Comments on: n+1 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:39:04 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Matt http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64368 Matt Wed, 23 Mar 2005 21:42:21 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64368 For what it's worth, Joel, I thought your book tasted fine, like a refreshing salad next to a full plate of Blanchot at the time (although I suppose he would be labelled raw meat around here.) Hardy har. For what it’s worth, Joel, I thought your book tasted fine, like a refreshing salad next to a full plate of Blanchot at the time (although I suppose he would be labelled raw meat around here.) Hardy har.

]]> By: glory http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64319 glory Wed, 23 Mar 2005 03:08:14 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64319 hmmmm... that reminds me, i'm missing 'new left review' :D <em>hmmphf!</em> hmmmm… that reminds me, i’m missing ‘new left review’ :D
hmmphf!

]]> By: glory http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64317 glory Tue, 22 Mar 2005 23:51:37 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64317 oh man, just when i'd thought i could let all my mag subs lapse, cuz most of what i want to read is already online (for free :) oh well! luv babel. i was always taken by this (visceral!) line from 'the life and adventures of matthew pavlichenko': <blockquote>"I stamped on my master Nikitinsky, trampled on him for an hour or maybe more. And in that time I got to know life through and through. With shooting... you only get rid of a chap. Shooting's letting him off, and too damn easy for yourself. With shooting you'll never get at the soul, to where it is in a fellow and how it shows itself. But I don't spare myself, and I've more than once trampled and enemy for over an hour. You see, I want to get to know what life really is, what life's like down our way."</blockquote> lionel trilling has a nice appreciation in 'the collected stories of isaac babel', btw (where i took that last quote :) oh and 'dead souls' is pretty great, too. cheers! oh man, just when i’d thought i could let all my mag subs lapse, cuz most of what i want to read is already online (for free :) oh well!
luv babel. i was always taken by this (visceral!) line from ‘the life and adventures of matthew pavlichenko’:
“I stamped on my master Nikitinsky, trampled on him for an hour or maybe more. And in that time I got to know life through and through. With shooting… you only get rid of a chap. Shooting’s letting him off, and too damn easy for yourself. With shooting you’ll never get at the soul, to where it is in a fellow and how it shows itself. But I don’t spare myself, and I’ve more than once trampled and enemy for over an hour. You see, I want to get to know what life really is, what life’s like down our way.”

lionel trilling has a nice appreciation in ‘the collected stories of isaac babel’, btw (where i took that last quote :) oh and ‘dead souls’ is pretty great, too.
cheers!

]]> By: Chris Martin http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64316 Chris Martin Tue, 22 Mar 2005 23:00:57 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64316 The article about the New Republic in n+1's first issue was excellent. It's only flaw is that it fails to point out that TNR has some virtues too. The article about the New Republic in n+1’s first issue was excellent. It’s only flaw is that it fails to point out that TNR has some virtues too.

]]> By: tad brennan http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64313 tad brennan Tue, 22 Mar 2005 22:15:27 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64313 "Most Oppressed People Ever" Yes, and that's just a reference to the cabbage, too--it doesn't even cover the horrible things done to the other dishes. or perhaps it's "Most Over-cooked Peas Ever"? Nah--the Brits have that one sewn up. “Most Oppressed People Ever”
Yes, and that’s just a reference to the cabbage, too—it doesn’t even cover the horrible things done to the other dishes.
or perhaps it’s “Most Over-cooked Peas Ever”? Nah—the Brits have that one sewn up.

]]> By: Kieran Healy http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64312 Kieran Healy Tue, 22 Mar 2005 21:27:37 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64312 The technical term on the Irish side is MOPE -- "Most Oppressed People Ever." The technical term on the Irish side is MOPE —“Most Oppressed People Ever.”

]]> By: tad brennan http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64308 tad brennan Tue, 22 Mar 2005 20:57:29 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64308 "the Irish have a more highly developed, if less historically justified, version of the same trope" Less historically justified?? Well, there's more persecution for you, right there! You just don't understand us, that's all. That's right, in' it Kieran? In exploring the manifold similarities between Jewish and Irish culture, one central question is whether the horrible tasteless ethnic cuisines are cause or effect. “the Irish have a more highly developed, if less historically justified, version of the same trope”
Less historically justified?? Well, there’s more persecution for you, right there! You just don’t understand us, that’s all. That’s right, in’ it Kieran?
In exploring the manifold similarities between Jewish and Irish culture, one central question is whether the horrible tasteless ethnic cuisines are cause or effect.

