claimed it was both immutable and universal, as true in the Fifth Dominion, called Earth, as it was in the Second. And more significantly, as certain in life as it was in art."

[@LeafbyLeaf]

You know, it’s funny, but I’ve never read Clive Barker for some reason. No real reason why. Just haven’t. Would you say that Imajica is a good one to start with?

[@delmajima1221]

@@LeafbyLeaf for you, I'd say yes😅 because you're an insane reader. Damnation Game is his debut novel, you can tell he's still working on his chops. But its one of the most bizarre and fucked up Faustian tales I've read. You can never go wrong though with the Books of Blood volumes. Volume 2 contains my favorite stories of his. They'd make for great pallet cleansers or quick reads for spooky season. Imajica though is definitely his hardest amd most rewarding read

[@rickharsch8797]

I guess you know what I think about cruft.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I feel like I could make an educated guess.

[@j.danielchristie2622]

Eyyyyyy, is that a copy of Bottom's Dream in the bottom corner of the screen I see?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Indeed, it is!

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

Franzen would say that lol. I love big books so I might check this out one day. Or just reread Infinite Jest :)

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😜🤟

[@dchan617]

But I wonder if Letzler ever did the Kenosha Kid

[@LeafbyLeaf]

He may have-GR is his favorite mega-novel after all!

[@theemptyatom]

great intro! fellow insane reader

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks! 🙏👊

[@brickproduction1815]

Do you know any publishers that are accepting mega novels? I am working on an experimental novel that is going close to a million words and i am still trying to find a publisher and the other route would be to self publish

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Hey there! I have several friends who have completed mega novels and are actively shopping them around. To be honest, it's a bit bleak. But I will be interviewing Ed Park in a couple weeks and I'm going to pose the question to him. I think his insight will be invaluable. All best!

[@brickproduction1815]

@@LeafbyLeaf thank you! I'm nearly finishing my novel and I think it's my best work

[@BookShore]

Interesting seems to be a focus on post modern literature, which would have the most 'cruft', but there seems to be a lack of older novels like 1001 nights or tale of genji. Or maybe mega novel are just referring more to the former?

[@BookShore]

Also more I get into big novels going away from the plot actually seems more realistic than every event happening directly with the main character

[@seans.2711]

Agreed! As a medievalist, I often find that medieval literature is full of "cruft," thought it's often deployed in a different way of course. That being said, rethinking older literature like you suggest with these post-modern ideas in mind might be worthwhile. I'm teaching some Icelandic sagas right now and this idea of reading the "cruft" might help my students deal with the (occasionally) overwhelming amount of tangential information!

[@BookShore]

@@seans.2711 Hey I need to get out of the 20th century eventually. If you have have any medieval mega fiction I would love some recommendations

[@seans.2711]

@@BookShore Of course! Classic "Christian epics" like Dante's Divine Comedy or William Langland's Pier's Plowman would certainly be considered medieval "mega fiction." For more secular works (though I suppose there's no such thing as a wholly secular work in the western Middle Ages...), I HIGHLY recommend checking out the Icelandic sagas - they're surprsingly readable for the modern audience, in my opinion. Milan Kundera wrote of them, "(a)lthough the glory of the Sagas is indisputable, their literary influence would have been much greater if they had been written in the language of one of the major nations; and we would have regarded the Sagas as an anticipation or even the foundation of the European novel." The best "mega" sagas, for my money, are Njal's saga, Egil's saga, and Grettir's saga (in that order!). Also, you can't go wrong with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, of course. I've always thought that one could make an interesting comparative analysis between the Canterbury Tales and George Perec's Life: A User's Manual...

[@BookShore]

@@seans.2711 Thanks man!!! I'll keep an eye out on all of them

[@meyersmegafictionalmusings7692]

Well done Chris! I’m not sure if you’d be the same as me but I’ve got no problem quitting on any book I don’t like. It’s the big books with lots of cruft that I tend to stick with more often than ‘normal sized’ novels. I can’t say I fully understand why but I am certainly drawn to them! I guess the joy is in both the process as well as the eventual completion and reflection. Have you given up on any books lately or are you ok with that? Cheers

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Thanks, man! I have probably only given up on about five books in my life. I think I have some neurotic complex about finishing things. But I’m also very, very selective about what I read. Most of those five were chances I took because of people urging me (as with Game of Thrones). One of those books I abandoned, however, stayed with me nonetheless, and I went back years later and loved it. That was Look Homeward, Angel. Beautiful book that one. Like you, though, I do love my big, messy, complicated, fractured books!