]]> By: joel turnipseed http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64297 joel turnipseed Tue, 22 Mar 2005 19:15:29 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64297 Henry, Yes, there's something--oh, call it "uncharitable" in Leonard's piece, and he's using Lethem's work as a synecdoche for something more broadly askew (very much in evidence w/McSweeney's, and the n+1 gang's contrary tack) in contemporary literature, which is not the worst rhetorical move, but it does ask Lethem to bear more than his share. Still, as much as I like Lethem, there's no doubt that in, say, Fortress of Solitude, more attention to human consciousness/character and less, say, to Greil Marcus, Lester Bangs and the Trouser Press Record Guide would have gone a long way toward making that book better and this pop nostalgia lies at the heart of Leonard's critique--it too often stands only for itself. What I especially liked about the Leonard piece was that it showed a fundamental appreciation (love?) for Lethem's work and hoist the stated problem with it's own petard (BITE MY CRANK, SUPER GOAT MAN!)--or at least set up critical space in which such a thing is possible (you may, as I sometimes did, find that Leonard was raising himself up, when you laugh out loud, as at "BE BRAVE LIKE AN ARM."). Finally, and I think this, too, is an understated element of Leonard's lament: " minor masterpiece" seems to be asking too little of someone w/Lethem's talents. I know too-well how hard writing is, but I grew up revelling in titans (my great uncle was college roommates with Jason Epstein) and can't help but feel that we're not really holding ourselves up to the standards we might just achieve (Thoreau: "In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high."). (Aside, maybe I'm just grumpy right now after doing interview with <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2005-03-20-iraq-books_x.htm" rel="nofollow">USA Today</a> about the 300 (!) Iraq war books available and generally feeling that way too many books are coming out undercooked of all types--while nervously glancing at the raw meat on my own table.) Henry,
Yes, there’s something—oh, call it “uncharitable” in Leonard’s piece, and he’s using Lethem’s work as a synecdoche for something more broadly askew (very much in evidence w/McSweeney’s, and the n+1 gang’s contrary tack) in contemporary literature, which is not the worst rhetorical move, but it does ask Lethem to bear more than his share. Still, as much as I like Lethem, there’s no doubt that in, say, Fortress of Solitude, more attention to human consciousness/character and less, say, to Greil Marcus, Lester Bangs and the Trouser Press Record Guide would have gone a long way toward making that book better and this pop nostalgia lies at the heart of Leonard’s critique—it too often stands only for itself.
What I especially liked about the Leonard piece was that it showed a fundamental appreciation (love?) for Lethem’s work and hoist the stated problem with it’s own petard (BITE MY CRANK, SUPER GOAT MAN!)—or at least set up critical space in which such a thing is possible (you may, as I sometimes did, find that Leonard was raising himself up, when you laugh out loud, as at “BE BRAVE LIKE AN ARM.”).
Finally, and I think this, too, is an understated element of Leonard’s lament: ” minor masterpiece” seems to be asking too little of someone w/Lethem’s talents. I know too-well how hard writing is, but I grew up revelling in titans (my great uncle was college roommates with Jason Epstein) and can’t help but feel that we’re not really holding ourselves up to the standards we might just achieve (Thoreau: “In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, they had better aim at something high.”).
(Aside, maybe I’m just grumpy right now after doing interview with USA Today about the 300 (!) Iraq war books available and generally feeling that way too many books are coming out undercooked of all types—while nervously glancing at the raw meat on my own table.)

]]> By: Henry http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64296 Henry Tue, 22 Mar 2005 18:28:27 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64296 Joel, I dunno - I found the Leonard piece a little annoying when I read it. He's right that we could stand to see a bit more acknowledgement by Lethem of his debt to high literature as well as low (comics as art are becoming a bit of a shtick with Lethem, Chabon etc) - but there's something deeply myopic in Leonard's take on Lethem nonetheless. Lethem does best when he juggles both the high and the low at once - Motherless Brooklyn, where he pulls off this balancing act, is a minor masterpiece. Joel, I dunno – I found the Leonard piece a little annoying when I read it. He’s right that we could stand to see a bit more acknowledgement by Lethem of his debt to high literature as well as low (comics as art are becoming a bit of a shtick with Lethem, Chabon etc) – but there’s something deeply myopic in Leonard’s take on Lethem nonetheless. Lethem does best when he juggles both the high and the low at once – Motherless Brooklyn, where he pulls off this balancing act, is a minor masterpiece.

]]> By: Joel Turnipseed http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64288 Joel Turnipseed Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:49:49 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64288 Agreed: n+1 is a great addition to our cultural/intellectual life. When I read their first issue, it felt as if someone had opened the windows after a long winter. That said, I would point out that the revamped <a href="http://www.vqronline.org" rel="nofollow">Virginia Quarterly Review</a> is worth a look, too. As for McSweeney's/Believer -- I loved that Regressive Avant-Garde piece, too (and really, the cult of Eggers is too much to bear), but... I also haven't been able to stop reading McSweeney's and the Believer: for every fey moment or virulently-held naivete, there's one of genuine enthusiasm for something fresh and invigorating--that's a trade-off not granted by many other publications. Finally, pace n+1 Eggers take-down, there's a great piece by John Leonard in New York Review (of each others') Books on <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17897" rel="nofollow">Jonathan Lethem</a> that seems to strike just the right balance between appreciation and criticism, and ends w/snark that's both brilliant and deeply appreciative at the same time. Agreed: n+1 is a great addition to our cultural/intellectual life. When I read their first issue, it felt as if someone had opened the windows after a long winter.
That said, I would point out that the revamped Virginia Quarterly Review is worth a look, too.
As for McSweeney’s/Believer—I loved that Regressive Avant-Garde piece, too (and really, the cult of Eggers is too much to bear), but… I also haven’t been able to stop reading McSweeney’s and the Believer: for every fey moment or virulently-held naivete, there’s one of genuine enthusiasm for something fresh and invigorating—that’s a trade-off not granted by many other publications.
Finally, pace n+1 Eggers take-down, there’s a great piece by John Leonard in New York Review (of each others’) Books on Jonathan Lethem that seems to strike just the right balance between appreciation and criticism, and ends w/snark that’s both brilliant and deeply appreciative at the same time.

]]> By: Matt http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/comment-page-1/#comment-64281 Matt Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:05:29 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/2005/03/22/n1/#comment-64281 That would be a recommendation hard to second loud enough. That would be a recommendation hard to second loud enough.

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