[@meyersmegafictionalmusings7692]

@@LeafbyLeaf that’s so funny I just spoke about LHA in my review of Middle C I just bumbled through. Will always be a special book to me!

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Really?! What a coincidence! 👊

[@MarcNash]

The Ancient Greeks injected comedy in their drama to give the audience a mental and emotional break from the heavy drama. Seems to me novelists are doing something similar with humour, rather than diluting th power of their narrative, it's playing the reader like a violin

[@LeafbyLeaf]

Indeed, and Letzler does go into this a bit in conjunction with Menippean satire. During portions of the book, I got the feeling that Letzler didn’t grasp certain grades of irony.

[@krustn]

I personnaly like what he calls cruft, the encyclopedic details of moby dick for example , sets up a clear picture of how things is happening. the detailing of whaling and how the ship works. and the chapter where Melville philosophizes the symbolic meaning of the "whiteness of the whale". it all adds up to a more realistic compelling story. have you read Suttree by Cormac mcCarthy? it is filled with small stories and "side quests" , very dark and humorous and wierd and profound.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I completely agree. I’ll go on joyfully reading “cruft” as long as I live! Moby-Dick is my favorite American novel. I’ve read most of McCarthy, Suttree included. What a writer! Was thinking of reading Outer Dark soon.

[@krustn]

@@LeafbyLeaf very nice, haven´t that read one yet.

[@krustn]

@@LeafbyLeaf I read Modern man in search of a soul by C.g. Jung and He talked about a concept he called Onesidedness- and this concept perfectly maps on to Captain Ahabs "Megalomania" as Melville puts it. it was very interessting to put his psychologically views on the book.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I’ve read that book. But it was a long while ago. Thanks for pointing out that topic.

[@krustn]

@@LeafbyLeaf it May be worth looking into if you can find the passage in modern man. I think theres a chapter in moby Dick where he describes his obsession.

[@connord9864]

Sounds like a good book but I’m disappointed that it doesn’t include the great masterwork of the 21st century that is 2666. EDIT: or it does but you just don’t mention it?

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I don’t have the book with me, but I feel like he does at least mention it. Presumably he didn’t feel that 2666 has what he seems cruft.

[@knittingbooksetc.2810]

Hahaha! That’s what I usually call myself. I’m an insane reader.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

😜

[@rickharsch8797]

Interesting: I watched this before, but this time found I have no interest in this guy, but interested enough in what you have to say...a sort of tension ensued...

[@LeafbyLeaf]

I tried to get in touch with him via various channels, to ask further questions, but I never heard back. His is a sort of voice crying alone in the wilderness. Glad my video could save you the time of reading the book.

[@zadignose]

Frankly, from what you reveal, this author sounds rather wrong-headed, and you may have been rather generous towards his book. His very notion of "cruft" in regards to some of these books sounds like nonsense, and his failure at times to appreciate humor is a major failing. I also don't see that it's necessarily a good thing to be "fair" or objective in both-sidesing the question of the value in meganovels. Fixating on that which promotes plot is a weakness in a critic/reader. Being "academic" is not always a good thing, either. Some academics have a bizarre tendency to deeply analyze that which they can't appreciate on a basic, intuitive, or aesthetic level. I'll go off on two tangents, just because... First, as I've already blabbed about in various forums but I can't help repeating: I recall speaking to a serious student of literature who could fairly be said to be much more well read than I, and being taken aback when he asserted that he doesn't read to *enjoy* , he reads to *understand* . The absurdity of this is revealed when one reflects that if one reads such a book as Don Quixote without *enjoying* it one cannot possibly claim to have *understood* it at all. The enjoyment *is* the understanding. And if I take Letzler's notion of "cruft" seriously, I'd have to conclude that Don Quixote, one of the greatest literary works of all time, is 100% cruft and might as well not have been written at all.... Second, self-indulgent digression: read the Wikipedia page "breast" someday and ask yourself why it is necessary in a clinical, objective tone, to state (for the benefit of those who never would have known otherwise) that, as I would say in cruder, non-academic words, tits are sexy.

[@LeafbyLeaf]

What a great ending to your comment-I got a good laugh but understood your point (I guess I enjoyed and understood)! My personal option aligns with yours. I don’t buy into the notion of cruft at all. It is all part of the work and there is so much more to literature than plot. Otherwise, what would be the difference in just watching movies, for example? Or just reading synopses? Almost everything Letzler complained of, I love! But, as your surmised, I wanted to be generous and give him a chance and present the book to the world with a possibility of his being read. I, too, cannot imagine literature divorced from enjoyment. Sounds like drudgery. Emotionless reverse-engineering.